CN112351055B

CN112351055B - Searching method of edge computing server and related equipment

Info

Publication number: CN112351055B
Application number: CN201911007983.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王楠楠; 齐飞; 黄梦龙
Original assignee: Huawei Cloud Computing Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Cloud Computing Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-08-07
Filing date: 2019-10-22
Publication date: 2022-06-10
Anticipated expiration: 2039-10-22
Also published as: CN112351055A; WO2021023042A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a method for searching an edge computing server and related equipment, wherein the method is applied to an edge computing system comprising a terminal, task unloading equipment, a central server and a plurality of edge servers; the method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that task unloading equipment receives a resource searching request sent by a terminal, wherein the resource searching request carries information of computing resources required by completing a task, and the task unloading equipment is deployed in a wireless access point accessed by the terminal; then, determining that a server meeting the requirement of the computing resource exists in a space range covered by a wireless access point accessed by the terminal according to the resource searching request; and then selecting a server for executing the task from the servers meeting the requirements of the computing resources. By adopting the embodiment of the invention, the requirement of the terminal can be responded with the lowest time delay and the network overhead can be saved.

Description

Searching method of edge computing server and related equipment

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of mobile edge computing, in particular to a searching method of an edge computing server and related equipment.

Background

In the existing mobile edge computing architecture, a centralized resource configuration and scheduling architecture from a center cloud to an edge cloud and then to a terminal is mainly adopted, all resources and scheduling data in the architecture are distributed and configured by the center cloud, and the edge cloud only performs task execution. This results in inefficient decision making and inability to respond to terminal requirements with minimal delay. In addition, the request of the terminal needs to be sent to the central cloud for decision making, and then the decision is returned, so that network overhead is increased, and resource waste is caused.

In summary, how to meet the requirement of the response terminal with the lowest delay and save network overhead is a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently by those skilled in the art.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application discloses a searching method of an edge computing server and related equipment, which can respond to the requirement of a terminal with the lowest time delay and save network overhead.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for finding an edge computing server, where the method is applied to an edge computing system, where the edge computing system includes a terminal, a task offloading device, a central server, and multiple edge servers; the method comprises the following steps:

the task unloading equipment receives a resource searching request sent by the terminal, wherein the resource searching request carries information of computing resources required by completing a task, and the task unloading equipment is deployed in a wireless access point accessed by the terminal;

the task unloading equipment determines that a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource exist in a space range covered by a wireless access point accessed by the terminal according to the resource searching request;

the task off-load device selects a server for performing the task from the central server and/or the at least one edge server that meets the demand of the computing resource.

In a specific embodiment, the task offloading device may be a Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) server or may be other devices that conform to the same communication protocol standard as the MEC server and can implement related functions.

Optionally, a service offloading agent is deployed on the task offloading device, where the service offloading agent may be a software or an application program, and the task offloading device runs the service offloading agent to implement the operation performed by the task offloading device in the embodiment of the present application.

In the embodiment of the application, compared with the structure that all resources and scheduling data are distributed and configured by a center cloud and an edge cloud only performs task execution in the prior art, the task unloading device deployed in the wireless access point completes the scheduling of the resources and the data, namely, a server meeting the terminal requirement is selected nearby to calculate and complete the task which needs to be calculated by the terminal, so that the requirement of responding to the terminal with the lowest time delay is realized, and the network overhead is saved.

In one possible embodiment, the task offloading device selects a server for performing the task from a central server and/or at least one edge server that meet the requirement of the computing resource, and includes:

The task unloading equipment sends the resource searching request to a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource;

the task unloading equipment receives address information sent by a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request;

and the task unloading equipment selects a server for executing the task from a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource according to the sequence of the received address information.

The address information includes address information that can route the message to the server, such as an internet protocol IP address or a media access control address (MAC) of the central server and/or the at least one edge server that meet the requirement of the computing resource. In this embodiment, the address information may be used to instruct the task offloading device to send the task to a server corresponding to the address information for execution.

the task unloading equipment receives address information and position information sent by a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirements of the computing resources according to the resource searching request;

the task unloading equipment calculates the distance between a central server and/or at least one edge server of the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal according to the received position information and the position information of the terminal;

and the task unloading equipment selects a server closest to the terminal from the central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource according to the computed distance for executing the task.

In the embodiment of the application, the sent request can instruct a server meeting the computing resource requirement in the servers receiving the request to send the position information of the server to the task offloading device, so that the server closest to the terminal and meeting the requirement can be found to compute and complete the task required to be computed by the terminal, and the time delay and the network overhead are further reduced.

In one possible implementation manner, the selecting, by the task offload device, a server for performing the task from a central server and/or at least one edge server that meet the requirement of the computing resource includes:

the task unloading equipment sends the resource searching request and the position information of the terminal to a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource;

the task unloading equipment receives address information sent by a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request and the distance between the central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal;

the task offloading device selects a server closest to the terminal from the central server and/or the at least one edge server satisfying the demand of the computing resource for executing the task according to a distance between the central server and/or the at least one edge server satisfying the demand of the computing resource and the terminal.

In one possible implementation, after the task offloading device selects a server for executing the task from a central server and/or at least one edge server that meet the requirement of the computing resource according to the order of the received address information, the method further includes:

The task unloading equipment sends first response information responding to the resource searching request to the terminal;

the task unloading equipment receives the task sent by the terminal according to the first response information;

and the task unloading equipment sends the task to the selected server.

In the embodiment of the application, after the task unloading device selects the server for executing the task for the terminal, the task is sent to the selected server for execution through interaction with the terminal, and the task unloading efficiency is improved.

In one possible implementation manner, the task offloading device determines, according to the resource searching request, that a central server or an edge server that does not meet the requirement of the computing resource is within a spatial range covered by a wireless access point accessed by the terminal;

the task unloading equipment sends the resource searching request to a preset edge server;

the task offloading device receives second response information sent by the preset edge server, where the second response information is sent to the preset edge server by a server meeting the requirement of the computing resource from servers receiving the resource searching request broadcasted by the preset edge server, and the second response information includes address information and location information of the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource;

The task unloading equipment calculates the distance between the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal according to the position information of the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and the position information of the terminal;

and the task unloading equipment selects a server closest to the terminal from the servers meeting the requirement of the computing resource according to the computed distance for executing the task.

In this embodiment of the application, the preset edge cloud server is a server for searching for other cloud servers meeting the requirements to execute the task when a preset central cloud server or edge cloud server does not meet the requirements of the computing resources in a spatial range covered by a wireless access point accessed by the terminal.

In this embodiment of the present application, if there is no server that meets the requirement of the terminal within the coverage range of the wireless access point, the task offloading device may send the request of the terminal to a preset edge server to expand the search range. In addition, the request can also be used for instructing the server meeting the requirement to send the position information of the server to the task unloading device, so that the server which is closest to the terminal and meets the requirement can be found to calculate and complete the task which needs to be calculated by the terminal, and the time delay and the network overhead are further reduced.

In one possible implementation manner, the task offloading device determines, according to the resource searching request, that a central server or an edge server that does not meet the requirement of the computing resource within a spatial range covered by a wireless access point accessed by the terminal is not provided;

the task unloading equipment sends the resource searching request and the position information of the terminal to a preset edge server;

the task offloading device receives third response information sent by the preset edge server, where the third response information is sent to the preset edge server by a server that meets the requirement of the computing resource, among servers that receive the resource search request and the location information of the terminal broadcast by the preset edge server, and the third response information includes address information of the server that meets the requirement of the computing resource and includes a distance between the server that meets the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal;

the task offloading device selects a server closest to the terminal from among the servers satisfying the demand for the computing resource for executing the task according to a distance between the server satisfying the demand for the computing resource and the terminal.

