Fog Computing Enabling Industrial Internet of Things: State-of-the-Art and Research Challenges

Abstract

Industry is going through a transformation phase, enabling automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies and processes, and this transformation is called Industry 4.0. Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT) applications require real-time processing, near-by storage, ultra-low latency, reliability and high data rate, all of which can be satisfied by fog computing architecture. With smart devices expected to grow exponentially, the need for an optimized fog computing architecture and protocols is crucial. Therein, efficient, intelligent and decentralized solutions are required to ensure real-time connectivity, reliability and green communication. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of methods and techniques in fog computing. Our focus is on fog infrastructure and protocols in the context of IIoT applications. This article has two main research areas: In the first half, we discuss the history of industrial revolution, application areas of IIoT followed by key enabling technologies that act as building blocks for industrial transformation. In the second half, we focus on fog computing, providing solutions to critical challenges and as an enabler for IIoT application domains. Finally, open research challenges are discussed to enlighten fog computing aspects in different fields and technologies.

Security and Privacy in the Industrial Internet of Things: Current Standards and Future Challenges

“…Edge computing has close contact with sensors and actuators. The demand for cloud, fog, and edge computing architectures is enlarged with the evolution of the IIoT application [5]. Authentication, Access, and Authorization (AAA) are three factors required for the intended IIoT security.…”

“…The IIoT is characterized by stringent deadline require-FIGURE 1. Overview of the Industrial IoT applications [5] VOLUME 4, 2016 ments and operations with serious safety and/or economic loss implications in the event of a security breach. Even though the type of security attacks that could be targeted against the IIoT are similar to those targeted against consumer IoT in nature, there is a difference in the degree of severity when an attack is successful.…”

A New Green Prospective of Non-orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) for 5G

“…There is much research available on energy efficiency in fog computing in wireless networks [144][145][146]. Although there is considerable research on fog computing based energy efficiency for NOMA [147][148][149][150], it can be utilized further to mitigate the prevalent challenges such as resource optimization, low processing power and optimal placing of servers [145,146]. Fog computing is extremely useful in scenarios where low latency, high data rates, real time processing, reliability, storage are required.…”

“…Fog computing is extremely useful in scenarios where low latency, high data rates, real time processing, reliability, storage are required. For example in scenarios such as industrial IoT and health, optimized fog computing designs are required [145,151]. Further, energy efficiency achieving caching schemes for fog computing is addressed in [152].…”

Carbon Nanohybrids for Advanced Electronic Applications

“…[ 22–24 ] For emerging technologies, a growing challenge in the field of real‐time analytics and Internet of Things (IoT), is on high‐performance electronic devices and logic circuits with reliable properties, which allow us to push the limits of computation and functionalization in such technologies. [ 25–27 ] One research area of particular interest focuses on developing carbon nanomaterials that offer vastly appealing properties compared with conventional silicon‐based materials, such as nanoscale physics and form factor, cost effectiveness, less power consumption, high flexibility and robustness, and large‐area fabrication or even roll‐to‐roll production. [ 28–30 ] Recently, carbon nanohybrids have attracted considerable attention in the field of science and engineering due to their unique electrical, mechanical, chemical, spectroscopic properties, and high porosities.…”