A Flexible Fog Computing Design for Low-Power Consumption and Low Latency Applications

Markos Losada,Javier Cejudo,Andoni Irizar,Alejandro Pérez,Ainhoa Cortés

doi:10.3390/electronics10010057

Markos Losada, Javier Cejudo + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10010057

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Abstract

In this paper, we propose a flexible Fog Computing architecture in which the main features are that it allows us to select among two different communication links (WiFi and LoRa) on the fly and offers a low-power solution, thanks to the applied power management strategies at hardware and firmware level. The proposed Fog Computing architecture is formed by sensor nodes and an Internet of Things (IoT) gateway. In the case of LoRa, we have the choice of implementing the LoRaWAN and Application servers on the cloud or on the IoT gateway, avoiding, in this case, to send data to the Cloud. Additionally, we have presented an specific setup and methodology with the aim of measuring the sensor node’s power consumption and making sure there is a fair comparison between the different alternatives among the two selected wireless communication links by varying the duty cycle, the size of the payload, and the Spreading Factor (SF). This research work is in the scope of the STARPORTS Interconnecta Project, where we have deployed two sensor nodes in the offshore platform of PLOCAN, which communicate with the IoT gateway located in the PLOCAN premises. In this case, we have used LoRa communications due to the required large distance between the IoT gateway and the nodes in the offshore platform (in the range of kilometers). This deployment demonstrates that the proposed solution operates in a real environment and that it is a low-power and robust approach since it is sending data to the IoT gateway during more than one year and it continues working.

Highlights

At the beginning of the new millennium, the increase in users connected to the Internet forced companies to rethink the way they used the Internet to offer their services
In this paper, we propose a flexible Fog Computing architecture in which the main features are that it allows us to select among two different communication links (WiFi and LoRa) on the fly and offers a low-power solution, thanks to the applied power management strategies at hardware and firmware level
This research work is in the scope of the STARPORTS Interconnecta Project, where we have deployed two sensor nodes in the offshore platform of PLOCAN, which communicate with the Internet of Things (IoT) gateway located in the PLOCAN premises

Summary

Introduction

At the beginning of the new millennium, the increase in users connected to the Internet forced companies to rethink the way they used the Internet to offer their services. The modern wireless communication systems, the infrastructures required by the Internet and the increasing demand for large volumes of data, provided the perfect conditions for Cloud Computing to prosper. Keeping with this trend, computing, control, and data storage has been centralized and moved to the cloud, as was stated years ago in Reference [1]. By 2025, it is estimated that 30 billion devices will be connected to Internet using Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networks and proprietary or cellular technologies [3,4] In this case, the amount of data to be processed in the conventional cloud will make data processing inefficient or even unfeasible

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