<scp>FiQoT</scp> : An Energy‐Efficient Fog‐Assisted Architecture for Quality‐Driven <scp>IoT</scp> ‐Enabled Systems

ABSTRACT The Internet of Things (IoT) connects physical and digital systems, enabling smart devices to continuously generate data through embedded sensors. However, ensuring high data quality in an energy‐constrained environment remains a key challenge. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs), central to IoT communication, often struggle with efficient data handling due to limited energy resources and large data volumes. This paper proposes FiQoT (Fog‐Integrated Quality‐Oriented IoT Architecture), which integrates fog computing with WSNs to enhance both energy efficiency and data quality. By introducing a fog layer between the sensor and cloud layers, data is processed closer to the source, reducing communication overhead and improving responsiveness. At its core, FiQoT uses an energy‐efficient distance‐based (EEDB) clustering algorithm designed to improve cluster head selection and balance energy consumption across nodes. FiQoT adopts a multi‐sink approach for load balancing and incorporates essential preprocessing to ensure more reliable data. A user authorization mechanism in the IoT module further strengthens data security, enabling remote access and visualization of real‐time data. To emulate real‐world scenarios, an open‐source IoT temperature dataset has been used to test the system's robustness. MATLAB simulations show that FiQoT outperforms HEED, LEACH, and I‐SEMP clustering algorithms in terms of energy consumption, network lifetime, and cluster head stability. These results highlight FiQoT's potential as a practical and scalable solution for next‐generation IoT applications.