arXiv subjects

Boris Sedlak

Publications and source records attributed to Boris Sedlak.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Taxonomy of Performance Metrics for the Distributed Computing Continuum

Performance evaluation is essential for understanding, comparing, and improving computing systems, including Distributed Computing Continuum Systems (DCCS). In recent years, computational requirements have changed substantially with the growth of artificial intelligence and large-scale data-driven applications. These application tasks are increasingly distributed between resource-intensive data centers and resource-constrained edge environments. In this context, novel computing continuum architectures and algorithms are emerging, creating a need for transparent and consistent performance evaluation. However, existing evaluation practices often focus on isolated dimensions, such as computation, networking, energy efficiency, or application-level quality, and therefore provide only a partial view of cross-layer DCCS behavior. This paper presents a structured taxonomy of performance metrics for DCCS. The taxonomy organizes metrics into computing-level, network-level, and application/user-level categories, while also highlighting emerging dimensions such as sustainability, observability, adaptability, data locality, migration awareness, and continuum fragmentation. Further, we provide mathematical formulations and discuss their relevance to heterogeneous and dynamic continuum environments. We also summarize metric acquisition requirements in terms of acquisition scope, acquisition phase, and measurement method. These requirements help clarify whether a metric can be collected from a single node, multiple nodes, or the full system, and whether it is more suitable for operational monitoring or experimental evaluation.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2026

Clustered Edge Intelligence: Beyond Just Convergence of Edge Computing and AI

We are moving from an information age to the age of intelligence. A decade, or possibly less than that, data will not be the gold anymore rather the derived intelligence out of the data and the information we posses from the edge of the network. Existing Edge Intelligence research focuses mainly on two directions: using AI for edge resource management and deploying lightweight AI models on edge devices. However, existing edge computing research lacks an intelligence-centric framework in which derived intelligence is treated as a first-class, independently manageable entity that can be described, discovered, observed, shared, reused, and dynamically clustered across heterogeneous edge devices and applications. To address these research gaps, we introduced Clustered Edge Intelligence, a visionary intelligence-centric approach. The aim of CEI is to make intelligence a shareable and reusable first-class entity that can be independently represented, discovered, observed, exchanged, and managed across the distributed edge-cloud continuum. We present a three layer CEI architecture and examine enabling technologies and research dimensions, including intelligence inventories, semantic knowledge representation, communication, discoverability, observability, lifecycle automation, clustering mechanisms, marketplaces, interoperability, and standardization.

cs.AI↗

arXiv2026

Fair Comparison of Scheduling Algorithms on Heterogeneous Edge Clusters: A Continuous Adaptive Benchmark

Modern Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads deployed across the heterogeneous tiers of an edge--cloud continuum must satisfy multi-dimensional Service Level Objectives (SLOs) over latency, throughput, and output quality. For each incoming task, the scheduler picks both a target node and a processing mode (e.g., full or reduced inference precision). We call this class of problems \emph{Continuous Multi-Mode Scheduling} (CMMS). Comparing CMMS algorithms fairly is difficult because prior studies typically evaluate each controller in its own stack, under a single workload, and without reporting per-decision overhead. To close these gaps, we present an open source benchmark platform that features (i) a unified controller interface, (ii) a closed-loop workload driver covering multiple workload patterns, and (iii) dual-metric SLO scoring that reports raw SLO (overall compliance) and steady-state SLO (compliance during stable operation) separately. Running six controllers across five cluster configurations and two load regimes (424 episodes), we find that controller rankings are strongly configuration-dependent: a deep reinforcement-learning winner under light workloads loses to a rule-based heuristic by nearly 29 percentage points once load intensifies, at roughly 500$\times$ the per-decision operational overhead. We further show that separating raw from steady-state SLOs exposes switching costs that a single aggregate score would otherwise conflate.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2026

Active Inference-Based Adaptive Routing for Heterogeneous Edge AI Services

Edge computing enables AI inference closer to data sources, reducing latency and bandwidth costs. However, orchestrating AI services across the cloud-edge continuum remains challenging due to dynamic workloads and infrastructure variability. We present AIF-Router, an Active Inference--based routing framework that autonomously learns to balance latency, throughput, and resource utilization across multi-tier AI services without offline training. AIF-Router performs Bayesian state inference and expected free energy minimization to guide routing decisions based on observability-driven real-time metrics. Despite device instability on edge nodes, AIF-Router exhibits stable online learning behavior and demonstrates the feasibility of applying Active Inference for adaptive AI service orchestration in unreliable edge environments. Our findings highlight both the promise and practical challenges of deploying self-adaptive decision-making frameworks for real-world edge AI systems.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2026

Pricing-Driven Resource Allocation in the Computing Continuum

Deploying applications across the computing continuum requires selecting infrastructure nodes from geographically distributed and heterogeneous environments while satisfying constraints (e.g., performance, location). This decision problem is an important facet of resource allocation. As infrastructures grow in scale and heterogeneity, the resulting decision space becomes inherently combinatorial. Existing approaches typically formulate this problem as a constrained optimization task using ad-hoc representations of infrastructure topologies and demand, which hinders generalization across solutions. In contrast, Software as a Service ecosystems address a structurally similar configuration problem through pricings -structures whose plans and add-ons implicitly define the configuration space of possible subscriptions. Building on this observation, this work explores the potential of pricings as general-purpose representations of configuration spaces, positioning them as a promising alternative for addressing configuration problems, such as resource allocation, across the computing continuum. To this end, the paper presents the following contributions: i) a pricing-based formulation of the resource allocation problem in the computing continuum, enabling infrastructure configuration spaces to be represented using pricings; ii) a workflow that leverages PRIME, a pricing analysis engine, to explore these spaces and compute cost-optimal deployments satisfying functional and non-functional constraints; iii) generation processes for synthetic infrastructure topologies and workload demands; and iv) a dataset comprising 9,600 precomputed resource allocation scenarios to support benchmarking.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2026

Visual Insights into Agentic Optimization of Pervasive Stream Processing Services

Processing sensory data close to the data source, often involving Edge devices, promises low latency for pervasive applications, like smart cities. This commonly involves a multitude of processing services, executed with limited resources; this setup faces three problems: first, the application demand and the resource availability fluctuate, so the service execution must scale dynamically to sustain processing requirements (e.g., latency); second, each service permits different actions to adjust its operation, so they require individual scaling policies; third, without a higher-level mediator, services would cannibalize any resources of services co-located on the same device. This demo first presents a platform for context-aware autoscaling of stream processing services that allows developers to monitor and adjust the service execution across multiple service-specific parameters. We then connect a scaling agent to these interfaces that gradually builds an understanding of the processing environment by exploring each service's action space; the agent then optimizes the service execution according to this knowledge. Participants can revisit the demo contents as video summary and introductory poster, or build a custom agent by extending the artifact repository.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2026

Service Orchestration in the Computing Continuum: Structural Challenges and Vision

The Computing Continuum (CC) integrates different layers of processing infrastructure, from Edge to Cloud, to optimize service quality through ubiquitous and reliable computation. Compared to central architectures, however, heterogeneous and dynamic infrastructure increases the complexity for service orchestration. To guide research, this article first summarizes structural problems of the CC, and then, envisions an ideal solution for autonomous service orchestration across the CC. As one instantiation, we show how Active Inference, a concept from neuroscience, can support self-organizing services in continuously interpreting their environment to optimize service quality. Still, we conclude that no existing solution achieves our vision, but that research on service orchestration faces several structural challenges. Most notably: provide standardized simulation and evaluation environments for comparing the performance of orchestration mechanisms. Together, the challenges outline a research roadmap toward resilient and scalable service orchestration in the CC.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2025

