Chinese IoT company GizWits has launched a version of its IoT software development platform that incorporates fog computing.
According to TechCrunch, the phrase fog computing was coined by Cisco back in 2014, referring to a decentralised architectural pattern that brings computing resources and application services closer to the edge. Adoption has been slow, partly due to, according to GizWits, networking equipment makers such as Cisco lacking the ability to define and control the terminal units through routers and switches.
The most difficult part in fog computing, managing the large-scale computing process and storage across millions of geographically dispersed units in real time, is yet to be solved.
As a full-stack IoT technology platform with full abilities in managing the IoT units, communications modules, gateway nodes as well as the cloud, GizWits 4.0 could be bringing fog computing into reality.
The edge computing engine, one of the four distinctive products launched in this version, can update and load micro applications in edge nodes through a cloud platform. It can process massive amounts of data in real time, implement algorithms and connect different kinds of devices from different brands.
This engine, along with the other three products in this version – giga machine learning, dynamic data director and real-time big data – enable the software developers on the GizWits platform to take advantage of fog computing, big data and machine learning all in one place. The aim is to help improve efficiency in the development process, as well as reduce the difficulty level of deploying and managing products or services on the GizWits platform.
Combing cloud and fog computing, GizWits hopes to leapfrog the rest of the industry and provide faster, more intelligent and more secure IoT services.
GizWits started its exploration in the world of IoT in 2009 and its platform has been up and running for more than three years.
As of this month, the company claims that there are more than 50,000 developers and six million devices on the GizWits platform.
It is now claimed to be the largest IoT software developing platform in the Asia-Pacific region and has over 800 clients around the world. GizWits' partner list includes Apple, Intel, Qualcomm, Daimler, WeChat, Arduino, State Grid Corporation of China, Midea, AO Smith, and 3M.
GizWits was named one of the top 50 IoT start-ups by Forbes and one of the 50 most innovative companies in China by Fast Company in 2015.