SDN&NFV contribution to IoT objects virtualization

The Internet of Things paradigm will certainly be one of the main drivers of the tomorrow's 5th generation (5G) wireless networks. In order to support the algorithms required for real time exchange and analysis of great amounts of data among the involved smart devices, Virtual Objects (VO) have become a key component to improve the objects energy management efficiency, as well as to address heterogeneity and scalability issues. Following the research trend of exploiting on-demand cloud computing resources to augment the processing and storage capabilities of IoT devices, this paper addresses the design of a novel infrastructure and paradigm to support the deployment of new personal IoT services inside the infrastructure provider premises. The goal is to bring cloud-computing services much closer to the end-users and to be able to replace physical IoT devices with their “Virtual Images”. Among other benefits, this approach will ensure a longer lifetime to IoT constrained devices and enable the inclusion of new protocols making the development of logic and the configuration of IoT smart application environment technology-agnostic. To achieve this goal, we have developed an open-source software platform that exploits OpenStack APIs and leverages a web interface providing all the functionality typically available in a home gateway through the OpenWRT Linux distribution. Results show this approach brings a manifest reduction in the amount of data transmitted, with benefits in terms of reduced workload and power consumption as well as extended device lifetime.