Fault-Tolerant IoT System Using Software-Based "Digital Twin"

Abstract: In this article, we present a novel redundancy scheme to realize a fault-tolerant IoT structure for application in high-reliability systems. The proposed fault-tolerant structure uses a centralized data fusion block and triplicated IoT devices, along with software-based "digital twins", that duplicate the function of each of the sensors. In case of a fault in one of the IoT devices, the pertinent digital twin takes over the function of the actual IoT device for some time in the triplicated structure till the faulty device is either replaced or repaired when possible. The use of software-based digital twins as a duplicate for each physical sensor improves the reliability of the operation with minimal increase in the overall system cost.