Towards Context-Aware Edge-Cloud Continuum Orchestration for Multi-user XR Services

The rapid growth of multi-user eXtended Reality (XR) applications, spanning fields such as entertainment, education, and telemedicine, demands seamless, immersive experiences for users interacting within shared, distributed environments. Delivering such latency-sensitive experiences involves considerable challenges in orchestrating network, computing, and service resources, where existing limitations highlight the need for a structured approach to analyse and optimise these complex systems. This challenge is amplified by the need for high-performance, low-latency connectivity, where 5G and 6G networks provide essential infrastructure to meet the requirements of XR services at scale. This article addresses these challenges by developing a model that parametrises multi-user XR services across four critical layers of the standard virtualisation architecture. We formalise this model mathematically, proposing a context-aware framework that defines key parameters at each level and integrates them into a comprehensive Edge-Cloud Continuum orchestration strategy. Our contributions include a detailed analysis of the current limitations and needs in existing Edge-Cloud Continuum orchestration approaches, the formulation of a layered mathematical model, and a validation framework that demonstrates the utility and feasibility of the proposed solution.