Communication Protocol Review for SMART Manufacturing Units within a Cloud Manufacturing Environment

The 4th Industrial Revolution comprises of SMART factories, SMART manufacturing, Cloud manufacturing and makes use of Internet of Things, Internet of Services and Cyber Physical Systems. The rapid expansion has left shortcomings in defining proper communication protocols between the different components within this industrial revolution. A number of research articles have set out to establish communication protocols between SMART manufacturing units and Cloud manufacturing systems however, there is still not enough to prove for the use of their own protocols within a working case study. A research void exists within this field to establish a foundation to classify the machinery as SMART and to standardize the protocols needed. The purpose of this paper is to review the different communication protocols in the different layers of Cloud manufacturing. This is done by reviewing relevant research done in this field in the recent past. This analysis will give an indication of the progress made in this field and the possible areas for future research.