Edge server software architecture for sensor applications

Edge servers perform computation on data in addition to that performed by the application server. Typically edge servers are deployed just in front of the application server and perform simple generic functions such as load balancing. With the increasing integration of network connected sensors into Internet based applications we foresee the need for the deployment of edge servers at the other end of the network, i.e. at the boundary with the external sensor network. These edge servers reduce the amount of data that has to be sent to the application server by filtering, summarizing and aggregating the sensor data. They are distinct from existing servers in both the location they run and the application-specific functions they perform. Both these differences influence their design. We describe our implementation of such an edge server.