In the embodiment of the application, the task unloading equipment searches a server which is closest to the terminal and meets the requirement for the terminal based on the position information of the terminal to calculate and complete the task required to be calculated by the terminal.

the task offloading device receives fourth response information sent by the preset edge server, where the fourth response information is sent to the preset edge server by a server meeting the requirement of the computing resource from among servers receiving the resource searching request broadcasted by the preset edge server, and the fourth response information includes address information of the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource;

and the task unloading equipment selects the servers for executing the tasks according to the sequence of the address information of the servers meeting the requirements of the computing resources.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for searching an edge computing server, where the method is applied to an edge computing system, where the edge computing system includes a terminal, a task offloading device, a central server, and multiple edge servers, where the task offloading device is deployed in a wireless access point to which the terminal accesses; the method comprises the following steps:

a preset edge server receives a resource searching request sent by the task unloading equipment, wherein the resource searching request carries information of computing resources required by completing a task, and the preset edge server is used for searching other servers meeting the requirements to execute the task under the condition that a preset central server or edge server does not meet the requirements of the computing resources in a space range covered by a wireless access point accessed by the terminal;

the preset edge server determines that the preset edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request;

and the preset edge server broadcasts the resource searching request to other edge servers and/or the central server.

In one possible implementation, after the preset edge server broadcasts the resource searching request to other edge servers and/or the central server, the method further includes:

The preset edge server receives second response information sent by a server meeting the requirement of the computing resource in the other edge servers and/or the central server, wherein the second response information comprises address information and position information of the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource;

and the preset edge server sends the second response information to the task unloading equipment.

In one possible implementation manner, before the determining, by the preset edge server according to the resource searching request, that the preset edge server does not satisfy the requirement of the computing resource, the method further includes:

the preset edge server receives the position information of the terminal sent by the task unloading equipment;

after the preset edge server determines that the preset edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request, the method further includes:

and the preset edge server broadcasts the position information of the terminal to the other edge servers and/or the central server.

In one possible implementation, after the preset edge server broadcasts the resource searching request and the location information of the terminal to the other edge servers and/or the central server, the method further includes:

The preset edge server receives third response information sent by a server meeting the requirement of the computing resource in the other edge servers and/or the central server, wherein the third response information comprises address information of the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and a distance between the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal;

and the preset edge server sends the third response information to the task uninstalling equipment.

the preset edge server receives fourth response information sent by a server meeting the requirement of the computing resource in the other edge servers and/or the central server, wherein the fourth response information comprises address information of the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource;

and the preset edge server sends the fourth response information to the task uninstalling equipment.

In one possible implementation manner, after the preset edge server receives the resource searching request sent by the task offloading device, the method further includes:

The preset edge server determines that the preset edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request;

and the preset edge server sends the address information of the preset edge server to the task unloading equipment.

The beneficial effects of the method described in the second aspect may refer to the corresponding beneficial effects of the first aspect, and are not described herein again.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for finding an edge computing server, where the method is applied to an edge computing system, where the edge computing system includes a terminal, a task offloading device, a central server, and multiple edge servers; the method comprises the following steps:

a first edge server receives a resource searching request broadcasted by a preset edge server, wherein the resource searching request carries information of computing resources required by completing a task; the resource searching request is broadcast when the preset edge server judges that the preset edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource after receiving the resource searching request sent by the task unloading equipment; the preset edge server is a server for searching other servers meeting the requirements to execute the task under the condition that a preset central server or edge server does not meet the requirements of the computing resources in a space range covered by a wireless access point accessed by the terminal; the task unloading equipment is deployed in a wireless access point accessed by the terminal; the first edge server comprises servers except a preset edge server in the system;

The first edge server determining that the first edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request;

the first edge server sends second response information responding to the resource searching request to the task unloading equipment, wherein the second response information comprises address information and position information of the first edge server.

In one possible implementation manner, before the determining, by the first edge server according to the resource searching request, that the first edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource, the method further includes:

a first edge server receives the position information of the terminal broadcasted by a preset edge server;

after the first edge server determines that the first edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request, the method further includes:

the first edge server calculates the distance between the first edge server and the terminal according to the position information of the terminal;

the first edge server sends third response information responding to the resource searching request to the task unloading equipment, wherein the third response information comprises address information of the first edge server and the distance between the first edge server and the terminal.

In one possible implementation manner, after determining, by the first edge server according to the resource searching request, that the first edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource, the method includes: the first edge server sends fourth response information to the task uninstalling device, where the fourth response information includes address information of the first edge server, and the fourth response information responds to the resource finding request.

The beneficial effects of the method described in the third aspect may refer to the corresponding beneficial effects of the first aspect, and are not described herein again.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a mobile edge computing task offloading device, where the task offloading device is a device in an edge computing system, and the edge computing system further includes a terminal, a central server, and a plurality of edge servers; the task unloading device includes:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a resource search request sent by the terminal, where the resource search request carries information of a computational resource required to complete a task, and the task offloading device is deployed in a wireless access point to which the terminal accesses;

a determining unit, configured to determine, according to the resource search request, that there is a central server and/or at least one edge server that meets the requirement of the computing resource in a spatial range covered by a wireless access point to which the terminal accesses;

And the selection unit is used for selecting a server for executing the task from the central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource.

In one possible implementation, the selecting unit is specifically configured to:

sending the resource searching request to a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource;

receiving address information sent by a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request;

and selecting a server for executing the task from the central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource according to the sequence of the received address information.

receiving address information and position information sent by a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirements of the computing resources according to the resource searching request;

Calculating a distance between a central server and/or at least one edge server of the demand of the computing resource and the terminal according to the received position information and the position information of the terminal;

and selecting the server closest to the terminal from the servers meeting the requirement of the computing resource according to the calculated distance for executing the task.

sending the resource searching request and the position information of the terminal to a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource;

receiving address information sent by a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request and the distance between the central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal;

and selecting the server closest to the terminal from the central server and/or the at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource according to the distance between the central server and/or the at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal.

In one possible implementation, the task offloading device further includes a sending unit, configured to send, to the terminal, first response information responding to the resource search request after the selecting unit selects a server for executing the task from a central server and/or at least one edge server that meet the requirement of the computing resource according to a sequence of the received address information;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive the task sent by the terminal according to the first response message;

the sending unit is further configured to send the task to the selected server.

In one possible implementation manner, the task offloading device further includes a sending unit and a calculating unit;

the determining unit is further configured to determine, according to the resource search request, a central server or an edge server that does not meet the requirement of the computing resource within a spatial range covered by a wireless access point to which the terminal is accessed;

the sending unit is configured to send the resource searching request to a preset edge server;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive second response information sent by the preset edge server, where the second response information is sent to the preset edge server by a server that meets the requirement of the computing resource, among servers that receive the resource searching request broadcast by the preset edge server, and the second response information includes address information and location information of the server that meets the requirement of the computing resource;

The computing unit is configured to compute a distance between the server satisfying the demand for the computing resource and the terminal according to the location information of the server satisfying the demand for the computing resource and the location information of the terminal;

the selecting unit is further configured to select, according to the calculated distance, a server closest to the terminal from the servers meeting the requirement of the computing resource for executing the task.

In one possible implementation manner, the task offloading device further includes a sending unit;

the sending unit is configured to send the resource searching request and the location information of the terminal to a preset edge server;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive third response information sent by the preset edge server, where the third response information is sent to the preset edge server by a server that meets the requirement of the computing resource, among servers that receive the resource search request and the location information of the terminal broadcast by the preset edge server, and the third response information includes address information of the server that meets the requirement of the computing resource and a distance between the server that meets the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal;

The selection unit is further configured to select a server closest to the terminal from the servers satisfying the demand for the computing resource according to a distance between the server satisfying the demand for the computing resource and the terminal, and execute the task.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an edge server, where the edge server is a server in an edge computing system, and the edge computing system further includes a terminal, a task offloading device, a central server, and a plurality of edge servers except for the edge server, where the task offloading device is deployed in a wireless access point to which the terminal accesses; the edge server includes:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a resource search request sent by the task offloading device, where the resource search request carries information of a computing resource required to complete a task, and the edge server is a server that is configured to search for another server that meets a requirement to execute the task when a preset central server or edge server that does not meet the requirement of the computing resource in a space range covered by a wireless access point to which the terminal is accessed is provided;

A determining unit, configured to determine, according to the resource searching request, that the edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource;

and the broadcasting unit is used for broadcasting the resource searching request to other edge servers and/or the central server.

In one possible implementation, the edge server further includes a sending unit;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive second response information sent by a server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource in the other edge servers and/or the central server after the broadcasting unit broadcasts the resource searching request to the other edge servers and/or the central server, where the second response information includes address information and location information of the server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource;

the sending unit is configured to send the second response information to the task offloading device.

