Integrated Photonics for IoT, RoF, and Distributed Fog–Cloud Computing: A Comprehensive Review
Integrated photonics is a transformative technology for enhancing communication and computation in Cloud and Fog computing networks. Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) enable significant improvements in data-processing speed, energy-efficiency, scalability, and latency. In Cloud infrastructures, PI...
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MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| author | Gerardo Antonio Castañón Ávila Walter Cerroni Ana Maria Sarmiento-Moncada |
| author_facet | Gerardo Antonio Castañón Ávila Walter Cerroni Ana Maria Sarmiento-Moncada |
| author_sort | Gerardo Antonio Castañón Ávila |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Integrated photonics is a transformative technology for enhancing communication and computation in Cloud and Fog computing networks. Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) enable significant improvements in data-processing speed, energy-efficiency, scalability, and latency. In Cloud infrastructures, PICs support high-speed optical interconnects, energy-efficient switching, and compact wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), addressing growing data demands. Fog computing, with its edge-focused processing and analytics, benefits from the compactness and low latency of integrated photonics for real-time signal processing, sensing, and secure data transmission near IoT devices. PICs also facilitate the low-loss, high-speed modulation, transmission, and detection of RF signals in scalable Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) links, enabling seamless IoT integration with Cloud and Fog networks. This results in centralized processing, reduced latency, and efficient bandwidth use across distributed infrastructures. Overall, integrating photonic technologies into RoF, Fog and Cloud computing networks paves the way for ultra-efficient, flexible, and scalable next-generation network architectures capable of supporting diverse real-time and high-bandwidth applications. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the current state and emerging trends in integrated photonics for IoT sensors, RoF, Fog and Cloud computing systems. It also outlines open research opportunities in photonic devices and system-level integration, aimed at advancing performance, energy-efficiency, and scalability in next-generation distributed computing networks. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a51be57a8e624c808b63a0f771fbcafa |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-a51be57a8e624c808b63a0f771fbcafa2025-08-20T03:16:42ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-07-011513749410.3390/app15137494Integrated Photonics for IoT, RoF, and Distributed Fog–Cloud Computing: A Comprehensive ReviewGerardo Antonio Castañón Ávila0Walter Cerroni1Ana Maria Sarmiento-Moncada2School of Engineering and Science, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey 64849, MexicoDepartment of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering “G. Marconi”, University of Bologna, 40136 Bologna, ItalySchool of Engineering and Science, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey 64849, MexicoIntegrated photonics is a transformative technology for enhancing communication and computation in Cloud and Fog computing networks. Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) enable significant improvements in data-processing speed, energy-efficiency, scalability, and latency. In Cloud infrastructures, PICs support high-speed optical interconnects, energy-efficient switching, and compact wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), addressing growing data demands. Fog computing, with its edge-focused processing and analytics, benefits from the compactness and low latency of integrated photonics for real-time signal processing, sensing, and secure data transmission near IoT devices. PICs also facilitate the low-loss, high-speed modulation, transmission, and detection of RF signals in scalable Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) links, enabling seamless IoT integration with Cloud and Fog networks. This results in centralized processing, reduced latency, and efficient bandwidth use across distributed infrastructures. Overall, integrating photonic technologies into RoF, Fog and Cloud computing networks paves the way for ultra-efficient, flexible, and scalable next-generation network architectures capable of supporting diverse real-time and high-bandwidth applications. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the current state and emerging trends in integrated photonics for IoT sensors, RoF, Fog and Cloud computing systems. It also outlines open research opportunities in photonic devices and system-level integration, aimed at advancing performance, energy-efficiency, and scalability in next-generation distributed computing networks.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/13/7494fog networkscloud networkssilicon integrated photonics |
| spellingShingle | Gerardo Antonio Castañón Ávila Walter Cerroni Ana Maria Sarmiento-Moncada Integrated Photonics for IoT, RoF, and Distributed Fog–Cloud Computing: A Comprehensive Review Applied Sciences fog networks cloud networks silicon integrated photonics |
| title | Integrated Photonics for IoT, RoF, and Distributed Fog–Cloud Computing: A Comprehensive Review |
| title_full | Integrated Photonics for IoT, RoF, and Distributed Fog–Cloud Computing: A Comprehensive Review |
| title_fullStr | Integrated Photonics for IoT, RoF, and Distributed Fog–Cloud Computing: A Comprehensive Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Integrated Photonics for IoT, RoF, and Distributed Fog–Cloud Computing: A Comprehensive Review |
| title_short | Integrated Photonics for IoT, RoF, and Distributed Fog–Cloud Computing: A Comprehensive Review |
| title_sort | integrated photonics for iot rof and distributed fog cloud computing a comprehensive review |
| topic | fog networks cloud networks silicon integrated photonics |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/13/7494 |
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