Multi-Dimensional Autoscaling of Stream Processing Services on Edge Devices

Edge devices have limited resources, which inevitably leads to situations where stream processing services cannot satisfy their needs. While existing autoscaling mechanisms focus entirely on resource scaling, Edge devices require alternative ways to sustain the Service Level Objectives (SLOs) of competing services. To address these issues, we introduce a Multi-dimensional Autoscaling Platform (MUDAP) that supports fine-grained vertical scaling across both service- and resource-level dimensions. MUDAP supports service-specific scaling tailored to available parameters, e.g., scale data quality or model size for a particular service. To optimize the execution across services, we present a scaling agent based on Regression Analysis of Structural Knowledge (RASK). The RASK agent efficiently explores the solution space and learns a continuous regression model of the processing environment for inferring optimal scaling actions. We compared our approach with two autoscalers, the Kubernetes VPA and a reinforcement learning agent, for scaling up to 9 services on a single Edge device. Our results showed that RASK can infer an accurate regression model in merely 20 iterations (i.e., observe 200s of processing). By increasingly adding elasticity dimensions, RASK sustained the highest request load with 28% less SLO violations, compared to baselines.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2025

Multi-dimensional Autoscaling of Processing Services: A Comparison of Agent-based Methods

Edge computing breaks with traditional autoscaling due to strict resource constraints, thus, motivating more flexible scaling behaviors using multiple elasticity dimensions. This work introduces an agent-based autoscaling framework that dynamically adjusts both hardware resources and internal service configurations to maximize requirements fulfillment in constrained environments. We compare four types of scaling agents: Active Inference, Deep Q Network, Analysis of Structural Knowledge, and Deep Active Inference, using two real-world processing services running in parallel: YOLOv8 for visual recognition and OpenCV for QR code detection. Results show all agents achieve acceptable SLO performance with varying convergence patterns. While the Deep Q Network benefits from pre-training, the structural analysis converges quickly, and the deep active inference agent combines theoretical foundations with practical scalability advantages. Our findings provide evidence for the viability of multi-dimensional agent-based autoscaling for edge environments and encourage future work in this research direction.

cs.AI↗

arXiv2025

Distributed Intelligence in the Computing Continuum with Active Inference

The Computing Continuum (CC) is an emerging Internet-based computing paradigm that spans from local Internet of Things sensors and constrained edge devices to large-scale cloud data centers. Its goal is to orchestrate a vast array of diverse and distributed computing resources to support the next generation of Internet-based applications. However, the distributed, heterogeneous, and dynamic nature of CC platforms demands distributed intelligence for adaptive and resilient service management. This article introduces a distributed stream processing pipeline as a CC use case, where each service is managed by an Active Inference (AIF) agent. These agents collaborate to fulfill service needs specified by SLOiDs, a term we introduce to denote Service Level Objectives that are aware of its deployed devices, meaning that non-functional requirements must consider the characteristics of the hosting device. We demonstrate how AIF agents can be modeled and deployed alongside distributed services to manage them autonomously. Our experiments show that AIF agents achieve over 90% SLOiD fulfillment when using tested transition models, and around 80% when learning the models during deployment. We compare their performance to a multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithm, finding that while both approaches yield similar results, MARL requires extensive training, whereas AIF agents can operate effectively from the start. Additionally, we evaluate the behavior of AIF agents in offloading scenarios, observing a strong capacity for adaptation. Finally, we outline key research directions to advance AIF integration in CC platforms.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2025

MACH: Multi-Agent Coordination for RSU-centric Handovers

This paper introduces MACH, a novel approach for optimizing task handover in vehicular computing scenarios. To ensure fast and latency-aware placement of tasks, the decision-making -- where and when should tasks be offloaded -- is carried out decentralized at the Road Side Units (RSUs) who also execute the tasks. By shifting control to the network edge, MACH moves away from the traditional centralized or vehicle-based handover method. Still, it focuses on contextual factors, such as the current RSU load and vehicle trajectories. Thus, MACH improves the overall Quality of Service (QoS) while fairly balancing computational loads between RSUs. To evaluate the effectiveness of our approach, we develop a robust simulation environment composed of real-world traffic data, dynamic network conditions, and different infrastructure capacities. For scenarios that demand low latency and high reliability, our experimental results demonstrate how MACH significantly improves the adaptability and efficiency of vehicular computations. By decentralizing control to the network edge, MACH effectively reduces communication overhead and optimizes resource utilization, offering a robust framework for task handover management.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2025

