Distributed Offloading in Multi-Access Edge Computing Systems: A Mean-Field Perspective

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Aggarwal, Shubham, Zaman, Muhammad Aneeq uz, Bastopcu, Melih, Ulukus, Sennur, Başar, Tamer
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Aggarwal, Shubham
Zaman, Muhammad Aneeq uz
Bastopcu, Melih
Ulukus, Sennur
Başar, Tamer
author_facet Aggarwal, Shubham
Zaman, Muhammad Aneeq uz
Bastopcu, Melih
Ulukus, Sennur
Başar, Tamer
contents Multi-access edge computing (MEC) technology is a promising solution to assist power-constrained IoT devices by providing additional computing resources for time-sensitive tasks. In this paper, we consider the problem of optimal task offloading in MEC systems with due consideration of the timeliness and scalability issues under two scenarios of equitable and priority access to the edge server (ES). In the first scenario, we consider a MEC system consisting of $N$ devices assisted by one ES, where the devices can split task execution between a local processor and the ES, with equitable access to the ES. In the second scenario, we consider a MEC system consisting of one primary user, $N$ secondary users and one ES. The primary user has priority access to the ES while the secondary users have equitable access to the ES amongst themselves. In both scenarios, due to the power consumption associated with utilizing the local resource and task offloading, the devices must optimize their actions. Additionally, since the ES is a shared resource, other users' offloading activity serves to increase latency incurred by each user. We thus model both scenarios using a non-cooperative game framework. However, the presence of a large number of users makes it nearly impossible to compute the equilibrium offloading policies for each user, which would require a significant information exchange overhead between users. Thus, to alleviate such scalability issues, we invoke the paradigm of mean-field games to compute approximate Nash equilibrium policies for each user using their local information, and further study the trade-offs between increasing information freshness and reducing power consumption for each user. Using numerical evaluations, we show that our approach can recover the offloading trends displayed under centralized solutions, and provide additional insights into the results obtained.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_18718
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Distributed Offloading in Multi-Access Edge Computing Systems: A Mean-Field Perspective
Aggarwal, Shubham
Zaman, Muhammad Aneeq uz
Bastopcu, Melih
Ulukus, Sennur
Başar, Tamer
Information Theory
Multiagent Systems
Systems and Control
Optimization and Control
Multi-access edge computing (MEC) technology is a promising solution to assist power-constrained IoT devices by providing additional computing resources for time-sensitive tasks. In this paper, we consider the problem of optimal task offloading in MEC systems with due consideration of the timeliness and scalability issues under two scenarios of equitable and priority access to the edge server (ES). In the first scenario, we consider a MEC system consisting of $N$ devices assisted by one ES, where the devices can split task execution between a local processor and the ES, with equitable access to the ES. In the second scenario, we consider a MEC system consisting of one primary user, $N$ secondary users and one ES. The primary user has priority access to the ES while the secondary users have equitable access to the ES amongst themselves. In both scenarios, due to the power consumption associated with utilizing the local resource and task offloading, the devices must optimize their actions. Additionally, since the ES is a shared resource, other users' offloading activity serves to increase latency incurred by each user. We thus model both scenarios using a non-cooperative game framework. However, the presence of a large number of users makes it nearly impossible to compute the equilibrium offloading policies for each user, which would require a significant information exchange overhead between users. Thus, to alleviate such scalability issues, we invoke the paradigm of mean-field games to compute approximate Nash equilibrium policies for each user using their local information, and further study the trade-offs between increasing information freshness and reducing power consumption for each user. Using numerical evaluations, we show that our approach can recover the offloading trends displayed under centralized solutions, and provide additional insights into the results obtained.
title Distributed Offloading in Multi-Access Edge Computing Systems: A Mean-Field Perspective
topic Information Theory
Multiagent Systems
Systems and Control
Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.18718