In one possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is further configured to receive the location information of the terminal sent by the task offloading device before the determining unit determines, according to the resource searching request, that the edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource;

The broadcast unit is further configured to broadcast the location information of the terminal to the other edge servers and/or the central server after the determining unit determines that the edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request.

In one possible implementation, the receiving unit is further configured to receive third response information sent by a server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource in the other edge servers and/or the central server after the broadcasting unit broadcasts the resource searching request and the location information of the terminal to the other edge servers and/or the central server, where the third response information includes address information of the server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource and a distance between the server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal;

the sending unit is configured to send the third response information to the task offloading device.

In one possible implementation, the receiving unit is further configured to receive, after the broadcasting unit broadcasts the resource searching request to other edge servers and/or a central server, fourth response information sent by a server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource in the other edge servers and/or the central server, where the fourth response information includes address information of the server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource;

The sending unit is configured to send the fourth response information to the task offloading device.

the determining unit is further configured to determine, after the receiving unit receives the resource search request sent by the task offloading device, that the edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource search request;

the sending unit is configured to send address information of the edge server to the task offload device.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an edge server, where the edge server is a server in an edge computing system, and the edge computing system further includes a terminal, a task offloading device, an edge server other than the edge server, and a center server; the edge server includes:

the system comprises a receiving unit, a processing unit and a processing unit, wherein the receiving unit is used for receiving a resource searching request broadcasted by a preset edge server, and the resource searching request carries information of computing resources required by completing a task; the resource searching request is broadcast when the preset edge server judges that the preset edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource after receiving the resource searching request sent by the task unloading equipment; the preset edge server is a server for searching other servers meeting the requirements to execute the task under the condition that a preset central server or edge server does not meet the requirements of the computing resources in a space range covered by a wireless access point accessed by the terminal; the task unloading equipment is deployed in a wireless access point accessed by the terminal; the first edge server comprises servers except a preset edge server in the system;

A determining unit, configured to determine, according to the resource searching request, that the first edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource;

a sending unit, configured to send, to the task offload device, second response information in response to the resource search request, where the second response information includes address information and location information of the first edge server.

In one possible implementation, the edge server further includes a computing unit;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive location information of the terminal broadcast by a preset edge server before the determining unit determines, according to the resource searching request, that the first edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource;

the computing unit is configured to compute a distance between the first edge server and the terminal according to the location information of the terminal after the determining unit determines that the first edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request;

the sending unit is further configured to send, to the task offload device, third response information in response to the resource search request, where the third response information includes address information of the first edge server and a distance between the first edge server and the terminal.

In one possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to send, to the task offloading device, fourth response information in response to the resource search request after the determining unit determines, according to the resource search request, that the first edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource, where the fourth response information includes address information of the first edge server.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a mobile edge computing task offloading device, where the server may include: a memory, and a processor, a communication interface coupled with the memory. The communication interface may be configured to support the server to perform the steps of sending and receiving information in the method for finding an edge computing server provided in the first aspect. The communication interface may include a transmitter and a receiver, among other things. The processor is configured to support the task offloading device to perform other processing steps in addition to sending and receiving information in the method for finding an edge computing server provided by the first aspect.

The memory is used for storing a computer program for implementing the finding method of the edge computing server described in the above first aspect, and the processor is used for executing the program stored in the memory, that is, executing the finding method of the edge computing server provided in the first aspect, or any one of the possible implementation manners provided in the above first aspect. The memory and the processor may be integrated together or may be coupled by a coupler.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an edge server, where the edge server may include: a memory, and a processor, a communication interface coupled with the memory. Wherein, the communication interface may be configured to support the edge server to perform the steps of sending and receiving information in the method for finding an edge computing server provided by the second aspect. The communication interface may include a transmitter and a receiver, among other things. The processor is configured to support the edge server to perform other processing steps than sending and receiving information in the method for finding an edge computing server provided by the second aspect.

The memory is used for storing a computer program for implementing the searching method of the edge computing server described in the second aspect, and the processor is used for executing the program stored in the memory, that is, executing the searching method of the edge computing server provided in the second aspect, or any one of the possible implementation manners provided in the second aspect. The memory and the processor may be integrated together or may be coupled by a coupler.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an edge server, where the edge server may include: a memory, and a processor, a communication interface coupled with the memory. Wherein, the communication interface may be configured to support the edge server to perform the steps of sending and receiving information in the method for finding an edge computing server provided in the third aspect. The communication interface may include a transmitter and a receiver, among other things. The processor is configured to support the edge server to perform other processing steps than sending information and receiving information in the edge computing server finding method provided by the third aspect.

The memory is used for storing a computer program for implementing the finding method of the edge computing server described in the third aspect, and the processor is used for executing the program stored in the memory, that is, executing the finding method of the edge computing server provided in the third aspect, or any one of the possible implementation manners provided in the third aspect. The memory and the processor may be integrated together or may be coupled by a coupler.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored, and the computer program is executed by a processor to implement the method in any one of the above first aspects.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, where the computer program is executed by a processor to implement the method of any one of the above second aspects.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, where the computer program is executed by a processor to implement the method in any one of the third aspects.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer program product, which when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the above first aspects.

In a fourteenth aspect, embodiments of the present invention provide a computer program product, which when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the second aspects described above.

In a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer program product, which when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the above third aspects.

In summary, compared with the architecture in which all resources and scheduling data are distributed and configured by the central cloud and the edge cloud performs task execution only in the prior art, the invention completes the scheduling of the resources and data by the task offloading device deployed in the wireless access point, that is, the server meeting the terminal requirements is selected nearby to calculate and complete the tasks required to be calculated by the terminal, thereby realizing the response of the terminal requirements with the lowest time delay and saving the network overhead.

Drawings

The drawings used in the embodiments of the present application will be described below.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture of a method for finding an edge computing server according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 2 is an interaction flow diagram of a searching method of an edge computing server according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a schematic view of another interaction flow of the finding method of the edge computing server according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another system architecture of a method for finding an edge computing server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic logical structure diagram of a task offloading device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a logical structure of an edge server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic logical structure diagram of another edge server according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic hardware structure diagram of a task offloading device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 9 is a schematic hardware structure diagram of an edge server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of another edge server according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In order to better understand the method for finding an edge computing server provided by the embodiment of the present invention, a system architecture applicable to the embodiment of the present invention is described below. Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture applicable to the method for finding an edge computing server according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the system architecture may include four layers, where the first layer is a terminal layer, the second layer is a radio access layer, the third layer is an edge cloud layer, and the fourth layer is a center cloud layer. The terminal layer includes one or more terminals 101; the wireless access layer comprises one or more wireless access points 102 and one or more task unloading devices 103, namely the task unloading devices 103 are deployed in the wireless access layer, and each wireless access point can correspondingly deploy one or more task unloading devices 103; the edge cloud includes one or more edge servers 104; the central cloud tier includes one or more central servers 105 (multiple servers may form a server cluster). It should be noted that the edge server 104 may be an edge cloud server, and the central server 105 may be a central cloud server.

The terminal 101 may install and run related application software or APP, which is application software or APP suitable for the user terminal and adapted to the related requirements of the user. Application software is a collection of computer programs and instructions that provide services to customers. Here, the service may include, but is not limited to: an Internet Protocol (IP) address or other address (e.g., Media Access Control (MAC)) of a server capable of completing a corresponding task, and the like are transmitted to the wireless access point 102 and received. The terminal 101 may include any handheld electronic product based on a smart operating system, which can interact with a user through an input device such as a keyboard, a virtual keyboard, a touch pad, a touch screen, and a voice control device, such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, a handheld computer, a wearable electronic device, and so on. The smart operating system includes, but is not limited to, any operating system that enriches device functionality by providing various applications to the device, such as Android, IOS, Windows, and MAC systems, among others. The terminal 101 may also include an in-vehicle device, a vehicle, a robot, or other artificial intelligence device.

The wireless access point 102 is an access point for a user using the terminal 101 to enter a wired network, and is mainly used in broadband homes, buildings, campuses, parks, warehouses, factories, and other places requiring wireless monitoring, typically covering several tens of meters to hundreds of meters, and also used for long-distance transmission, and currently, the farthest distance can reach about 30KM, and the main technology is IEEE802.11 series. Most wireless access points also have an access point client mode, which can be wirelessly connected with other access points to extend the coverage of the network.

