HybOff: A Hybrid Offloading Approach to Improve Load Balancing in Fog Networks

AbstractLoad balancing is crucial in distributed systems like fog computing, where efficiency is paramount. Offloading with different approaches is the key to balancing the load in distributed environments. Static offloading (SOS) falls short in heterogeneous networks, necessitating dynamic offloading to reduce latency in time-sensitive tasks. However, prevalent dynamic offloading (DOS) solutions often come with hidden costs that impact sensitive applications, including decision time, networks congested and distance offloading. This paper introduces the Hybrid Offloading (HybOff) algorithm, which substantially enhances load balancing and resource utilization in fog networks, addressing issues in both static and dynamic approaches while leveraging clustering theory. Its goal is to create a uncomplicated low-cost offloading approach that enhances IoT application performance by eliminating the consequences of hidden costs regardless of network size. Experimental results using the iFogSim simulation tool show that HybOff significantly reduces offloading messages, distance, and decision-offloading consequences. It improves load balancing by 97%, surpassing SOS (64%) and DOS (88%). Additionally, it increases system utilization by an average of 50% and enhances system performance 1.6 times and 1.4 times more than SOS and DOS, respectively. In summary, HybOff substantially contributes to load balancing and offloading research in fog computing.