CMU-CS-11-146
Computer Science Department
School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University


CMU-CS-11-146

Cloud Offload in Hostile Environments

Kiryong Ha, Grace Lewis*
Soumya Simanta*, Mahadev Satyanarayanan

December 2011


CMU-CS-11-146.pdf


Keywords: Mobile computing, cloud computing, cyber foraging, smartphones, virtual machines,system architecture, cloudlets, disconnected operation, fault tolerance, failure resiliency,denial of service, wireless networks, jamming, ad hoc networks, dynamic VM synthesis, demandpaging, prefetching, cloudlets, battery life, energy efficiency, military operations

Selective offloading of resource-intensive execution from a mobile device to the cloud can extend battery life and broaden the range of supported applications. Unfortunately, the success of this approach is critically dependent on a reliable end-to-end network. This dependence is a serious vulnerability in hostile environments, especially those involving wireless components in their long-haul network segments. We describe an architectural approach to reducing this vulnerability. Using a hierarchical cloud structure, offload is performed on stateless elements that are typically one wireless hop away from a mobile device. The proximity of offload reduces synchronous dependence on vulnerable long-haul network segments. We present experimental results that reflect on key design tradeoffs from a prototype implementation of this architecture.

*Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

30 pages

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