An Optimal Load Balancing Framework for Fog-Assisted Smart Grid Applications

The growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) causes a significant amount of data to come in from physical devices and sensors, which adds to the latency and processing delays in smart grid applications. The pay-per-model method of transmitting gathered data that cloud computing offers improves scalability and functionality for end devices, which increases smart grid efficiency. Milliseconds matter in the crucial realms of load balancing, resource usage, and distribution systems, where any latency or jitter is unacceptable. By strategically positioning processing, networking, storage, and communication capabilities at the network edge, fog computing, an outgrowth of cloud technology, successfully addresses current issues in service groups. This paper introduces a unique hybrid framework on a highly virtualized platform and proposes three potential load balancing algorithms: throttled, Round Robin, and a novel Equilibrium Optimizer with Simulated Annealing (EO-SA). The article provides a comprehensive investigation on several load balancing techniques for obtaining optimized services in a smart grid environment thereby focusing on better utilization of network resources and reduction of costs.