Edge computing provides groundbreaking innovations to enterprise cloud organizations, including nearly instant code transfer, reduced latency, and enhanced performance. The lightning speed of edge compute is due to the placement of the platform. Unlike public cloud, edge compute is placed as close as possible to the point of interaction with humans, electronics, and various connected devices.

Edge compute becomes more and more relevant to companies as applications evolve, including virtual reality, augmented reality, and video analytics, which rely on artificial intelligence. With real-time code transfer that AI needs to be extremely precise, and as AI evolves, every millisecond counts, according to Paul Savill (pictured), senior vice president of core network and technology solutions at CenturyLink Inc.

Some providers measure distance in time, not space. Getting into “that range of placing compute within five milliseconds of the edge interaction (with a human or device, for example), that is enough to meet some of the most tightest requirements that we’ve seen around robotics control, video analytics, and other [emerging] applications,” Savill said.

Savill spoke with Dave Vellante (@dvelllante), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, and guest host John Walls (@JohnWalls21), during the AWS re:Invent event Conference in Las Vegas. They discussed the benefits of operating at the edge, differences between cloud and edge computing, and why every millisecond matters for new technologies. (* Disclosure below.) 

Benefits of operating at the edge

Cloud computing is used for back-end data access that might not be efficient enough for emerging applications. Edge-computing resources include management and intelligence that runs on or near endpoint devices (internet of things, mobile, video analytics), so its actions can be completed immediately. These new technologies are enabling more applications that can majorly benefit from edge computing, Savill pointed out. For example, AI, machine learning, virtual reality, and robotics control operate more efficiently with edge computing.

“Those robotics control, those things are basically driving this need to place compute as close as possible to that point of interaction,” Savill stated.

The real-time actions edge computing allows for are one of its primary benefits to the enterprise. Latency is a key problem that edge computing addresses. “OK, so I could ship code to the data, but the problem is, if it needs to be real-time, it’s still too [much] latency,” Vellante said during the interview. “That’s the problem you’re solving for.”

Why every millisecond counts in edge computing

Edge compute providers like CenturyLink measure distance in time, not space.

“[We] think about it in terms of milliseconds of delay from where the edge device, the thing that needs to interact with the compute or the application needs to interact with,” Savill explained.

Many emerging applications that are reliant on AI require instantaneous access to data. This data cannot reside 1,000 miles away, as with public cloud. Still, it’s not necessary for edge compute to be adjacent to the data to solve for inefficient delivery, Savill pointed out.

Even subtle differences in milliseconds of delivery are important in edge computing. Robotics control requires the tightest latency, depending on the robotics design. For example, a scanning device requires a quicker response time for the controller than does a machining tool that works on a lathe, Savill explained.

“[That] is real-time pushing things around very fast and doing an optical read on it to make the decision about how, about where it pushes the device next,” Savill said. “That type of interaction and control requires a much tighter latency performance, and that’s why you start to see these [millisecond] ranges.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the AWS re:Invent event. (*Disclosure: CenturyLink Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither CenturyLink nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE