5G and cloud computing are set out to address various business needs, often related to the deployment of IoT-enabled applications across the compute continuum. However, the provision of such hyper-distributed applications is far from trivial, due to various interoperability and convergence aspects. In this respect, we introduce a software stack (VOStack) for IoT-oriented virtual objects in order to remove existing openness and interoperability barriers in the convergence of IoT technologies.
We elaborate on physical convergence aspects with an emphasis on networking functionalities in order to address communication issues between IoT devices, IoT gateways, and compute nodes that host virtual objects. In particular, we present control plane functionalities, within the VOStack, for time-sensitive networking (TSN) and reactive routing in order to ensure the timely delivery of time-sensitive data and also alleviate any potential implications due to intermittent connectivity or mobility.