Editors Note: This article comes fromBabbitt InformationEditors Note: This article comes from
Babbitt Information
(ID: bitcoin8btc ), Author: Helen, reprinted by Odaily with authorization.
Beginning in 2019, there may be a word that has become very hot, that is, edge computing. One of the reasons for it is the development of 5G in our country. People who chain digital assets are a boon. Not long ago, in an interview with Babbitts video brand 8 Questions, Zhang Hongxin, a professor at Zhejiang University, said this.
What is edge computing? Why is it ushering in an outbreak? What is the connection between edge computing and blockchain? Is there any company that has already started the layout in this field?
With these questions in mind, Babbitt contacted and interviewed a scholar, an investor, and three entrepreneurs engaged in related work, hoping that they would interpret the possibility of combining edge computing and blockchain for us from different perspectives.
They are Tan Lin, CEO of Microsoft Accelerator Beijing, Zhang Hongxin, associate professor of the School of Computer Science and Technology of Zhejiang University, Li Liangang, technical director of 360 blockchain platform, Lang Yu, CTO of Bytom, and Yang Hui, CEO of Yunji Zhongzhi.
What is edge computing?
The essence of edge computing is to place data in terminal nodes close to users for storage, computing and transmission, rather than in remote cloud clusters. Langyu said.
It seems difficult to understand, is there a more popular explanation?
The focus of edge computing is on the word edge, which can be simply understood as, on the basis of the original cloud computing, the computing tasks of the central node are moved to the end nodes for computing. In the past, the upper nodes of the Internet of Things were only responsible for Sensing and collecting data, now it also has a certain computing power to share the pressure of cloud computing. Zhang Hongxin further said.
What is the value of edge computing? Why might it break out this year?
In fact, edge computing is not a new term. As one of the largest distributed computing service providers in the world, AKAMAI cooperated with IBM as early as 2003 to propose the purpose of using edge computing and the problems to be solved in its internal research project.
Why is it re-recognized by people 15 years later and ushered in an explosion? What is the value of edge computing?
Lang Yu believes that edge computing is the future development trend, and major Internet companies have invested huge RD resources to promote the practical application of corresponding industries. There are two reasons for this trend:
First, the scale of business is getting bigger and bigger, and more and more data are being processed. The traditional cloud service computer room can no longer bear the corresponding resource expenses, especially the electricity bill.
Second, with the advancement of network communication technology and storage technology, especially the advent of the 5G era, bandwidth is likely to no longer be a bottleneck, and storage capacity will also become cheaper. The core value brought by these development opportunities to users is that the minimum cost can be spent, the required information can be obtained as quickly as possible, and the production efficiency can be improved.
Zhang Hongxin told Babbitt that the Internet of Things was a bit lukewarm before, and it may explode this year because 5G will make substantial progress. They have participated in some cooperation with Huawei 5G, and obviously 5G has already begun to be implemented. 5G has two main directions. The first direction is to enhance the basis of the original 4G, which can transmit more data. The second direction is completely aimed at the Internet of Things, making low-power Internet of Things solutions. These few Things are tightly connected, and 5G small cells can also serve as an entry point for edge computing.
Will edge computing bring new opportunities for blockchain? What is the connection point?
Whether it is cloud, fog or edge computing, it is only a method or model to realize the computing technology required by the Internet of Things and intelligent manufacturing. Because the blockchain and the Internet of Things must be combined, so naturally it will also be related to edge computing. It would be better to understand it from the perspective of the Internet of Things. Zhang Hongxin believes. For example, the previous blockchain project IOTA is a combination with the Internet of Things, dedicated to solving the transaction problem between machines.
Tan Lin said: We can regard the blockchain as a production-relational technology platform, and like the Internet of Things and edge computing, they all improve production efficiency, so the two are not inherently exclusive, and they can interact with each other. Combination. If the blockchain and edge computing are combined, online and offline application scenarios can be seamlessly connected. Then, the relationship management between things and things, people and things can be automated through the blockchain.”
Lang Yu believes that edge computing will inevitably bring new opportunities to the blockchain, because edge computing is naturally consistent with the decentralized model of the blockchain, and more independent nodes are used to handle the overall business. He said:
Blockchain is naturally good at dialogue with machines. How to drive users to contribute computing power to solve problems, how to quantify contribution value, how to manage contribution value, these are what blockchain is good at, edge computing and block There are many fields that can be explored in chain integration.” Li Liangang gave three specific integration directions, namely data security, identity authentication, and privacy protection. He further explained to Babbitt: The first is data security. The data generated by the terminal is stored in a third party, resulting in the separation of data ownership and use rights. It is very easy to cause problems such as data loss, data leakage, and illegal data operation. Data security cannot be guaranteed. Guarantee. For example, the 360 water drop live broadcast incident and the Facebook privacy leak incident. The solution is to use blockchain technology to encrypt and confirm the data, which can only be used after authorization. The storage network of the blockchain also ensures the integrity of the data. Such as IPFS.
