Towards a Model-Based Serverless Platform for the Cloud-Edge-IoT Continuum

Abstract

One of the most prominent implementations of the serverless programming model is Function-as-a-Service (FaaS). Using FaaS, application developers provide source code of serverless functions, typically describing only parts of a larger application, and define triggers for executing these functions on infrastructure components managed by the FaaS provider. There are still challenges that hinder the wider adoption of the FaaS model across the whole Cloud-Edge-IoT continuum. These include the high heterogeneity of the Edge and IoT infrastructure, vendor lock-in, the need to deploy and adapt serverless functions as well as their supporting services and software stacks into their cyber-physical execution environment. As a first step towards addressing these challenges, we introduce the SERVERLEss4I0T platform for the design, deployment, and maintenance of applications over the Cloud-Edge-IoT continuum. In particular, our platform enables the specification and deployment of serverless functions on Cloud and Edge resources, as well as the deployment of their supporting services and software stacks over the whole Cloud-Edge-IoT continuum.