Energy Efficiency of Mobile Clients in Cloud Computing

Energy efficiency is a fundamental consideration for mobile devices. Cloud computing has the potential to save mobile client energy but the savings from offloading the computation need to exceed the energy cost of the additional communication. In this paper we provide an analysis of the critical factors affecting the energy consumption of mobile clients in cloud computing. Further, we present our measurements about the central characteristics of contemporary mobile handheld devices that define the basic balance between local and remote computing. We also describe a concrete example, which demonstrates energy savings. We show that the trade-offs are highly sensitive to the exact characteristics of the workload, data communication patterns and technologies used, and discuss the implications for the design and engineering of energy efficient mobile cloud computing solutions.