Mobile-Edge Computing and Internet of Things for Consumers: Part II: Energy efficiency, connectivity, and economic development

Welcome to our second special section on mobile-edge computing (MEC) and the Internet of Things (IoT), with a focus on consumer systems and applications. As we see the Internet continue to evolve, it is clear that its infrastructure will continue to face new challenges. Over the past decade or so, we have witnessed mobile devices-smartphones in particular-emerge as one of the strongest drivers of growth in the network infrastructure. These devices are significant generators of data traffic, and network operators have been challenged to meet the demand for increased network capacities. Prior to the age of the smartphone, the Internet had to accommodate fewer than half a billion clients; the addition of 3-4 billion new mobile devices, coupled with the growth in the demand for bandwidth from those devices, has driven the corresponding growth and evolution of network technologies and infrastructure. Fortunately, new infrastructure technologies emerged from this evolutionary process to assist in meeting these challenges. Improved networking infrastructure and the growth of cloud-based services have served to mitigate these challenges and enable operators to keep the data flowing.