An Software Defined Networking (SDN) Enhanced Edge Computing Framework for Internet of Healthcare Things (IoHT)

The rapid proliferation of intelligent Internet of Health Things (IoHT) applications within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic has exerted significant strain on the backhaul network infrastructure. This paper aims to introduce a novel framework that leverages software-defined networking (SDN) to enhance edge computing capabilities. This framework will expect to facilitate dynamic and adaptable communication between edge and cloud servers, specifically designed to support real-time Internet of Health Things applications. Through the establishment of a connection between servers and the Software-Defined Networking controller, the system is expected to facilitate load balancing, network optimization, and the utilization of resources in an efficient manner. This, in turn, enables the provision of real-time healthcare services. Ultimately, the efficacy of the suggested framework is assessed by analyzing its impact on service response time. The research results indicate that the proposed framework significantly benefits IoHT systems’ service response times across various workloads and traffic.