AP-Based Intelligent Fog Agent
An AP based intelligent fog agent, for example based on a WiFi AP, manages fog computing using WiFi, WiFi Direct, or a similar system, to connect IoT devices and enhance interoperability. The fog agent, using data analytics modules, provides edge intelligence and permits a substantial amount of computing, including network measurement, graphics processing, actuation, and control, to occur within one or two hops from the end-user. Forming proximity-based fog networks leads to hierarchical network management and strengthens security and privacy protections. P 2 P communications, such as messaging and content sharing, among connected devices is also facilitated connecting to it. Real-time cyber-physical system control, real-time security intelligence, content distribution and media sharing, can all benefit from the new fog agent.
1 . A fog network comprising:
a fog network device, the fog network device comprising:
a processor;
a memory, the memory comprising non-transitory computer-readable media, the memory coupled to the processor;
a local area network (LAN) interface coupled to the processor;
a data analytics logic module residing in the memory; and
a fog network management logic module residing in the memory, wherein the logic modules are executable by the processor.
2 . The fog network device of claim 1 wherein the fog network device comprises an access point (AP) based intelligent fog agent.
3 . The fog network device of claim 1 further comprising:
a wide area network (WAN) interface coupled to the processor.
4 . The fog network device of claim 3 wherein the WAN interface comprises a cellular interface.
5 . The fog network device of claim 1 wherein the LAN interface comprises a WiFi interface.
6 . The fog network device of claim 1 wherein the LAN interface comprises a WiFi-Direct interface.
7 . The fog network device of claim 1 wherein the LAN interface comprises a Bluetooth interface.
8 . The fog network device of claim 1 further comprising:
a messaging gateway logic module residing in the memory.
9 . The fog network device of claim 1 further comprising:
an artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning logic module residing in the memory
10 . The fog network device of claim 1 further comprising at least one logic module residing in the memory and selected from the list consisting of:
AP-to-AP communication, firewall, database, and web server.
11 . The fog network of claim 1 further comprising:
a data classifier operable to classify at least a portion of data on the fog network according to at least one criteria selected from the list consisting of:
processing urgency requirement, processing burden, and storage requirement.
12 . The fog network of claim 1 wherein the fog agent comprises the data classifier.
13 . The fog network of claim 1 further comprising:
a video analytics engine operable to analyze video data on the fog network for alert conditions.
14 . The fog network of claim 13 further comprising:
an alarm condition processor coupled to the video analytics engine, the alarm condition processor operable to issue an alarm in response to an alarm condition.
15 . The fog network of claim 14 wherein the fog agent comprises at least one of the video analytics engine and the alarm condition processor.
16 . A computer-implemented method of operating a fog network, the method executable by a processor, the method comprising:
receiving data over a local area network (LAN) interface by a fog agent;
storing the received data in a memory local to the fog agent;
analyzing the data according to processing or storage requirements; and
responsive to the analyzing retaining the data within the fog network or sending the data to a remote node through a wide area network (WAN) interface.
17 . The method of claim 16 wherein sending the data to a remote node comprises sending the data to a remote cloud node for processing or storage.
18 . The method of claim 16 wherein sending the data to a remote node comprises sending video data to a monitoring center.
19 . The method of claim 16 wherein analyzing the data comprises analyzing the data for an alarm condition.
20 . The method of claim 16 wherein analyzing the data comprises analyzing the data for a back-up or archival requirement.