  The term Tactile Internet broadly refers to a communication network which is
capable of delivering control, touch, and sensing/actuation information in
real-time. The Tactile Internet is currently a topic of interest for various
standardization bodies. The emerging IEEE P1918.1 standards working group is
focusing on defining a framework for the Tactile Internet. The main objective
of this article is to present a reference architecture for the Tactile Internet
based on the latest developments within the IEEE P1918.1 standard. The article
provides an in-depth treatment of various architectural aspects including the
key entities, the interfaces, the functional capabilities and the protocol
stack. A case study has been presented as a manifestation of the architecture.
Performance evaluation demonstrates the impact of functional capabilities and
the underlying enablers on user-level utility pertaining to a generic Tactile
Internet application.
