An Entropy-Integrated Adaptive Coding and Scheduling Framework for Optimized Data Transmission in Fog–Cloud IoT Architectures

Entropy-driven network coding has been used as a basis for optimizing data transmission and enhancing resource utilization in fog-cloud IoT architectures, including applications in smart cities, industrial automation, environmental monitoring, and healthcare. In fog-cloud IoT architectures, conventional data transmission protocols are inefficient because they cannot adapt to dynamic entropy levels, resulting in underutilized bandwidth, increased latency, and higher energy consumption. In this article, we propose an Enhanced Entropy-Driven Network Coding (E-EDNC) framework to address these problems. Our framework integrates real-time entropy estimation with adaptive coding strategies and employs a hybrid evolutionary-reinforcement learning (HE-RL) algorithm to dynamically optimize coding parameters and scheduling decisions. Experimental results demonstrate that E-EDNC improves bandwidth utilization by 25%, reduces latency by 25%, and decreases energy consumption by 12%, thereby enhancing overall data transmission efficiency and reliability in fog-cloud IoT environments.