Towards Multi-dimensional Elasticity for Pervasive Stream Processing Services

This paper proposes a hierarchical solution to scale streaming services across quality and resource dimensions. Modern scenarios, like smart cities, heavily rely on the continuous processing of IoT data to provide real-time services and meet application targets (Service Level Objectives -- SLOs). While the tendency is to process data at nearby Edge devices, this creates a bottleneck because resources can only be provisioned up to a limited capacity. To improve elasticity in Edge environments, we propose to scale services in multiple dimensions -- either resources or, alternatively, the service quality. We rely on a two-layer architecture where (1) local, service-specific agents ensure SLO fulfillment through multi-dimensional elasticity strategies; if no more resources can be allocated, (2) a higher-level agent optimizes global SLO fulfillment by swapping resources. The experimental results show promising outcomes, outperforming regular vertical autoscalers, when operating under tight resource constraints.

cs.PF↗

arXiv2025

Benchmarking Dynamic SLO Compliance in Distributed Computing Continuum Systems

Ensuring Service Level Objectives (SLOs) in large-scale architectures, such as Distributed Computing Continuum Systems (DCCS), is challenging due to their heterogeneous nature and varying service requirements across different devices and applications. Additionally, unpredictable workloads and resource limitations lead to fluctuating performance and violated SLOs. To improve SLO compliance in DCCS, one possibility is to apply machine learning; however, the design choices are often left to the developer. To that extent, we provide a benchmark of Active Inference -- an emerging method from neuroscience -- against three established reinforcement learning algorithms (Deep Q-Network, Advantage Actor-Critic, and Proximal Policy Optimization). We consider a realistic DCCS use case: an edge device running a video conferencing application alongside a WebSocket server streaming videos. Using one of the respective algorithms, we continuously monitor key performance metrics, such as latency and bandwidth usage, to dynamically adjust parameters -- including the number of streams, frame rate, and resolution -- to optimize service quality and user experience. To test algorithms' adaptability to constant system changes, we simulate dynamically changing SLOs and both instant and gradual data-shift scenarios, such as network bandwidth limitations and fluctuating device thermal states. Although the evaluated algorithms all showed advantages and limitations, our findings demonstrate that Active Inference is a promising approach for ensuring SLO compliance in DCCS, offering lower memory usage, stable CPU utilization, and fast convergence.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2024

Adaptive Active Inference Agents for Heterogeneous and Lifelong Federated Learning

Handling heterogeneity and unpredictability are two core problems in pervasive computing. The challenge is to seamlessly integrate devices with varying computational resources in a dynamic environment to form a cohesive system that can fulfill the needs of all participants. Existing work on adaptive systems typically focuses on optimizing individual variables or low-level Service Level Objectives (SLOs), such as constraining the usage of specific resources. While low-level control mechanisms permit fine-grained control over a system, they introduce considerable complexity, particularly in dynamic environments. To this end, we propose drawing from Active Inference (AIF), a neuroscientific framework for designing adaptive agents. Specifically, we introduce a conceptual agent for heterogeneous pervasive systems that permits setting global systems constraints as high-level SLOs. Instead of manually setting low-level SLOs, the system finds an equilibrium that can adapt to environmental changes. We demonstrate the viability of our AIF agents with an extensive experiment design, using heterogeneous and lifelong federated learning as an application scenario. We conduct our experiments on a physical testbed of devices with different resource types and vendor specifications. The results provide convincing evidence that an AIF agent can adapt a system to environmental changes. In particular, the AIF agent can balance competing SLOs in resource heterogeneous environments to ensure up to 98% fulfillment rate.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2024

