2. Fog Computing Architecture and Technologies

Fog computing is a horizontal, system-level architecture that distributes computing, storage, control, and networking functions closer to the users along a cloud-to-thing continuum. This chapter introduces the architecture and key enabling technologies of fog computing, as well as its latest development in standardization bodies and industrial consortium. As the bridge connecting the cloud and things, fog computing plays the crucial role in identifying, integrating, managing, and utilizing multi-tier computing, communication, and storage resources in different IoT systems. Together with feasible AI algorithms, fog nodes can combine various local/regional micro-services and orchestrate more intelligent applications and services with different user preferences and stringent performance requirements. For example, autonomous driving and intelligent manufacturing require high security in data transmission and storage, very low latency in data processing and decision making, and super-high reliability in network connectivity and service provisioning. Further, the challenges of developing more sophisticated services across multiple domains are discussed.