EdgeFlow: Open-Source Multi-layer Data Flow Processing in Edge Computing for 5G and Beyond

Edge computing has evolved to be a promising avenue to enhance system computing capability by offloading processing tasks from the cloud to edge devices. In this article, we propose a multi-layer edge computing framework called EdgeFlow. In this framework, different nodes ranging from edge devices to cloud data centers are categorized into corresponding layers and cooperate for data processing. EdgeFlow can deal with the trade-off between the computing and communication capabilities so that the tasks can be assigned to each layer optimally. At the same time, resources are carefully allocated throughout the whole network to mitigate performance fluctuation. The proposed open-source data flow processing framework is implemented on a platform that can emulate various computing nodes in multiple layers and corresponding network connections. Evaluated on the face recognition scenario, EdgeFlow can significantly reduce task finish time and perform more tolerance to run-time variations, compared with pure cloud computing, pure edge computing, and Cloudlet. Potential applications of EdgeFlow, including network function virtualization, Internet of Things, and vehicular networks, are also discussed at the end of this article.