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Resources on the Move for Smart City: A Disruptive Perspective on the Grand Convergence of Sensing, Communications, Computing, Storage, and Intelligence

Yuguang Fang, Yiqin Deng, Xianhao Chen

TL;DR

The paper argues that realizing scalable smart-city services requires an integrated SCCSI framework spanning sensing, communications, computing, storage, and intelligence. It proposes transforming vehicles into PoCs to form a SCCSI network, introducing the Vehicle as a Service (VaaS) paradigm supported by a Secondary Service Provider (SSP) and an SDN-like control plane. It details the PoC architecture, network formation, incentive design, and strategies to leverage spectrum, mobility, and opportunistic resources, along with concrete use cases and identified research challenges. This approach promises a cost-effective, edge-enabled, and sustainable pathway to deploy large-scale SCCSI services across ground, air, and sea mobility in future smart cities.

Abstract

The most commonly seen things on streets in any city are vehicles. However, most of them are used to transport people or goods. What if they also carry resources and capabilities for sensing, communications, computing, storage, and intelligence (SCCSI)? We will have a web of sensors to monitor the city, a network of powerful communicators to transport data around, a grid of computing power to conduct data analytics and machine learning (ML), a network of distributed storage to buffer/cache data/job for optimization, and a set of movable AI/ML toolboxes made available for specialized smart applications. This perspective article presents how to leverage SCCSI-empowered vehicles to design such a service network, simply called SCCSI network, to help build a smart city with a cost-effective and sustainable solution. It showcases how multi-dimensional technologies, namely, sensing, communications, computing, storage, and intelligence, converge to a unifying technology to solve grand challenges for resource demands from emerging large-scale applications. Thus, with SCCSI-empowered vehicles on the ground, over the air, and on the sea, SCCSI network can make resources and capabilities on the move, practically pushing SCCSI services to the edge! We hope this article serves as a spark to stimulate more disruptive thinking to address grand challenges of paramount importance.

Resources on the Move for Smart City: A Disruptive Perspective on the Grand Convergence of Sensing, Communications, Computing, Storage, and Intelligence

TL;DR

The paper argues that realizing scalable smart-city services requires an integrated SCCSI framework spanning sensing, communications, computing, storage, and intelligence. It proposes transforming vehicles into PoCs to form a SCCSI network, introducing the Vehicle as a Service (VaaS) paradigm supported by a Secondary Service Provider (SSP) and an SDN-like control plane. It details the PoC architecture, network formation, incentive design, and strategies to leverage spectrum, mobility, and opportunistic resources, along with concrete use cases and identified research challenges. This approach promises a cost-effective, edge-enabled, and sustainable pathway to deploy large-scale SCCSI services across ground, air, and sea mobility in future smart cities.

Abstract

The most commonly seen things on streets in any city are vehicles. However, most of them are used to transport people or goods. What if they also carry resources and capabilities for sensing, communications, computing, storage, and intelligence (SCCSI)? We will have a web of sensors to monitor the city, a network of powerful communicators to transport data around, a grid of computing power to conduct data analytics and machine learning (ML), a network of distributed storage to buffer/cache data/job for optimization, and a set of movable AI/ML toolboxes made available for specialized smart applications. This perspective article presents how to leverage SCCSI-empowered vehicles to design such a service network, simply called SCCSI network, to help build a smart city with a cost-effective and sustainable solution. It showcases how multi-dimensional technologies, namely, sensing, communications, computing, storage, and intelligence, converge to a unifying technology to solve grand challenges for resource demands from emerging large-scale applications. Thus, with SCCSI-empowered vehicles on the ground, over the air, and on the sea, SCCSI network can make resources and capabilities on the move, practically pushing SCCSI services to the edge! We hope this article serves as a spark to stimulate more disruptive thinking to address grand challenges of paramount importance.
Paper Structure (23 sections, 3 figures)

This paper contains 23 sections, 3 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Architectural Design of SCCSI Networks
  3. Point of Connection (PoC)
  4. SCCSI Network Formation
  5. Network Operator and Control Plane
  6. Incentive Design to Stimulate Participation
  7. How to Proactively Leverage the SCCSI Resources and Capabilities
  8. Leverage Spectrum Opportunity
  9. Leverage (Controlled) Vehicular Mobility Opportunities
  10. Leverage Opportunistic Capability In Situ and In Tempore
  11. Use Cases
  12. Public Safety
  13. Smart Health and Smart Living
  14. Road Hazardous Detection
  15. Congestion Control
  16. ...and 8 more sections

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: Logical design of PoC, a network connecting device equipped with SCCSI capabilities.
  • Figure 2: The overall system architecture of the SCCSI network.
  • Figure 3: The overall system architecture of our SCCSI network. It attempts to integrate both fixed (e.g., 5G+) and mobile (e.g., vehicular) infrastructure to provide services.