Fictitious Play Game Theory for Server Deployment Optimization in Edge–Fog Environments

Reducing latency in the Internet of Things (IoT) remains a critical challenge. While cloud computing supports data processing, it often fails to meet real-time demands due to its distance from end users. Edge and fog computing address this issue by positioning processing resources closer to devices, reducing latency, and enhancing performance. In this letter, we propose a node placement strategy using a fictitious play game theory approach, where each node iteratively adjusts its placement based on interactions with neighboring nodes to minimize latency and cost. Our method assigns tasks by selecting the nearest available node with adequate processing resources, allowing for dynamic task handling across the network. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed fictitious play approach effectively reduces latency and cost, achieving an average improvement of 32.5% in a combined penalty that considers both average latency and total cost, compared to state-of-the-art methods.