Development of Edge Cloud Platform for IoT based Smart Factory Implementation

In this paper, we propose an edge cloud platform architecture for implementing smart factory. The edge cloud platform is one of edge computing architecture which is mainly focusing on the efficient computing between IoT devices and central cloud. So far, edge computing has put emphasis on reducing latency, bandwidth and computing cost in areas like smart homes and self-driving cars. On the other hand, in this paper, we suggest not only common functional architecture of edge system but also light weight cloud based architecture to apply to the specialized requirements of smart factory. Cloud based edge architecture has many advantages in terms of scalability and reliability of resources and operation of various independent edge functions compare to typical edge system architecture. To make sure the availability of edge cloud platform in smart factory, we also analyze requirements of smart factory edge. We redefine requirements from a 4M1E(man, machine, material, method, element) perspective which are essentially needed to be digitalized and intelligent for physical operation of smart factory. Based on these requirements, we suggest layered(IoT Gateway, Edge Cloud, Central Cloud) application and data architecture. we also propose edge cloud platform architecture using lightweight container virtualization technology. Finally, we validate its implementation effects with case study. we apply proposed edge cloud architecture to the real manufacturing process and compare to existing equipment engineering system. As a result, we prove that the response performance of the proposed approach was improved by 84 to 92% better than existing method.