The wireless access point 102 may include a routing switch access integrated device that performs access and routing tasks and a pure access point device that is generally used as a wireless network extension and is connected to other access points or a main access point to extend wireless coverage, and the integrated device is generally the core of the wireless network.

In the embodiment of the present application, the coverage area of each wireless access point 102 is covered with one or more edge servers 104, and may also be covered with one or more center servers 105, where a specific coverage condition is determined according to an actual situation, and the present solution does not limit this.

In addition, in this embodiment, the wireless access point 102 may be configured to receive a resource searching request sent by the terminal 101 through a wireless network such as 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G, and then send the request to the task offloading device 103 disposed on the side of the wireless access point 102, where the task offloading device 103 processes the request (for example, determine whether there is a server satisfying the demand for computing resources in the coverage area of the wireless access point 102 according to the request, send the task of the terminal to the server satisfying the demand, and execute the task). Mobile edge computing can utilize a wireless access network to provide services and cloud computing functions required by Information Technology (IT) in the near field, creating a carrier-class service environment with high performance, low latency, and high bandwidth, accelerating the fast download of various content, services, and applications in the network, and allowing consumers to enjoy an uninterrupted high-quality network experience.

The edge server 104 is a server deployed at the edge side of the central cloud, and is used for providing various required computing services for the user terminal nearby. For example, if the central cloud is deployed in shanghai and the user terminals are dispersed in regions such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Beijing, the edge servers can be deployed in regions such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Beijing, so that the local user terminals can obtain required services and computing functions from the nearby edge servers nearby without seeking responses to the central server in a long distance, thereby saving network resources and improving response efficiency.

The central server 105 is mainly used to provide necessary responses when the edge server cannot respond to the request of the terminal.

In the embodiment of the present application, the task offloading device 103 may be a Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) server or may be another device that conforms to the same communication protocol standard as the MEC server and can implement the related functions.

Optionally, a service offload agent is deployed on the task offload device, where the service offload agent may be software or an application program, and the task offload device running the service offload agent may implement the operation performed by the task offload device in this embodiment of the present application.

In the prior art, since task off-load facilities usually mainly use general purpose and small servers, the provided computing resources are limited, and a large amount of Virtual Reality (VR) scenes, Augmented Reality (AR) scenes or cloud game heavy scenes cannot be calculated. The edge server 104 in the embodiment of the present application is a server deployed nearby near the terminal, and has enough computing resources to complete computing required by scenes such as VR, AR, and cloud games.

It should be noted that the system architecture to which the method for finding an edge computing server provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied is not limited to the system architecture shown in fig. 1.

The following describes a method for finding an edge computing server, which can be applied to the system architecture shown in fig. 1. The method includes, but is not limited to, the steps of:

step 201, the terminal sends a resource searching request to the task unloading device, where the request carries information of computing resources required for completing the task.

Step 202, the task offloading device receives a resource searching request sent by the terminal.

In a particular embodiment, the task offload device is deployed in a wireless access point to which the terminal has access. The task offload device may communicate with the wireless access point. Specifically, after the wireless access point receives the resource searching request, the task offloading device obtains the request from the wireless access point. In addition, the wireless access point may acquire information such as resource idleness of the edge server and/or the central server within the coverage area of the wireless access point, and the task offloading device may acquire the information through the information acquired by the wireless access point, for example, through a network slice or other technology. Optionally, the resource idle condition of the edge server and/or the central server may include information such as a memory idle condition of a processor, an idle condition of a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) resource, an idle condition of a hard disk space, and an idle condition of an Input/Output (I/O) interface or device.

Alternatively, the task may be a task for performing image processing, such as rendering, encoding, and the like, and the resource search request may be a request for searching a computing resource to execute the image processing task.

Optionally, the computing resources may include information such as memory of the processor, GPU, hard disk, and I/O. The information of the computing resources carried in the resource search request may include information such as a memory space required for completing the task, a type and/or number of GPUs, a size of a hard disk space, I/O, and time. For example, the information of the computing resource may be information that the memory of the processor in the server executing the task is not less than 1G, 2 GPUs are required, the size of the hard disk space is not less than 4G, and 1 second is required for completion. This is done merely for ease of understanding the exemplary illustrations and is not meant to be limiting in its practice.

Alternatively, the terminal may be the terminal 101 shown in fig. 1, the wireless access point may be the wireless access point 102 shown in fig. 1, the task offloading device may be the task offloading device 103 shown in fig. 1, and the edge server may be the edge server 104 shown in fig. 1.

And 203, the task unloading equipment determines that a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource exist in a preset range according to the resource searching request.

And 204, selecting a server for executing the task from the central server and/or the at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource by the task unloading equipment.

Optionally, the preset range includes a spatial range covered by the wireless access point, and the spatial range may include an edge server and/or a central server. Optionally, the central server may be the central server 105 described in fig. 1.

In a specific embodiment, after receiving the request, the task offloading device parses the request, obtains information of computing resources required for completing the task, and then compares the information of the required computing resources with information of resource idleness of an edge server and/or a central server within a coverage area of the wireless access point one by one to determine whether there is a server meeting the task requirement.

To facilitate understanding of whether the above-mentioned server satisfies the requirements, see table 1 for example.

TABLE 1

Server name	Memory idle condition	Resource idle condition of GPU	Free disk space conditions
				Server 1	3G	Idling a first type of GPU	100G
Server 2	2G	Idling two second type GPUs	50G
				Server 3	1G	Idling a third type of GPU	20G

The information of the computing resources required for completing the tasks is assumed to be that the memory space of the server is not less than 2G, the first type of GPU and the hard disk space of the server are not less than 50G. Then, the conditions included in the information are compared one by one with the conditions of the servers in table 1. It can be seen that only server 1 in table 1 meets the requirements of the above task, while server 2 and server 3 do not. Table 1 is merely a simple example for easy understanding, and the specific computing resource requirement is determined according to specific situations, and the present solution is not limited thereto.

If only one server meeting the computing resource requirement is in the preset range under the condition that the servers meeting the computing resource requirement in the preset range are determined, the task unloading device selects the server meeting the requirement as the server executing the task. The task off-load device then sends the resource-finding request to the one server that satisfies the demand. And after receiving the request, the server meeting the requirement sends the address information of the server to the task unloading equipment according to the request.

The address information includes an internet protocol IP address or a media access control address (MAC) of the server that meets the requirement, and the like, which can route the packet to the server. In this embodiment of the application, the address information may be used to instruct the task offloading device to send the task to a server corresponding to the address information for execution.

If there are multiple servers meeting the computing resource requirement within the preset range, the task offloading device may select one server from the multiple servers meeting the requirement as a server for performing the task.

The following describes how the task offloading device selects one server from the plurality of servers that meet the requirement as the server for performing the task: the task unloading equipment synchronously sends the resource searching request to the plurality of servers meeting the requirements; the task unloading equipment receives address information sent by the plurality of servers meeting the requirements; and the task unloading equipment selects the servers for executing the tasks according to the sequence of the address information sent by the plurality of servers meeting the requirements.

In a specific embodiment, the task offloading device may send the resource searching request to the multiple servers meeting the requirements at the same time, and after receiving the request, the multiple servers meeting the requirements send respective address information to the task offloading device according to the request, and then the task offloading device may select a server corresponding to the address information received first as a server for executing the task. Of course, the task offloading device may also select a server corresponding to the received second or third address information as the server for performing the task. The specific selected server is determined according to specific situations, and the scheme is not limited to this.

In one possible embodiment, the step 204, the task offloading device selecting a server for performing the task from the central server and/or the at least one edge server that meet the requirement of the computing resource may also be implemented as follows:

in this implementation manner, after the task offloading device sends the resource searching request to the server satisfying the requirement, the server satisfying the requirement sends address information and location information of the server to the task offloading device according to the resource searching request. The location information may be information of an actual location, for example, the location information may be latitude and longitude information of a location where the server meeting the requirement is located, or may also be information of a location mark of the server meeting the requirement preset by the system, and the like.

