SDN-Based Reconfigurable Edge Network Architecture for Industrial Internet of Things

Abstract

Internet of Things (IoT) with edge computing capability enhances efficiency, availability and improves latency of an industrial automation system. However, to provide dynamic services at the resource-constrained edge device, reconfiguration of services is necessary. This paper proposes a programmable edge network to (re)configure different services of industrial IoT, that employs programmable layers at the edge for reconfiguring the sensor/actuator network and application services. The lowermost layer allows reconfiguring the communication-related parameters and the middle layer consists of an SDN controller that can dynamically program different modules and handles actuation decisions from the edge. An interfacing protocol between the layers is proposed to provide reliability by considering the required configuration parameters among layers. At the top-layer, a priority forwarding mechanism is designed for SDN core (control-loop) communication when sensor and actuator are on different edges. The proposed architecture significantly improves the actuation-latency and is highly energy efficient compared to the existing state-of-the-art.