Orchestration in Fog Computing: A Comprehensive Survey

Fog computing is a paradigm that brings computational resources and services to the network edge in the vicinity of user devices, lowering latency and connecting with cloud computing resources. Unlike cloud computing, fog resources are based on constrained and heterogeneous nodes whose connectivity can be unstable. In this complex scenario, there is a need to define and implement orchestration processes to ensure that applications and services can be provided, considering the settled agreements. Although some publications have dealt with orchestration in fog computing, there are still some diverse definitions and functional intersection with other areas, such as resource management and monitoring. This article presents a systematic review of the literature with focus on orchestration in fog computing. A generic architecture of fog orchestration is presented, created from the consolidation of the analyzed proposals, bringing to light the essential functionalities addressed in the literature. This work also highlights the main challenges and open research questions.