By pushing computation, cache, and network control to the edge, mobile edge computing (MEC) is expected to play a leading role in fifth generation (5G) and future sixth generation (6G). Nevertheless, facing ubiquitous fast-growing computational demands, it is impossible for a single MEC paradigm to effectively support high-quality intelligent services at end user equipments (UEs). To address this issue, we propose an air-ground collaborative MEC (AGC-MEC) architecture in this article. The proposed AGC-MEC integrates all potentially available MEC servers within air and ground in the envisioned 6G, by a variety of collaborative ways to provide computation services at their best for UEs. Firstly, we introduce the AGC-MEC architecture and elaborate three typical use cases. Then, we discuss four main challenges in the AGC-MEC as well as their potential solutions. Next, we conduct a case study of collaborative service placement for AGC-MEC to validate the effectiveness of the proposed collaborative service placement strategy. Finally, we highlight several potential research directions of the AGC-MEC.
翻译:通过将计算、缓存和网络控制推向边缘,预计移动边缘计算(MEC)将在第五代(5G)和未来的第六代(6G)中发挥主导作用。然而,面对普遍存在的快速增长的计算需求,单一的MEC模式不可能有效地支持终端用户设备(Ues)的高质量智能服务。为解决这一问题,我们提议在本篇文章中建立一个空地合作MEC(AGC-MEC)架构。拟议中的AGC-MEC(AGC-MEC)架构整合了设想的6G中空中和地面上所有潜在可用的MEC服务器,以各种协作方式以最佳方式提供计算服务。首先,我们介绍AGC-MEC架构,并阐述三种典型的使用案例。然后,我们讨论AGC-MEC的四项主要挑战及其潜在解决方案。接下来,我们对AGC-MEC的协作服务定位进行案例研究,以验证拟议的协作服务配置战略的有效性。最后,我们强调AGC-MEC的若干潜在研究方向。