Prioritized task scheduling in fog computing

Fog computing, similar to edge computing, has been proposed as a model to introduce a virtualized layer between the end users and the back-end cloud data centers. Fog computing has attracted much attention due to the recent rapid deployment of smart devices and Internet-of-Things (IoT) systems, which often requires real-time, stringent-delay services. The fog layer placed between client and cloud layers aims to reduce the delay in terms of transmission and processing times, as well as the overall cost. To support the increasing number of IoT, smart devices, and to improve performance and reduce cost, this paper proposes a task scheduling algorithm in the fog layer based on priority levels. The proposed architecture, queueing and priority models, priority assignment module, and the priority-based task scheduling algorithms are carefully described. Performance evaluation shows that, comparing with existing task scheduling algorithms, the proposed algorithm reduces the overall response time and notably decreases the total cost. We believe that this work is significant to the emerging fog computing technology, and the priority-based algorithm is useful to a wide range of application domains.