A comprehensive study of simulation frameworks and research directions in fog computing

Context: Fog computing paradigm consists of resource constrained devices that support data process-ing and service provisioning at the edge of the network. Simulation frameworks play a key role in the design, development and validation of novel approaches for fog environment. The existing fog simulators model one or more aspects of fog environment and hence it becomes a tedious task to analyse and choose them as per the research requirements. Objective: This paper reviews the literature of simulation tools for fog computing and aims to help the novice researchers to explore and assess fog related proposals. Method: The study has employed a systematic search procedure to identify relevant articles published in the duration of 2015-2020. Results: The relevant publications are evaluated to highlight their strengths and underline the limitations. A comparative analysis of studies based on eight characteristic and few non technical features is presented. The scope for improvement in fog simulators is reported. Lastly, the prevailing research challenges in fog that can be addressed with reviewed simulation frameworks are detailed out. Conclusion: The paper has identified an increased interest in the development of novel and extended fog simulators thus emphasizing their importance. Also, the need to develop more advanced fog simulators that can model a wider range of fog environments is recognized. Directions are given for future work. (C) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.