An Edge-Computing Based Architecture for Mobile Augmented Reality

In order to mitigate the long processing delay and high energy consumption of mobile augmented reality (AR) applications, mobile edge computing (MEC) has been recently proposed and is envisioned as a promising means to deliver better Quality of Experience (QoE) for AR consumers. In this article, we first present a comprehensive AR overview, including the indispensable components of general AR applications, fashionable AR devices, and several existing techniques for overcoming the thorny latency and energy consumption problems. Then we propose a novel hierarchical computation architecture by inserting an edge layer between the conventional user layer and cloud layer. Based on the proposed architecture, we further develop an innovative operation mechanism to improve the performance of mobile AR applications. Three key technologies are also discussed to further assist the proposed AR architecture. Simulation results are finally provided to verify that our proposals can significantly improve latency and energy performance as compared to existing baseline schemes.