Marginal cost of computation as a collaborative strategy for resource management at the edge

This paper explores an extended applications’ cost function to model the willingness of Edge data centres to accommodate additional users in decentralized edge computing environments. By enhancing the Marginal Computing Cost per User (MCU) concept, we introduce a dynamic cost factor influenced by the number of users currently served. Through extensive simulations conducted on the PureEdgeSim platform, we evaluate the impact of this variable MCU on system performance across various configurations. The results reveal a critical trade-off between cost sensitivity (i.e., collaboration willingness) of Edge data centres and optimization potential. This work offers insights into user allocation strategies in heterogeneous edge systems and sets the stage for future research into non-linear MCU configurations and diverse application workloads.