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WASM Edge Computing: Use Cases

WASM Edge Computing: Use Cases

Part of: WASM Edge Computing User Guide

1. Global Web Applications

Challenge: Serve users worldwide with consistent low latency

Solution:

// Deploy edge function globally
runtime.deploy_globally("handle_request".to_string()).await?;


// Route based on user location
let user_location = get_user_location(&request)?;
let decision = router.route(user_location)?;


// Execute at nearest edge
let response = execute_at_edge(
    &decision.primary_node,
    &request,
).await?;

Performance:

  • Before: 200-500ms (centralized)
  • After: <10ms (edge)
  • Improvement: 20-50x

2. Gaming Leaderboards

Challenge: Real-time updates, high write volume, global players

Solution:

// CRDT counter for scores
sync.put(
    format!("score:{}", player_id),
    score.to_le_bytes().to_vec(),
    Some(Duration::from_secs(3600)),
).await?;


// Read leaderboard (local, <1ms)
let top_players = get_top_n_players(100).await?;


// Eventual consistency ensures all nodes converge

Characteristics:

  • Writes: <5ms local, <100ms global
  • Reads: <1ms (cached)
  • Consistency: Eventual (acceptable for leaderboards)
  • Scale: Millions of players

3. Real-Time Collaboration

Challenge: Multiple users editing simultaneously

Solution:

// Causal consistency for collaborative editing
let config = SyncConfig {
    consistency_model: ConsistencyModel::Causal,
    ..Default::default()
};


// User A edits
let edit_a = apply_edit(&document, &edit_operation).await?;
sync.put("doc:123".to_string(), edit_a, None).await?;


// User B sees edit A before making their edit
let doc = sync.get("doc:123").await?.unwrap();
let edit_b = apply_edit(&doc, &edit_operation).await?;


// Guaranteed: edit_b happens after edit_a

Features:

  • Causal ordering preserved
  • Conflict-free merging
  • <50ms cross-region sync
  • Operational transform support

4. IoT Data Ingestion

Challenge: Millions of devices, high write volume, geo-distributed

Solution:

// Partition by device region
let partition_id = format!("iot:region:{}", device.region);
sync.subscribe_partition(&partition_id).await?;


// Local writes (no coordination)
sync.put(
    format!("device:{}:telemetry", device.id),
    telemetry_data,
    Some(Duration::from_secs(86400)), // 24h retention
).await?;


// Aggregate at edge
let regional_stats = aggregate_telemetry(&partition_id).await?;

Characteristics:

  • Ingestion: 1M+ writes/sec per region
  • Latency: <5ms per write
  • Retention: Configurable TTL
  • Aggregation: At edge (reduces bandwidth)

5. Content Personalization

Challenge: Real-time personalization at scale

Solution:

// Cache user preferences at edge
cache.insert(
    format!("prefs:{}", user_id),
    preferences,
    1024,
    Some(Duration::from_secs(300)),
).await?;


// Prefetch likely content
let predictions = ml_model.predict_content(&user_id)?;
for content_id in predictions {
    cache.warm_cache(vec![format!("content:{}", content_id)]).await?;
}


// Serve personalized content (<5ms)
let content = get_personalized_content(&user_id).await?;

Benefits:

  • Personalization: <5ms
  • Cache hit rate: 95%+
  • ML inference: At edge
  • Bandwidth savings: 80%+

6. A/B Testing

Challenge: Consistent variant assignment, real-time analytics

Solution:

// Deterministic variant assignment (hash-based)
let variant = assign_variant(&user_id, &experiment_id)?;


// Track at edge
sync.put(
    format!("experiment:{}:{}:{}", experiment_id, variant, user_id),
    event_data,
    Some(Duration::from_secs(86400 * 30)), // 30 days
).await?;


// Real-time aggregation
let stats = aggregate_experiment_stats(&experiment_id).await?;

Features:

  • Assignment: <1ms
  • Consistent across sessions
  • Real-time analytics
  • No central coordination

7. Financial Trading

Challenge: Ultra-low latency, strong consistency for trades

Solution:

// Strong consistency for order book
let config = SyncConfig {
    consistency_model: ConsistencyModel::Strong,
    ..Default::default()
};


// Place order (coordinated, ~50ms)
let order_result = sync.put_strong(
    format!("order:{}", order_id),
    order_data,
).await?;


// Match orders (requires linearizable reads)
let orders = get_order_book(&symbol).await?;
let matches = match_orders(orders)?;


// Execute trades atomically
execute_trades(matches).await?;

Performance:

  • Order placement: <50ms (strong consistency)
  • Order book reads: <1ms (cached)
  • Trade execution: <100ms (cross-region)
  • Consistency: Linearizable