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cyclingthroughlife t1_iytil6c wrote

We're currently doing research as part of a federally funded research grant that is looking at the future of the Internet of Things, and where federal research investments and resources should be directed. One of the things that we believe will happen is the concept of pervasive computing, and that some of the processing workloads could be assigned on a dynamic as needed basis on a network of available edge servers and even on the device itself. This is more for machine to machine processing of workloads.

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Fit_Pirate_3139 t1_iytsjgb wrote

So if the wifi is down, then what? Does it run slower then a 486?

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cyclingthroughlife t1_iytw1zo wrote

In those applications where it is mission critical, where connectivity is unreliable, or where it is latency sensitive, the processing is done on the device. For example, autonomous vehicles do a lot of the processing within the vehicle itself. Another use case application could be on a mining excavator located in a remote area far from any connectivity. Another example are IoT applications on offshore oil platforms.

But that said, there are companies that are providing a network of edge servers. One company we spoke with is trying to deploy a network of edge servers in traffic cabinets (for autonomous vehicle applications). In this case, the connectivity method of choice will be cellular (5G). I believe they are running a pilot now out in Texas.

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