The Industrial Internet Consortium has announced the publication of the Industrial Internet of Things Distributed Computing in the Edge Technical Report. Designed for IoT system architects and implementers, the report describes a distributed computing framework that moves the capabilities of data center-based cloud computing closer to intelligent IoT devices at the edge.

“In edge computing, data, networking, storage, and computing are distributed throughout layers of edge computing nodes from IoT devices to the data center – distributing the economies of scale of cloud capabilities throughout the system,” Chuck Byers, Co-Chair, IIC Distributed Computing Task Group, and Associate CTO of IIC said.

“The migration of cloud capabilities into the edge allows data, storage, and computation to gravitate to where it can be handled most efficiently, whether in a data center or the edge.”
The technical report includes:

• A structural and functional framework for distributing computing in the edge
• Definitions of key architectural concepts employed in distributed edge computing
• Essential capabilities of an edge system’s elements
• Security and management functions
• Essential interfaces for these elements

System architects can use the framework as a template to derive a concrete distributed computing architecture. Operations technologists, information technologists, and managers can use the report to learn more about the elements and advantages of distributed computing in the edge.

“Distributed computing, and the nodes and edge systems that form its key components are essential to the success of organization’s critical IoT systems and digital transformation plans,” said John Zao, Co-Chair, IIC Distributed Computing Task Group. “By moving to a distributed edge computing architecture, organizations across industries can reduce costs and meet critical performance, trustworthiness, and efficiency requirements for their IoT applications.”

News from Industrial Internet Consortium