And the task unloading equipment calculates the distance between the server meeting the requirement and the terminal according to the received position information of the server meeting the requirement and the position information of the terminal, and then selects the server closest to the terminal from the servers meeting the requirement as the server for executing the task.

In one possible embodiment, the step 204, the task offloading device selecting a server for performing the task from the central server and/or the at least one edge server that meet the requirement of the computing resource, may also be an implementation manner as follows:

in this implementation, the task offloading device sends the resource search request to the server satisfying the requirement, and also sends the location information of the terminal to the server satisfying the requirement.

Optionally, in this implementation, the task offloading device may send a request that the location information of the terminal is added to the resource searching request to the server that meets the requirement.

Specifically, the location information of the terminal may be information of an actual location, for example, the location information may be information of latitude and longitude of a location where the terminal is located, or may also be information of a location mark preset by a system, and the like.

Optionally, the wireless access point to which the terminal accesses may obtain the location information of the terminal, and then the task offloading device may obtain the location information through the wireless access point, for example, obtain the location information through a network slicing technique.

In a specific embodiment, if there is only one server satisfying the computing resource requirement within the preset range, the task offloading device selects the one server satisfying the computing resource requirement as the server for performing the task. The terminal location information may not be sent to the server meeting the requirement, and then the specific operation refers to the corresponding description in step 204 in fig. 2, which is not described herein again.

Specifically, the task offloading device may send the resource search request and the location information of the terminal to the plurality of servers meeting the requirement, respectively, and after receiving the request and the location information of the terminal, the plurality of servers meeting the requirement calculate a distance between the server and the terminal according to the location information of the terminal, respectively, and then send address information of the server and the distance between the server and the terminal to the task offloading device. After the task unloading device receives the information, the task unloading device selects the server closest to the terminal as the server for executing the task.

After the task uninstalling device selects a server for executing the task, there are two processing methods:

in a first processing mode, the task uninstalling device sends response information to the resource searching request sent by the terminal to the terminal.

In this processing method, the response information is referred to as first response information, and the first response information includes instruction information for instructing the terminal to transmit the task to be calculated to the task offloading device.

In a specific embodiment, the task offloading device sends the first response information to the terminal, and after receiving the first response information, the terminal parses the information to obtain indication information, and then sends the task to be executed to the task offloading device according to the indication information. And after receiving the task, the task unloading equipment sends the task to the selected server, the server executes the task, sends an execution result to the task unloading equipment, and the task unloading equipment sends the execution result to the terminal.

Alternatively, the instruction information in the first response information may be address information of the selected server that executes the task, or may be other predetermined information.

In a second processing mode, the task offloading device sends the address information of the selected server for executing the task to the terminal, and after receiving the address information, the terminal directly sends the task to be executed to the selected server for executing the task according to the address information, and the server executes the task and directly sends the execution result to the terminal.

The above method embodiment describes a case where there is a server satisfying the demand of the computing resource within the preset range, and the following describes an embodiment of a case where there is no server satisfying the demand of the computing resource within the preset range, referring to fig. 3.

Step 301, the terminal sends a resource searching request to the task unloading device, where the request carries information of computing resources required for completing the task.

Step 302, the task offloading device receives a resource searching request sent by the terminal.

In a specific embodiment, step 301 and step 302 are the same as step 201 and step 202 described in fig. 2, and for a specific implementation, reference may be made to the above corresponding description, which is not described herein again.

Step 303, the task offloading device determines that no server meets the requirement of the computing resource within the preset range according to the resource searching request.

And step 304, the task unloading device sends the resource searching request to a preset edge server.

Specifically, the preset edge cloud server is a server for searching other cloud servers meeting the requirements to execute the task under the condition that a preset central cloud server or edge cloud server does not meet the requirements of the computing resources within a spatial range covered by a wireless access point accessed by the terminal.

Optionally, the preset edge servers may be one or more.

Optionally, the preset edge server may be an edge server within a coverage area of the wireless access point, or may be an edge server within a coverage area of another wireless access point except the wireless access point accessed by the terminal in the same network.

Step 305, the preset edge server determines that the preset edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request.

Step 306, the preset edge server broadcasts the resource searching request to other edge servers and/or the central server.

Optionally, the other edge servers and/or the central server include edge servers and/or central servers in the network where the wireless access point is located, except for the preset edge server.

In a specific embodiment, after receiving a resource searching request sent by a task offloading device, the edge server parses the request, obtains information of computing resources in the request, and then compares the information of the computing resources with computing resources of the edge server one by one to determine whether the edge server meets the requirements of the computing resources required by the task. In the case that the preset edge server determines that the preset edge server is not satisfied, the preset edge server may broadcast the resource searching request to the other edge servers and/or the central server.

Alternatively, the preset edge server and the other edge servers and/or the central server may be networked in a full-connection (full mesh) manner.

After the other edge servers and/or the central server receive the broadcasted resource searching request, the resource searching request is analyzed to obtain information of computing resources required by the task in the request, and then the computing resources are compared with the computing resources in the respective servers one by one to judge whether the requirements of the computing resources required by the task are met.

Optionally, if none of the other edge servers and/or the central server meets the requirement, and the other edge servers and/or the central server include the central server, all the servers that do not meet the requirement send response information that does not meet the requirement to the preset edge server, and then the preset edge server sends the response information to the task offloading device, and the task offloading device determines that the resource search is failed according to the response information, and sends a response that the resource search is failed to the terminal.

Optionally, if none of the other edge servers and/or the central server meets the requirement, and the other edge servers and/or the central server does not include the central server, all the servers that do not meet the requirement send response information that does not meet the requirement to the preset edge server, and then the preset edge server sends the resource searching request to the central server according to the response information, and the central server searches for a server that meets the requirement according to the request.

Optionally, if there is a server meeting the requirement in the other edge servers and/or the central server, the server meeting the requirement sends its own address information to the preset edge server, and then the preset edge server sends the received address information to the task offloading device.

If only one of the other edge servers and/or the central server is available to satisfy the demand. In this case, the task off-load device determines the one server satisfying the requirement as the server performing the task. The specific implementation after determining the server executing the task may refer to two processing manners listed in "after the task offloading device selects the server executing the task", and details are not described here.

If there are more than one of the other edge servers and/or the central server. In this case, the task offload device may select a server for performing the task according to the received order of the address information of the plurality of servers that meet the requirement. For example, the server corresponding to the address information received first may be selected as the server for executing the task. Of course, the task offloading device may also select a server corresponding to the received second or third address information as the server for performing the task. The specific selected server is determined according to specific situations, and the scheme is not limited to this. For specific implementation after the server executing the task is selected, reference may be made to two processing manners listed in "after the task offloading device selects the server executing the task," and details are not described here.

In one possible implementation manner, after the step 304, the task offload device sending the resource searching request to a preset edge server, the method further includes: and the edge server determines that the preset edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request.

In this case, the preset edge server sends its own address information to the task offload device, and after receiving the address information of the preset edge server, the task offload device determines that the preset edge server is a server for executing the task. The specific implementation after determining the server executing the task may refer to two processing manners listed in "after the task offloading device selects the server executing the task", and details are not described here.

In some possible embodiments, after the step 306, the preset edge server broadcasts the resource searching request to other edge servers and/or the central server, the following embodiments may be further included:

after the other edge servers and/or the central server receive the resource searching request, the other edge servers and/or the central server similarly analyze the request to obtain information of computing resources required by the task in the request, and then compare the computing resources with the computing resources in the respective servers one by one to judge whether the requirements of the computing resources required by the task are met.

Optionally, if none of the other edge servers and/or the central server meets the requirement, the specific implementation manner may refer to the corresponding description in step 306 of fig. 3, and is not described herein again.

Optionally, if any server in the other edge servers and/or the central server meets the requirement, the server meeting the requirement in the other edge servers and/or the central server sends the location information and the address information of the server to the preset edge server according to the request. And then, the preset edge server sends the received address information and the received position information to the task unloading equipment.

Similarly, if only one of the other edge servers and/or the central server is satisfied. In this case, the task off-load device determines the one server satisfying the requirement as the server performing the task. The specific implementation after determining the server executing the task may refer to two processing manners listed in "after the task offloading device selects the server executing the task", and details are not described here.

