Cloud-Fog-Edge Collaborative Computing for Sequential MIoT Workflow: A Two-Tier DDPG-Based Scheduling Framework

Abstract: The Medical Internet of Things (MIoT) demands stringent end-to-end latency guarantees for sequential healthcare workflows deployed over heterogeneous cloud-fog-edge infrastructures. Scheduling these sequential workflows to minimize makespan is an NP-hard problem. To tackle this challenge, we propose a Two-tier DDPG-based scheduling framework that decomposes the scheduling decision into a hierarchical process: a global controller performs layer selection (edge, fog, or cloud), while specialized local controllers handle node assignment within the chosen layer. The primary optimization objective is the minimization of the workflow makespan. Experiments results validate our approach, demonstrating increasingly superior performance over baselines as workflow complexity rises. This trend highlights the frameworks ability to learn effective long-term strategies, which is critical for complex, large-scale MIoT scheduling scenarios.