Abstract
The cloud computing paradigm faces the challenges of providing low latency, high availability, and real-time location-aware services where millions of people are mobile with respect to time and geographic location. In this paper, we propose a mobile edge computing framework that can support real-time, location-aware personalized services to a very large crowd. The framework uses a hybrid of cloud at the server end and fog computing terminals (FCTs) at the crowd edge. The concept of FCT is realized by adding a middle layer acting as a proxy between the user end and cloud infrastructure. Each FCT node covers a geographic zone and provides a subset of services and resources based on the geographic location of a mobile user. When a user moves from one FCT-covered zone to another, the secure handshaking of metadata about the user is shared with the new FCT node. The communication between mobile users' terminals, such as smartphone and the FCT, is assumed as 4G/5G networks, while the communication between the FCT and cloud is based on a high speed, always available, and reliable Internet connection. The location of each mobile user is made secure and shared according to our novel privacy policy paradigm. The framework is designed to switch between FCT and cloud, depending on the task, network condition, geographic nearness, and resources available within the client unit. We have implemented the framework to support context-aware services to millions of pilgrims that gather together in a very small area of land each year. We will share the inspiring results that we have gathered after initial deployment.