Online dynamic multi-user computation offloading and resource allocation for HAP-assisted MEC: an energy efficient approach

Nowadays, the paradigm of mobile computing is evolving from a centralized cloud model towards Mobile Edge Computing (MEC). In regions without ground communication infrastructure, incorporating aerial edge computing nodes into network emerges as an efficient approach to deliver Artificial Intelligence (AI) services to Ground Devices (GDs). The computation offloading and resource allocation problem within a HAP-assisted MEC system is investigated in this paper. Our goal is to minimize the energy consumption. Considering the randomness and dynamism of the task arrival of GDs and the quality of wireless communication, stochastic optimization techniques are utilized to transform the long-term dynamic optimization problem into a deterministic optimization problem. Subsequently, the problem is further decomposed into three sub-problems which can be solved in parallel. An online Energy Efficient Dynamic Offloading (EEDO) algorithm is proposed to address these problems. Then, we conduct the theoretical performance analysis for EEDO. Finally, we carry out parameter analysis and comparative experiments, demonstrating that the EEDO algorithm can effectively reduce system energy consumption while maintaining the stability of the system.