Joint Encryption and Optimization for 6G MEC-Enabled IoT Networks

With the advent of advancements in future sixth-generation (6G) communication systems, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, characterized by their limited computational and communication capacities, have become integral in our lives. These devices are deployed extensively to gather vast amounts of data in real-time applications. However, their restricted battery life and computational resources present significant challenges in meeting the requirements of advanced communication systems. Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) has emerged as a promising solution to these challenges within the IoT realm in recent years. Despite its potential, securing MEC infrastructure in the context of IoT remains an open task. This study explores the operational dynamics of a secured IoT-enabled MEC infrastructure, focusing on providing real-time, on-demand, secure computational resources to low-powered IoT devices. It outlines a joint optimization problem to maximize computational throughput, minimize device energy consumption, reduce computational latency, and mitigate security overhead. An optimization algorithm is introduced to address these challenges by jointly allocating resources, thereby optimizing throughput, conserving energy, and meeting latency benchmarks through dynamic system adaptation. The effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm is demonstrated through comparisons with relevant benchmark schemes, highlighting its efficiency in various scenarios. This work showcases the potential of advancements in encryption to deliver scalable security solutions with reduced resource consumption as the number of devices increases.