Edge Intelligence for Mission-Critical 6G Services in Space-Air-Ground Integrated Networks

Next-generation wireless services will change our daily lives by supporting smart factories, intelligent transportation, augmented/virtual reality, and more. These sophisticated services are usually both data- and computation-intensive, and must meet stringent latency and reliability requirements that cannot be readily satisfied by cloud-based service processing. Therefore, the 6G cellular network is expected to jointly optimize communication, computing, caching, and control. A further aspiration of 6G is to conceive a seamless space-air-ground integrated network (SAGIN) for filling the vast coverage holes across the globe, bringing new opportunities for mission-critical services. In this article, we aim for conceiving ultrareliable and low-latency edge intelligence for supporting mission-critical services by harnessing the diversified communication, computing, and caching resources at the network edge of SAGIN. We critically appraise a number of key enabling techniques, including a number of new service-centric resource allocation techniques. Finally, a range of open challenges is discussed.