Pro-Edge: A Programmable Edge Network Architecture for Industrial
Internet of Things
Abstract
Internet of Things (IoT) with edge computation enhances efficiency,
safety, and availability of an industrial automation system. However,
there is a continued effort to increase the reliability of the system
with minimal downtime. This can be achieved through a modular,
re-configurable, and integrable system design approach. In this paper,
we propose Pro-Edge, a programmable edge network to reconfigure
different services associated with industrial applications and networks.
Pro-Edge employs programmable layers at the edge for re-configuring the
sensor/actuator network and applications. The lowermost layer allows to
reconfigure the communication related parameters and the middle layer
consists of a Software-Defined Network (SDN) controller that can
dynamically program different modules, handling actuation decisions from
the edge. An interfacing protocol between the layers is proposed to
provide reliability by considering the optimal configuration parameters
among the layers. As a top-layer, a priority forwarding mechanism is
designed for SDN core communication in case the sensor and actuator are
in different edges. Pro-Edge significantly improves the
actuation-latency and is highly energy efficient compared to the
existing state-of-the-art.