What is edge?

The edge describes the real world interface where data is processed at the source and enters the Industrial IoT network. Wherever real-time data is required in a processing or production site, Industrial IoT edge architecture reduces latency and enhances safety of production. With an edge architecture, processing data at the source is possible. This lowers the overall network load and enables a transmission of only selected and reduced data sets to where it is needed. A local MQTT network could, for example, provide the temperature of a cooling water reservoir. Production safety could then be enhanced directly at the edge by activating additional water sources at certain temperatures based on this near real-time data.