Three tier fog networks: Enabling IoT/5G for latency sensitive applications

Following the progression in Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G communication networks, the traditional cloud computing model have shifted to fog computing. Fog computing provides mobile computing, network control and storage to the network edges to assist latency critical and computation-intensive applications. Moreover, security features are improved in fog paradigm by processing critical data on edge devices instead of data centres outside the control plane of users. However, fog network deployment imposes many challenges including resource allocation, privacy of users, non-availability of programming model and testing software and support for the heterogenous networks. This article highlights these challenges and their potential solutions in detail. This article also discusses threetier fog network architecture, its standardization and benefits in detail. The proposed resource allocation mechanism for three tier fog networks based on swap matching is described. Results show that by practicing the proposed resource allocation mechanism, maximum throughput with reduced latency is achieved.