The second is identity authentication. If there are millions of IoT terminals going online and centralized authentication, the traditional centralized authentication mechanism cannot be realized. Therefore, using blockchain decentralized distributed authentication technology, each device can generate its own unique public key-based authentication. address, so as to be able to send and receive encrypted messages with other terminals.
The third is privacy protection. How to maximize the value of data while protecting personal privacy? Zero knowledge proof! Zero-knowledge proof means that the prover can convince the verifier that a certain assertion is correct without providing any useful information to the verifier. It can prove to others that my data is very valuable, but it doesnt tell you where the real private data is.
Which companies are combining edge computing and blockchain?
Tan Lin, CEO of Microsoft Accelerator, told us that among the latest alumni companies incubated, there is a company called Yunji Zhongzhi. They are making white-box 5G base stations, which can be used to support edge computing. Realized by blockchain technology, such as landing scenarios such as digital nomads, or data collection and identity management for supply chain finance.
Therefore, Babbitt contacted and interviewed Yang Hui, CEO of Yunji Zhongzhi, and asked him to introduce how it works.
Case 1: Cloud-based wisdom
Yang Hui said frankly that apart from digital currency applications, from a technical perspective, edge computing and blockchain have many joint points. Cloud computing concentrates two things. One is computing power, which will be marginalized. This is the trend and the value of edge computing. The second is centralized decision-making. The blockchain can just provide a means of distributed decision-making, which makes it possible to support the marginalized deployment of many segmented applications. Therefore, in his opinion, the combination of edge computing and blockchain is mainly reflected in In the matter of marginalization of decision-making, it is possible to greatly accelerate the trend of marginalization of cloud computing.
We are more concerned about how to get enough real-time support for an application in a multi-base station and multi-access environment. For example, if all the judgments are returned to the cloud, the real-time If there is a great impact, then some algorithms based on the blockchain are deployed on multiple base stations, so that the corresponding speed can be improved, and data security and system robustness can also be guaranteed. The decision-making that originally took a few seconds can be shortened to seconds level.” On the other hand, Yang Hui believes that the blockchain can be well integrated with traffic, such as encouraging users to share. From the point of view of the access point of mobile edge computing, it can be deployed flexibly to provide a computing platform for the blockchain. In the 5G era, the distribution of computing power to terminals, routers, and base stations will also ensure a greater degree of security for the operation of the blockchain. Yunji Zhongzhi is exploring the path of operator coverage and traffic monetization in the 5G era, and how to maximize the value of traffic entry. This aspect relies on the successful experience of the blockchain, such as combining it with the token economy.
In this regard, Yunji Zhongzhi has already had some small batches of customer trials. It is a mobile version of the Oneke Cloud Box. He specifically introduced:
We have developed a multi-channel aggregation router for the live broadcast industry. Customers can connect to the multi-card router they carry with them through WiFi, and the other side is the mobile communication network. The aggregation technology of up to 8 channels is provided by the base stations of the three major operators at the same time. Uplink broadband channels, which can meet the requirements of the live broadcast industry for stable and real-time networks in a weak network environment. In this scenario, our edge computing boxes will generate a large amount of traffic, which is also directly related to communication costs, and these traffic can pass through the area In the way of block chain, do some sharing and content production.
This outdoor live broadcast box for Internet celebrities is only the size of a power bank, and already possesses his most basic development capabilities. Youkeyuns fixed network box is also actively exploring, but we believe that the mobile version of the edge computing box has more opportunities. It means that the gateway from the base station to the mobile edge is closer to the user side. It does not need to wait for the full deployment of 5G to build an application ecosystem to grab the traffic entrance. We will also continue to further explore, in terms of traffic, the business opportunities of combining edge computing and blockchain.
Case 2: Bytom
It can be seen that Yunji Zhongzhi is not a native blockchain company. They do edge computing, but try to combine it with the blockchain. Interestingly, as a blockchain project, Bytom is looking for a connection point to edge computing from the other end. Bytom CTO Lang Yu said:
The goal of Bytoms consensus algorithm Tensority is to run blockchain contracts in edge computing devices. It can be predicted that all devices will have AI modules in the future, and the Bytom chain based on AI vector computing Tensority consensus is naturally Running in the device, at the same time, the computing power provided by the device can improve the security of the Bytom chain network, which is complementary.
Computational tasks based on Bytom contracts can be distributed and obtained on the chain, and BTM is used to pay for computing costs. It is difficult for the traditional Internet to open up this kind of business closed loop.
In addition, data privacy protection, which is most needed by edge computing, can also be obtained and controlled by the Bytom chain. Here we can reveal a little progress. The decentralized identity system Facade of the Bytom chain will be available in the near future. Blockchain to manage the complete platform of data identity.
Case 3: 360
Another company we are very familiar with is 360. It is understood that they have combined blockchain and edge computing and applied them to smart city solutions. Li Liangang, technical director of 360 blockchain platform, introduced to Babbitt:
