  We propose a novel integrated fog cloud IoT (IFCIoT) architectural paradigm
that promises increased performance, energy efficiency, reduced latency,
quicker response time, scalability, and better localized accuracy for future
IoT applications. The fog nodes (e.g., edge servers, smart routers, base
stations) receive computation offloading requests and sensed data from various
IoT devices. To enhance performance, energy efficiency, and real-time
responsiveness of applications, we propose a reconfigurable and layered fog
node (edge server) architecture that analyzes the applications' characteristics
and reconfigure the architectural resources to better meet the peak workload
demands. The layers of the proposed fog node architecture include application
layer, analytics layer, virtualization layer, reconfiguration layer, and
hardware layer. The layered architecture facilitates abstraction and
implementation for fog computing paradigm that is distributed in nature and
where multiple vendors (e.g., applications, services, data and content
providers) are involved. We also elaborate the potential applications of IFCIoT
architecture, such as smart cities, intelligent transportation systems,
localized weather maps and environmental monitoring, and real-time agricultural
data analytics and control.
