Clustering-Based Resource Management for Consumer Cost Optimization in IoT Edge Computing Environments

Edge computing emerges as a pivotal model in the era of next-generation consumer electronics and the emerging challenges of multimodal data-driven decision-making. Specifically, edge computing offers an open computing architecture for the vast and diverse consumer multimodal data generated by mobile computing and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. While edge computing is instrumental in optimizing latency and bandwidth control in processing consumer multimodal data, the viability of employing edge resources is complicated by high service costs and the complexities of managing multimodal data diversity. This study introduces an innovative optimization method for distributing multimodal data on edge storage, considering both the I/O (input/output) speed and the overall distribution cost. The core part of our approach is the deployment of intelligent algorithms that ensure equitable data distribution across storage servers, thus eliminating unused space and reducing extra costs. Given the complexity of this NP-hard (non-deterministic polynomial-time) challenge, our study reveals a unique model incorporating an edge-broker component in combination with novel algorithms. The proposed algorithms aim to harmonize data distribution and reduce resource allocation expenses in a multimodal edge environment. Our proposed approach achieves excellent results, highlighting the efficacy of the proposed algorithms in several parameters such as makespan, cost, multimodal data security, and total processing time. Empirical tests reveal that the BCA (Best Clustering Algorithm) performs best, achieving a minimum load balancing rate of 92.2%, an average variance of 0.04, and an average run time of 0.56 seconds.