Using IoTCloudSamples as a software framework for simulations of edge computing scenarios

Abstract

Realizing the potential of edge computing and networks connecting the edge and the cloud, researchers from academia and industries have increasingly developed techniques and tools for edge infrastructures and applications. This paper focuses on supporting complex edge application interactions, which span different layers and subsystems in edge-cloud environments. This paper addresses (i) diverse types of software components for emulating realistic functionality and configurations, like data transformation and service API interoperability, and (ii) techniques for connecting emulated scenarios to real edge software development and operations, and to IoT and cloud counterparts. We present IoTCloudSamples as a software framework with (i) modeling and implementation of diverse types of IoT, edge and cloud elements for complex edge scenarios, (ii) methods for constructing and steering emulations to study the interoperability across layers among different edge platforms and protocols, and (iii) extensive emulated scenarios and experiments integrated with real-world IoT and cloud services. IoTCloudSamples supports the approach of edge-simulation-as-code to allow the reuse and runtime steering of realistic emulation operations. We will present examples from our real-world projects concentrating on edge analytics applications.