Efficient task offloading using particle swarm optimization algorithm in edge computing for industrial internet of things

As a new form of computing based on the core technology of cloud computing and built on edge infrastructure, edge computing can handle computing-intensive and delay-sensitive tasks. In mobile edge computing (MEC) assisted by 5G technology, offloading computing tasks of edge devices to the edge servers in edge network can effectively reduce delay. Designing a reasonable task offloading strategy in a resource-constrained multi-user and multi-MEC system to meet users’ needs is a challenge issue. In industrial internet of things (IIoT) environment, considering the rapid increase of industrial edge devices and the heterogenous edge servers, a particle swarm optimization (PSO)-based task offloading strategy is proposed to offload tasks from resource-constrained edge devices to edge servers with energy efficiency and low delay style. A multi-objective optimization problem that considers time delay, energy consumption and task execution cost is proposed. The fitness function of the particle represents the total cost of offloading all tasks to different MEC servers. The offloading strategy based on PSO is compared with the genetic algorithm (GA) and the simulated annealing algorithm (SA) through simulation experiments. The experimental results show that the task offloading strategy based on PSO can reduce the delay of the MEC server, balance the energy consumption of the MEC server, and effectively realize the reasonable resource allocation.