If there are more than one of the other edge servers and/or the central server that meet the demand. In this case, the task offloading device calculates distances between the terminal and the plurality of servers that satisfy the demand, respectively, based on the received location information of the plurality of servers that satisfy the demand and the location information of the terminal, and then selects, as the server that performs the task, a server that is closest to the terminal among the plurality of servers that satisfy the demand. For specific implementation after the server executing the task is selected, reference may be made to two processing manners listed in "after the task offloading device selects the server executing the task," and details are not described here.

In some possible embodiments, after the step 303, determining, by the task offload device according to the resource search request, that no server in the preset range meets the requirement of the computing resource, "before the step 305, determining, by the edge server according to the resource search request, that the preset edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource," further includes: and the task unloading equipment also sends the position information of the terminal to a preset edge server.

In this case, after the edge server determines that the preset edge server does not satisfy the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request in step 305, the location information of the terminal is broadcasted to other edge servers and/or the center server in addition to broadcasting the resource searching request to the other edge servers and/or the center server.

In a specific embodiment, if there is a server satisfying the requirement in the other edge servers and/or the central server, the server satisfying the requirement calculates the distance between the server and the terminal according to the received location information of the terminal, and then sends the calculated distance and the address information of the server to the preset edge server. And the preset edge server sends the received distance and address information to the task unloading equipment.

If there are more than one of the other edge servers and/or the central server that meet the demand. In this case, the task offloading device first selects, according to the received distances between the plurality of servers satisfying the demand and the terminal, a server closest to the terminal among the plurality of servers satisfying the demand as the server for executing the task. For specific implementation after the server executing the task is selected, reference may be made to two processing manners listed in "after the task offloading device selects the server executing the task," and details are not described here.

In one possible implementation manner, after receiving a resource searching request sent by a terminal, the task offloading device may first directly send the resource searching request to a preset edge server without determining whether a server meets the requirement of computing resources within the preset range. The preset edge server can judge whether the preset edge server meets the requirements or not according to the resource searching request, if the preset edge server meets the requirements, the preset edge server sends the address information of the preset edge server to the task unloading equipment, and if the preset edge server does not meet the requirements, the preset edge server broadcasts the resource searching request to other edge servers and/or the central server. Then, for the specific implementation after broadcasting, reference may be made to the corresponding description in the foregoing method embodiments, and details are not described here again.

In one possible implementation manner, after receiving the resource searching request sent by the terminal, the task offloading device may first send the resource searching request to a preset edge server without determining whether a server meets the requirement of the computing resource within the preset range. The preset edge server may also directly broadcast the resource searching request to the other edge servers and/or the central server without determining whether the preset edge server meets the requirement according to the resource searching request. Then, the specific implementation after broadcasting may refer to the corresponding description in the foregoing method embodiments, and details are not described here again.

Based on the above method embodiment, an optimal embodiment of the method for finding an edge computing server provided by the embodiment of the present application is described below. Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 illustrates an architecture diagram of a terminal and an edge server within the coverage of a wireless access point in the system of fig. 1.

Referring to fig. 4, a wireless access point has task offload device 402 deployed therein (one or more task offload devices 402 may be deployed), and a traffic offload agent is deployed in task offload device 402. One or more terminals 401 are included within the coverage area of the wireless access point, and a task computation manager is deployed in the terminals 401. The wireless access point coverage area includes one or more edge servers 403, and task receivers are deployed in the edge servers 403. The edge servers 403 may communicate with a central server 404, where a task coordinator is deployed in the central server 404.

A service unloading agent in the task unloading equipment 402 can acquire information of the edge server 403 in a preset range through a wireless access point, and provide local scheduling capability so as to quickly find a server meeting the requirements of a terminal and respond to the request of the terminal; meanwhile, under the condition that no server meets the terminal requirement in a preset range, the request is further packaged and sent to a task receiver of a preset edge server, so that searching operation in a wider range is carried out. The default edge server may be the same as the default edge server in the foregoing method embodiment. The preset range is a spatial range covered by the wireless access point.

The task receiver in the edge server 403 may provide an Application Programming Interface (API) for receiving a task request to the wireless access point, and may provide an API for sending a request broadcast to other edge servers or to a task coordinator at the center side.

The task coordinator of the central server 404, whose API is mainly provided for the task receivers of the edge servers, may perform global scheduling when the broadcast mode of the edge servers cannot meet the task requirements.

It should be noted that the service offload agent, the task calculation manager, the task receiver, and the task coordinator may be implemented by software, and a specific implementation manner is determined according to a specific situation, which is not limited by the present solution.

In a specific embodiment, after the terminal 401 generates a resource search request of a task to be executed (the request may be the same as the resource request in the foregoing method embodiment), the request may be first sent to a computing task manager in the terminal 401, and the computing task manager may compute whether the terminal 401 has a resource to complete the task.

If the terminal 401 does not have the resource to complete the task, the terminal 401 sends the resource search request to the wireless access point, and then the task offloading device 402 acquires the request from the wireless access point based on the network slicing technique and sends the request to the service offloading agent. Specifically, the service offload agent uses a capability API of the task offload device, such as Traffic off load, to register a service type or Traffic slice, and then the task offload device demodulates and sends the specified flow to the service offload agent of the task offload device.

After the service offload agent obtains the request, it parses the request, and obtains information of the computing resources required for completing the task in the request, which may include information such as a memory idle condition of a processor, an idle condition of a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) resource, an idle condition of a hard disk space, and an idle condition of an Input/Output (I/O) interface or a device, for example. Meanwhile, the service offload agent obtains the idle condition of the computing resources of the edge server 403 within the preset range through the wireless access point.

Then, the service offload agent compares the computing resources obtained from the request with the idle computing resources of the edge server 403 within the preset range one by one to determine whether any server meets the requirements of the computing resources in the request.

If a server meets the requirement, the service offloading agent repackages the request and sends the repackaged request to the task receiver in the edge server 403 meeting the requirement, the task receiver analyzes the request, and then the task offloading agent sends the address information of the server to the task offloading device 402 according to the analysis result. After receiving the address information, the task offload device 402 sends the address information to the service offload agent of the server, and the service offload agent performs subsequent processing. It should be noted that, in the foregoing method embodiment, the operation processed by the task offloading device may be processed by the service offloading agent in the task offloading device, and the subsequent processing may refer to the corresponding description in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

And if no server meets the requirements after the judgment, the service unloading agent repackages the request and sends the repackaged request to a task receiver of a preset edge server, and the task receiver performs subsequent processing. It should be noted that the operation processed by the preset edge server in the foregoing method embodiment may be processed by the task receiver in the preset edge server, and the subsequent processing may refer to the corresponding description in the foregoing method embodiment, and is not described herein again.

In one possible implementation, the sending of the request to the task receiver of the preset edge server after the service offload agent repackages the request includes sending the request to the task receiver of the preset edge server after the request is added with the location information of the terminal 401, and then performing subsequent processing by the task receiver. Similarly, it should be noted that the operation processed by the preset edge server in the foregoing method embodiment may be processed by the task receiver in the preset edge server, and the subsequent processing may refer to the corresponding description in the foregoing method embodiment, and is not described herein again.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application is mainly introduced from the perspective of interaction between a terminal, a task offloading device, and a server (including an edge server and a central server). It is to be understood that each network element, such as the terminal, the task offloading device, the server, and the like, includes a hardware structure and/or a software module for performing each function in order to implement the corresponding function. Those of skill in the art would readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal, the task offloading device, the server, and the like may be divided into the functional modules according to the above method example, for example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the module is schematic, and is only one logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

In the case of dividing each functional module by corresponding functions, fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a possible logical structure of the task offloading device according to any of the above method embodiments, where the task offloading device 500 includes:

a receiving unit 501, configured to receive a resource search request sent by the terminal, where the resource search request carries information of a computing resource required to complete a task, and the task offloading device 500 is deployed in a wireless access point to which the terminal is accessed;

a determining unit 502, configured to determine, according to the resource search request, that there is a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource in a spatial range covered by a wireless access point accessed by the terminal;

a selecting unit 503, configured to select a server for performing the task from the central server and/or the at least one edge server that meet the requirement of the computing resource.

