Measuring the Energy of Smartphone Communications in the Edge-Cloud Continuum: Approaches, Challenges, and a Case Study

As computational resources are placed at different points in the edge-cloud continuum, not only is the responsiveness on the client side affected, so too is the amount of energy spent during communications. We summarize the main approaches used to estimate the energy consumption of smartphones and the main difficulties typically encountered. A case study then shows how such approaches can be put into practice. The results show that the edge is favorable in terms of energy consumption, compared to more remote locations.