The rapid expansion of IoT devices and their real-time applications have driven a growing need for edge computing. To meet this need, efficient and secure solutions are required for running such applications on resource-constrained devices with limited power, CPU, and memory. Unikernel, with its minimalistic design and application-specific approach, offers a promising alternative to traditional virtualization and container technologies in these environments. The existing research does not thoroughly examine the feasibility of using unikernel for edge computing. This paper investigates the potential of unikernel for ARM-powered edge computing by evaluating the performance and efficiency of three prominent unikernel systems such as OSv, Nanos, and Unikraft against Docker container. We experiment with real-world edge computing applications and utilize key metrics such as boot time, execution time, memory usage, CPU overhead, and network performance to determine how unikernel performs under the constraints of edge devices. Our findings reveal the potential advantages of unikernel in terms of reduced resource consumption and faster startup times while highlighting areas where they may need further optimization for edge deployment. This study provides valuable insights for researchers and practitioners considering unikernel as a lightweight, efficient solution for edge computing on ARM architectures.

翻译：物联网设备及其实时应用的快速扩张推动了对边缘计算日益增长的需求。为满足这一需求，需要在资源受限（包括有限功耗、CPU和内存）的设备上运行此类应用的高效安全解决方案。Unikernel凭借其极简设计和面向特定应用的特性，为此类环境中的传统虚拟化及容器技术提供了一种有前景的替代方案。现有研究尚未深入探讨在边缘计算中使用Unikernel的可行性。本文通过评估OSv、Nanos和Unikraft三种主流Unikernel系统相较于Docker容器的性能与效率，探究了Unikernel在ARM架构边缘计算中的应用潜力。我们采用实际边缘计算应用进行实验，并利用启动时间、执行时间、内存占用、CPU开销及网络性能等关键指标，以确定Unikernel在边缘设备约束条件下的表现。研究结果揭示了Unikernel在降低资源消耗和加快启动时间方面的潜在优势，同时指出了其在边缘部署场景中仍需优化的领域。本研究为考虑采用Unikernel作为ARM架构边缘计算轻量高效解决方案的研究者与实践者提供了重要参考。