A Fog-Cloud Computing Infrastructure for Condition Monitoring and Distributing Industry 4.0 Services

Data-driven Industry 4.0 applications require low latency data processing and reliable communication models to enable efficient operation of production lines, fast response to failures and quickly adapt the manufacturing process to changing environmental conditions. Data processing in the Cloud has been widely accepted and in combination with Fog technologies, it can also satisfy these requirements. This paper investigates the placement of service containers and wheater they should be carried out in the Cloud or at a Fog node. It shows how to provide an uniform well-monitored execution environment to automatically distribute services concerning their application-specific requirements. An infrastructure is presented, that utilizes measurement probes to observe the node and environmental conditions, derive and evaluate appropriate distribution algorithms and finally deploy the application services to the node that meets the requirements.