In some possible embodiments, the selection unit 503 is specifically configured to:

In some possible embodiments, the task offloading device 500 further includes a sending unit, configured to send, to the terminal, first response information responding to the resource search request after the selecting unit 503 selects a server for executing the task from a central server and/or at least one edge server that meet the requirement of the computing resource according to the order of the received address information;

a receiving unit 501, configured to receive the task sent by the terminal according to the first response message;

the sending unit is further configured to send the task to the selected server.

In some possible embodiments, the task off-load device 500 further comprises a sending unit and a computing unit;

a determining unit 502, further configured to determine, according to the resource searching request, a central server or an edge server that does not meet the requirement of the computing resource within a spatial range covered by a wireless access point accessed by the terminal;

a receiving unit 501, configured to receive second response information sent by the preset edge server, where the second response information is sent to the preset edge server by a server meeting the requirement of the computing resource, among servers that receive the resource searching request broadcasted by the preset edge server, and the second response information includes address information and location information of the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource;

the selecting unit 503 is further configured to select, according to the calculated distance, a server closest to the terminal from the servers meeting the requirement of the computing resource for executing the task.

In some possible embodiments, the task off-load device 500 further includes a sending unit;

The sending unit is configured to send the resource search request and the location information of the terminal to a preset edge server;

a receiving unit 501, configured to receive third response information sent by the preset edge server, where the third response information is sent to the preset edge server by a server that meets the requirement of the computing resource, among servers that receive the resource search request and the location information of the terminal broadcast by the preset edge server, and the third response information includes address information of the server that meets the requirement of the computing resource and a distance between the server that meets the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal;

the selecting unit 503 is further configured to select a server closest to the terminal from the servers meeting the requirement of the computing resource according to the distance between the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal, for executing the task.

In a case of dividing each functional module by corresponding functions, fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a possible logical structure of a preset edge server in any of the method embodiments described above, where the edge server 600 includes:

A receiving unit 601, configured to receive a resource searching request sent by the task offloading device, where the resource searching request carries information of a computing resource needed to complete a task, and the edge server 600 is a server that is configured to search for another server that meets a requirement to execute the task when a preset central server or edge server that does not meet the requirement of the computing resource in a space range covered by a wireless access point to which the terminal accesses is provided;

a determining unit 602, configured to determine that the edge server 600 does not meet the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request;

a broadcasting unit 603, configured to broadcast the resource finding request to other edge servers and/or the central server.

In one possible embodiment, the edge server 600 further includes a sending unit;

a receiving unit 601, further configured to receive second response information sent by a server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource in the other edge servers and/or the central servers after the broadcasting unit 603 broadcasts the resource searching request to the other edge servers and/or the central servers, where the second response information includes address information and location information of the server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource;

In one possible implementation manner, the receiving unit 601 is further configured to receive the location information of the terminal sent by the task offloading device before the determining unit 602 determines that the edge server 600 does not meet the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request;

the broadcasting unit 603 is further configured to broadcast the location information of the terminal to the other edge servers and/or the central server after the determining unit 602 determines that the edge server 600 does not meet the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request.

In one possible embodiment, the receiving unit 601 is further configured to receive third response information sent by a server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource in the other edge servers and/or the central servers after the broadcasting unit 603 broadcasts the resource searching request and the location information of the terminal to the other edge servers and/or the central server, where the third response information includes address information of the server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource and a distance between the server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal;

In one possible implementation, the receiving unit 601 is further configured to receive fourth response information sent by a server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource in other edge servers and/or central servers after the broadcasting unit 603 broadcasts the resource searching request to the other edge servers and/or central servers, where the fourth response information includes address information of the server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource;

In one possible implementation, the edge server 600 further includes a sending unit;

a determining unit 602, further configured to determine, after the receiving unit 601 receives the resource searching request sent by the task offloading device, that the edge server 600 meets the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request;

the sending unit is configured to send address information of the edge server 600 to the task offload device.

In the case of dividing each functional module by corresponding functions, fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a possible logical structure of any one of the other edge servers and/or the central server involved in any one of the embodiments of the method described above, where the server 700 includes:

A receiving unit 701, configured to receive a resource search request broadcasted by a preset edge server, where the resource search request carries information of a computing resource required for completing a task; the resource searching request is broadcast when the preset edge server judges that the preset edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource after receiving the resource searching request sent by the task unloading equipment; the preset edge server is a server for searching other servers meeting the requirements to execute the task under the condition that a preset central server or edge server does not meet the requirements of the computing resources in a space range covered by a wireless access point accessed by the terminal; the task unloading equipment is deployed in a wireless access point accessed by the terminal; the first edge server comprises servers except a preset edge server in the system;

a determining unit 702, configured to determine, according to the resource searching request, that the first edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource;

a sending unit 703 is configured to send, to the task offload device, second response information responding to the resource search request, where the second response information includes address information and location information of the first edge server.

In one possible implementation, the server 700 further includes a computing unit;

a receiving unit 701, further configured to receive location information of the terminal broadcast by a preset edge server before the determining unit 702 determines, according to the resource searching request, that the first edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource;

the calculating unit is configured to calculate a distance between the first edge server and the terminal according to the location information of the terminal after the determining unit 702 determines that the first edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request;

the sending unit 703 is further configured to send, to the task offload device, third response information responding to the resource search request, where the third response information includes address information of the first edge server and a distance between the first edge server and the terminal.

In one possible implementation manner, the sending unit 703 is further configured to send, to the task offloading device, fourth response information responding to the resource searching request after the determining unit 702 determines that the first edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request, where the fourth response information includes address information of the first edge server.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a possible hardware structure of a task offloading device in an embodiment of a method for finding an edge computing server according to the present application. The task unloading device 800 includes: a processor 801, a memory 802, and a communication interface 803. The processor 801, the communication interface 803, and the memory 802 may be connected to each other or to each other through a bus 804.

Illustratively, the memory 802 is used for storing computer programs and data of the task offloading device 800, and the memory 802 may include, but is not limited to, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a portable read-only memory (CD-ROM), and the like. The communication interface 803 is used to support the task off-load device 800 in communicating, such as receiving or sending data.

The processor 801 may illustratively be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, transistor logic, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. A processor may also be a combination of computing functions, e.g., a combination of one or more microprocessors, a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, or the like. The processor 801 may be configured to read the program stored in the memory 802, and execute the operations implemented by the task offloading device in the methods described in fig. 2 and fig. 3 and in the possible embodiments.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a possible hardware structure of a preset edge server in the embodiment of the method for finding an edge computing server according to the embodiment of the present application. The edge server 900 includes: a processor 901, a memory 902 and a communication interface 903. The processor 901, communication interface 903, and memory 902 may be interconnected or interconnected through a bus 904.

Illustratively, the memory 902 is used for storing computer programs and data of the edge server 900, and the memory 902 may include, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, CD-ROM, or the like. The communication interface 903 is used to support the edge server 900 for communication, such as receiving or transmitting data.

Illustratively, the processor 901 may be a central processing unit, a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, transistor logic, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. A processor may also be a combination of computing functions, e.g., a combination of one or more microprocessors, a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, or the like. The processor 901 may be configured to read the program stored in the memory 902, and execute the operations implemented by the default edge server in the methods described in fig. 2 and fig. 3 and in the possible embodiments.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a possible hardware structure of any one of other edge servers and/or central servers involved in the embodiment of the finding method for an edge computing server according to the present application. The server 1000 includes: a processor 1001, a memory 1002, and a communication interface 1003. The processor 1001, the communication interface 1003, and the memory 1002 may be connected to each other or connected to each other through a bus 1004.

Illustratively, the memory 1002 is used for storing computer programs and data of the server 1000, and the memory 1002 may include, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, CD-ROM, or the like. The communication interface 1003 is used for supporting communication, such as receiving or transmitting data, of the server 1000.

The processor 1001 may illustratively be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, transistor logic, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. A processor may also be a combination of computing functions, e.g., a combination of one or more microprocessors, a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, or the like. The processor 1001 may be configured to read the program stored in the memory 1002 to perform the operations implemented by any one of the other edge servers and/or the central server in the methods described in fig. 2 and 3 and in the possible embodiments.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored, and the computer program is executed by a processor to implement the operations implemented by the task offloading device in the methods described in fig. 2 and fig. 3 and in the possible implementation manners.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and the computer program is executed by a processor to implement the operations implemented by the default edge server in the methods described in fig. 2 and fig. 3 and possible embodiments.

Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, where the computer program is executed by a processor to implement the operations implemented by any one of the other edge servers and/or the central server in the methods described in fig. 2 and fig. 3 and in the possible embodiments.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, and not to limit the same; while the invention has been described in detail and with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some or all of the technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or the substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. The method for searching the edge computing server is applied to an edge computing system, wherein the edge computing system comprises a terminal, a task unloading device, a central server and a plurality of edge servers; the method comprises the following steps:

the task unloading equipment receives a resource searching request sent by the terminal, wherein the resource searching request carries information of computing resources required by completing a task, the task unloading equipment is deployed in a wireless access point accessed by the terminal, and the task unloading equipment is a Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) server;

The task off-load device selects a server for performing the task from a central server and/or at least one edge server that meets the demand for the computing resource.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the task off-load device selects a server for performing the task from a central server and/or at least one edge server that meets the demand of the computing resource, and comprises:

the task unloading equipment receives address information sent by a central server and/or at least one edge server meeting the requirements of the computing resources according to the resource searching request;

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein after the task offloading device selects a server for executing the task from a central server and/or at least one edge server that meet the demand of the computing resource according to the precedence order of the received address information, the method further comprises:

and the task unloading equipment sends the task to the selected server.

4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

the task unloading equipment determines that a central server or an edge server which does not meet the requirement of the computing resource in a space range covered by a wireless access point accessed by the terminal is not met according to the resource searching request;

the task unloading equipment receives second response information sent by the preset edge server, wherein the second response information is sent to the preset edge server by a server meeting the requirement of the computing resource in the server receiving the resource searching request broadcasted by the preset edge server, and the second response information comprises address information and position information of the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource;

and the task unloading equipment selects a server closest to the terminal from the servers meeting the requirements of the computing resources according to the computed distance to execute the task.

5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

the task unloading equipment receives third response information sent by the preset edge server, wherein the third response information is sent to the preset edge server by a server meeting the requirement of the computing resource in the servers receiving the resource searching request broadcasted by the preset edge server and the position information of the terminal, and the third response information comprises address information of the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and the distance between the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal;

And the task unloading equipment selects a server closest to the terminal from the servers meeting the requirements of the computing resources according to the distance between the server meeting the requirements of the computing resources and the terminal for executing the task.

6. The method for searching the edge computing server is applied to an edge computing system, wherein the edge computing system comprises a terminal, a task unloading device, a central server and a plurality of edge servers, wherein the task unloading device is deployed in a wireless access point accessed by the terminal; the method comprises the following steps:

The preset edge server broadcasts the resource searching request to other edge servers and/or a central server;

the preset edge server receives second response information sent by a server meeting the requirement of the computing resource in other edge servers and/or a central server, wherein the second response information comprises address information of the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource;

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second response information further comprises location information of the server satisfying the demand of the computing resource.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein before the pre-determined edge server determines that the pre-determined edge server does not satisfy the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource finding request, further comprising:

after the preset edge server determines that the preset edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request, the method further comprises the following steps:

And the preset edge server broadcasts the position information of the terminal to other edge servers and/or the central server.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein after the preset edge server broadcasts the resource search request and the location information of the terminal to the other edge servers and/or the central server, the method further comprises:

the preset edge server receives third response information sent by a server meeting the requirement of the computing resource in other edge servers and/or a central server, wherein the third response information comprises address information of the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and the distance between the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal;

and the preset edge server sends the third response information to the task unloading equipment.

10. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein after the preset edge server receives the resource search request sent by the task off-load device, the method further comprises:

11. A task unloading device is characterized in that the task unloading device is a Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) server in an edge computing system, and the edge computing system further comprises a terminal, a central server and a plurality of edge servers; the task unloading device includes:

12. The task offloading device of claim 11, wherein the selection unit is specifically configured to:

and selecting a server for executing the task from the central server and/or the at least one edge server meeting the requirement of the computing resource according to the sequence of the received address information.

13. The task offloading device according to claim 12, wherein the task offloading device further includes a sending unit, configured to send, to the terminal, first response information in response to the resource search request after the selecting unit selects a server for executing the task from a central server and/or at least one edge server that meet a requirement of the computing resource according to a precedence order of the received address information;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive the task sent by the terminal according to the first response information;

the sending unit is further configured to send the task to the selected server.

14. The task off-load device of any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the task off-load device further comprises a sending unit and a computing unit;

the determining unit is further configured to determine, according to the resource search request, that a central server or an edge server that does not meet the requirement of the computing resource is located in a spatial range covered by a wireless access point to which the terminal is accessed;

the sending unit is used for sending the resource searching request to a preset edge server;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive second response information sent by the preset edge server, where the second response information is sent to the preset edge server by a server meeting the requirement of the computing resource in the servers receiving the resource searching request broadcast by the preset edge server, and the second response information includes address information and location information of the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource;

the computing unit is used for computing the distance between the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal according to the position information of the server meeting the requirement of the computing resource and the position information of the terminal;

And the selecting unit is further used for selecting a server closest to the terminal from the servers meeting the requirements of the computing resources according to the calculated distance to execute the task.

15. The task off-load device of any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the task off-load device further comprises a sending unit;

the sending unit is used for sending the resource searching request and the position information of the terminal to a preset edge server;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive third response information sent by the preset edge server, where the third response information is sent to the preset edge server by a server that meets the requirement of the computing resource, among servers that receive the resource searching request and the location information of the terminal broadcast by the preset edge server, and the third response information includes address information of the server that meets the requirement of the computing resource and a distance between the server that meets the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal;

The selection unit is further configured to select, according to the distance between the server satisfying the requirement of the computing resource and the terminal, a server closest to the terminal from the servers satisfying the requirement of the computing resource to execute the task.

16. An edge server, wherein the edge server is a server in an edge computing system, the edge computing system further comprises a terminal, a task offloading device, a central server, and a plurality of edge servers except the edge server, wherein the task offloading device is deployed in a wireless access point accessed by the terminal; the edge server includes:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a resource search request sent by the task offloading device, where the resource search request carries information of a computing resource required to complete a task, and the edge server is a server that is configured to search for another server that meets a requirement to execute the task when a preset central server or edge server that does not meet the requirement of the computing resource in a space range covered by a wireless access point to which the terminal is accessed does not exist;

The determining unit is used for determining that the edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request;

a broadcasting unit, configured to broadcast the resource searching request to other edge servers and/or a central server;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive second response information sent by a server satisfying the demand of the computing resource in the other edge servers and/or the central server after the broadcasting unit broadcasts the resource searching request to the other edge servers and/or the central server, where the second response information includes address information of the server satisfying the demand of the computing resource;

and the sending unit is used for sending the second response information to the task unloading equipment.

17. The edge server of claim 16, wherein the second response information further comprises location information of the server satisfying the demand for computing resources.

18. The edge server of claim 16,

the receiving unit is further configured to receive, before the determining unit determines that the edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request, location information of the terminal sent by the task offloading device;

The broadcast unit is further configured to broadcast the location information of the terminal to the other edge servers and/or the central server after the determination unit determines that the edge server does not meet the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request.

19. The edge server of claim 18,

the receiving unit is further configured to receive third response information sent by a server satisfying the demand of the computing resource in the other edge servers and/or the central servers after the broadcasting unit broadcasts the resource searching request and the location information of the terminal to the other edge servers and/or the central server, where the third response information includes address information of the server satisfying the demand of the computing resource and includes a distance between the server satisfying the demand of the computing resource and the terminal;

the sending unit is further configured to send the third response information to the task offloading device.

20. The edge server of any of claims 16 to 19,

the determining unit is further configured to determine, after the receiving unit receives the resource searching request sent by the task offloading device, that the edge server meets the requirement of the computing resource according to the resource searching request;

The sending unit is further configured to send address information of the edge server to the task offloading device.

21. A task off-load device comprising a processor, a memory, and a communication interface, the memory storing a computer program, the processor being configured to invoke the computer program to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 5.

22. An edge server comprising a processor, a memory and a communication interface, the memory storing a computer program, the processor being configured to invoke the computer program to perform the method of any of claims 6 to 10.

23. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for execution by a processor to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 5.

24. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for execution by a processor to implement the method of any one of claims 6 to 10.