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Pervasive Edge Computing (PEC), a recent addition to the edge computing paradigm, leverages the computing resources of end-user devices to execute computation tasks in close proximity to users. One of the primary challenges in the PEC environment is determining the appropriate servers for offloading computation tasks based on factors, such as computation latency, response quality, device reliability, and cost of service. Computation outsourcing in the PEC ecosystem requires additional security and privacy considerations. Finally, mechanisms need to be in place to guarantee fair payment for the executed service(s). We present 𝑃𝐸𝑃𝑃𝐸𝑅, a novel, privacy-preserving, and decentralized framework that addresses aforementioned challenges by utilizing blockchain technology and trusted execution environments (TEE). 𝑃𝐸𝑃𝑃𝐸𝑅 improves the performance of PEC by allocating resources among end-users efficiently and securely. It also provides the underpinnings for building a financial ecosystem at the pervasive edge. To evaluate the effectiveness of 𝑃𝐸𝑃𝑃𝐸𝑅, we developed and deployed a proof of concept implementation on the Ethereum blockchain, utilizing Intel SGX as the TEE technology. We propose a simple but highly effective remote attestation method that is particularly beneficial to PEC compared to the standard remote attestation method used today. Our extensive comparison experiment shows that 𝑃𝐸𝑃𝑃𝐸𝑅 is 1.23× to 2.15× faster than the current standard remote attestation procedure. In addition, we formally prove the security of our system using the universal composability (UC) framework. 

We propose a novel framework for off-chain execution and verification of computationally-intensive smart contracts. Our framework is the first solution that avoids duplication of computing effort across multiple contractors, does not require trusted execution environments, supports computations that do not have deterministic results, and supports general-purpose computations written in a high-level language. Our experiments reveal that some intensive applications may require as much as 141 million gas, approximately 71x more than the current block gas limit for computation in Ethereum today, and can be avoided by utilizing the proposed framework.