Cloud providers are highly incentivized to reduce latency. One way they do this is by locating datacenters as close to users as possible. These "cloud edge" datacenters are placed in metropolitan areas and enable edge computing for residents of these cities. Therefore, which cities are selected to host edge datacenters determines who has the fastest access to applications requiring edge compute - creating a digital divide between those closest and furthest from a datacenter. In this study we measure latency to the current and predicted cloud edge datacenters of three major cloud providers around the world. Our measurements use the RIPE Atlas platform targeting cloud regions, AWS Local Zones, and network optimization services that minimize the path to the cloud edge. An analysis of the digital divide shows rising inequality as the relative difference between users closest and farthest from cloud compute increases. We also find this inequality unfairly affects lower income census tracts in the US. This result is extended globally using remotely sensed night time lights as a proxy for wealth. Finally, we demonstrate that low earth orbit satellite internet can help to close this digital divide and provide more fair access to the cloud edge.

翻译：云服务提供商有强烈动机来降低延迟。一种实现方式是尽可能将数据中心部署在靠近用户的位置。这些“云边缘”数据中心通常位于大都市区域，为当地居民提供边缘计算能力。因此，哪些城市被选中部署边缘数据中心，决定了谁拥有最快的边缘计算应用访问速度——这就在离数据中心最近与最远的人群之间造成了一道数字鸿沟。本研究测量了全球三大主流云服务提供商当前及未来规划的云边缘数据中心的延迟。我们利用RIPE Atlas平台进行测量，目标覆盖云区域、AWS本地专区以及旨在优化至云边缘路径的网络优化服务。对数字鸿沟的分析显示，随着离云计算资源最近与最远用户之间的相对差异扩大，不平等现象正在加剧。我们还发现这种不平等性对美国低收入人口普查区造成了不公平影响。通过将遥感夜间灯光数据作为财富的替代指标，我们将这一研究发现扩展至全球范围。最后，我们证明低地球轨道卫星互联网有助于弥合这一数字鸿沟，为实现更公平的云边缘接入提供可能。