SLO-Aware Task Offloading within Collaborative Vehicle Platoons

In the context of autonomous vehicles (AVs), offloading is essential for guaranteeing the execution of perception tasks, e.g., mobile mapping or object detection. While existing work focused extensively on minimizing inter-vehicle networking latency through offloading, other objectives become relevant in the case of vehicle platoons, e.g., energy efficiency or data quality for heavy-duty or public transport. Therefore, we aim to enforce these Service Level Objectives (SLOs) through intelligent task offloading within AV platoons. We present a collaborative framework for handling and offloading services in a purely Vehicle-to-Vehicle approach (V2V) based on Bayesian Networks (BNs). Each service aggregates local observations into a platoon-wide understanding of how to ensure SLOs for heterogeneous vehicle types. With the resulting models, services can proactively decide to offload if this promises to improve global SLO fulfillment. We evaluate the approach in a real-case setting, where vehicles in a platoon continuously (i.e., every 500 ms) interpret the SLOs of three actual perception services. Our probabilistic, predictive method shows promising results in handling large AV platoons; within seconds, it detects and resolves SLO violations through offloading.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2024

Adaptive Stream Processing on Edge Devices through Active Inference

The current scenario of IoT is witnessing a constant increase on the volume of data, which is generated in constant stream, calling for novel architectural and logical solutions for processing it. Moving the data handling towards the edge of the computing spectrum guarantees better distribution of load and, in principle, lower latency and better privacy. However, managing such a structure is complex, especially when requirements, also referred to Service Level Objectives (SLOs), specified by applications' owners and infrastructure managers need to be ensured. Despite the rich number of proposals of Machine Learning (ML) based management solutions, researchers and practitioners yet struggle to guarantee long-term prediction and control, and accurate troubleshooting. Therefore, we present a novel ML paradigm based on Active Inference (AIF) -- a concept from neuroscience that describes how the brain constantly predicts and evaluates sensory information to decrease long-term surprise. We implement it and evaluate it in a heterogeneous real stream processing use case, where an AIF-based agent continuously optimizes the fulfillment of three SLOs for three autonomous driving services running on multiple devices. The agent used causal knowledge to gradually develop an understanding of how its actions are related to requirements fulfillment, and which configurations to favor. Through this approach, our agent requires up to thirty iterations to converge to the optimal solution, showing the capability of offering accurate results in a short amount of time. Furthermore, thanks to AIF and its causal structures, our method guarantees full transparency on the decision making, making the interpretation of the results and the troubleshooting effortless.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2023

Equilibrium in the Computing Continuum through Active Inference

Computing Continuum (CC) systems are challenged to ensure the intricate requirements of each computational tier. Given the system's scale, the Service Level Objectives (SLOs) which are expressed as these requirements, must be broken down into smaller parts that can be decentralized. We present our framework for collaborative edge intelligence enabling individual edge devices to (1) develop a causal understanding of how to enforce their SLOs, and (2) transfer knowledge to speed up the onboarding of heterogeneous devices. Through collaboration, they (3) increase the scope of SLO fulfillment. We implemented the framework and evaluated a use case in which a CC system is responsible for ensuring Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) during video streaming. Our results showed that edge devices required only ten training rounds to ensure four SLOs; furthermore, the underlying causal structures were also rationally explainable. The addition of new types of devices can be done a posteriori, the framework allowed them to reuse existing models, even though the device type had been unknown. Finally, rebalancing the load within a device cluster allowed individual edge devices to recover their SLO compliance after a network failure from 22% to 89%.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2023

Designing Reconfigurable Intelligent Systems with Markov Blankets

Compute Continuum (CC) systems comprise a vast number of devices distributed over computational tiers. Evaluating business requirements, i.e., Service Level Objectives (SLOs), requires collecting data from all those devices; if SLOs are violated, devices must be reconfigured to ensure correct operation. If done centrally, this dramatically increases the number of devices and variables that must be considered, while creating an enormous communication overhead. To address this, we (1) introduce a causality filter based on Markov blankets (MB) that limits the number of variables that each device must track, (2) evaluate SLOs decentralized on a device basis, and (3) infer optimal device configuration for fulfilling SLOs. We evaluated our methodology by analyzing video stream transformations and providing device configurations that ensure the Quality of Service (QoS). The devices thus perceived their environment and acted accordingly -- a form of decentralized intelligence.

cs.DC↗