Guest Editorial: The Internet of Time-Critical Things: Advances and Challenges in Computing and Communications

Time is a precious and critical resource to computers, sensors, actuators, and most Internet of Things (IoT) systems and applications. Precise time and timeliness in task execution and data communication are fundamental requirements for emerging IoT applications and new experiences enabled by advances in distributed computing, from cloud to edge. Industry 4.0, mobile and collaborative robots, autonomous systems, immersive and interactive human-cyber experiences are only a few examples of the Internet of Time-Critical Things where precise time, computing, and communication with bounded latencies and high reliability are strictly required. Furthermore, these applications might not only be time-critical but also safety-critical as they often involve interactions between humans and machines. Such stringent time and safety requirements bring new practical challenges, as well as new opportunities to revolutionize the traditional design, deployment and management of computing and communication infrastructures. New concepts in software-defined systems and networks, cloud/edge computing, AI-driven resource orchestration, Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) and advances in wireless communications (Wi-Fi 6/7, 5G and beyond) are emerging as potential building blocks to enable the transformation of computing and communications infrastructure to enable time-critical applications.