A Reference Model and Prototype Implementation for SDN-based Multi Layer Routing in Fog Environments

If compared with Cloud computing, Fog computing is proving to support challenging scenarios imposing strict delay requirements, e.g., tactile Internet and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and increased flexibility, e.g., dynamic Smart City and users’ follow-me provisioning case. In fact, by exploiting computing, storage, and connectivity resources in the proximity of sensors and actuators (for IIoT) and of mobile nodes carried by citizens (for Smart Cities), significant portions of services and functionalities can be migrated outside datacenters. However, such scenarios are characterized by increased heterogeneity of nodes in terms of hardware/software, of time-varying applications possibly offered by multiple service providers at the same time, and frequent joining/leaving of nodes as a typical behavior. To overcome these issues, the paper originally proposes Multi-Layer Advanced Networking Environment (Multi-LANE), a Multi Layer Routing (MLR) solution based on Software Defined Networking (SDN) that specifically targets the emerging and promising Fog-based deployment environments. Multi-LANE dynamically selects and exploits (even at the same time) different routing strategies and mechanisms suitable for applications with heterogeneous features and requirements. Based on its centralized point of view, our Multi-LANE SDN controller determines the most suitable path and configures the proper MLR forwarding mechanism, ranging from traditional IP and sequence-based overlays to more articulated ones based on the inspection of payload content types and values. In addition to design/implementation insights and to the availability of the Multi-LANE prototype, this paper also provides the community with a significant contribution in terms of novel models for forwarding mechanisms specialized for Fog computing scenarios.