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Edge Computing in IIoT and Why It’s Important

Industrial IoT has been around for a while now and more and more organizations are signing up for this technological marvel. Edge computing has also been nothing but a blessing to IoT computing. 

What Is Edge Computing?

You probably are already familiar with edge computing as a concept, the smart watch you have on now, for instance. 

Edge computing is all about the processing of data without the data having to be sent to a server or a processing hub. In simpler terms, it is the processing of data at the point closest to where the data was generated. 

Let’s get technical: edge computing is an architecture that enables data handling, analysis and management at the periphery of the network or better yet, on IoT edge devices. The bottom-line is the data gets processed and analyzed as close to the source as possible.

Edge computing wraps up reliability and local performance with minimal delays in one nice present, which is very important especially in IIoT settings.

IoT edge devices

Layers of Edge Computing

Edge computing involves three fundamental layers:

Sensors

This is where you find IoT edge devices with embedded microprocessors to collect information from the sensors they are connected to. A lot of information can be collected,  including connectivity and timestamps. 

Some of these sensors can operate autonomously, granted they have enough power and they can sync data in case connectivity is lost. With such guarantees, you know your data is safe even when connectivity is lost.

Edge Gateway

A typical IoT setting involves edge devices, the cloud, and a middleman. The edge gateway masquerades as the middleman. 

If you have been keeping up with what the scene is like in the IoT world, you probably have heard the term ‘LoRaWan gateway’ being thrown around so I’ll use that to explain what edge gateways do. 

Being the middleman, edge gateways facilitate all interaction between IoT edge devices and the cloud. Facilitating all interactions means they are in charge of allowing or denying any sort of interaction between the edge devices and the cloud. 

LoRaWan gateways essentially are a blend of hardware and software that link edge devices and you as the user, offering you better visibility in your IIoT network.

The Cloud

The cloud certainly needs zero introduction. Assuming it does, it is a network of virtual servers hosted on the internet for all your IoT data storage and processing needs.

Why Edge Computing is Important in IIoT

Edge computing has a plethora of advantages and applications in many scopes. With the focus being on IoT computing, let’s get started:

Real Time Monitoring

Edge computing is all about data being captured and analyzed right at the periphery of the network or IOT devices for that matter. The analysis of data will of course reveal any discrepancies or lack thereof. 

If a problem is noted, the sensors will transmit the particular data packet to the central server for a more detailed analysis. What happens to the other data packets, you ask? 

Well, all the other irrelevant data sets are simply discarded. With real time monitoring and reporting of issues in the network, you have an uninterrupted supply of real-time information about the performance of all your IoT devices and assets without any delays in information transmission.

Better Security

IIoT devices are essentially welcome signs for hackers. Lots of loopholes can be exploited by the hackers and we definitely don’t want this. 

With edge computing, computations are done much closer to the source, reducing the possible access points for parties with malicious intent. 

Also, IoT devices have to connect to the network a lot less frequently because calculations and computations are done on the periphery of the network rather than data having to be transported to the cloud for processing.
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