Title: A new scheme for RPL to handle mobility in wireless sensor networks

Authors: Fatma Gara; Leila Ben Saad; Rahma Ben Ayed; Bernard Tourancheau

Addresses: Université de Tunis El Manar, Ecole Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Tunis, LR16ES07 Robotique, Informatique et Systèmes Complexes, BP. 37 Le Belvédère 1002, Tunis, Tunisia ' WISENET Lab., Department of Information and Communication Technology, University of Agder, 4879, Grimstad, Norway ' Université de Tunis El Manar, Ecole Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Tunis, LR16ES07 Robotique, Informatique et Systèmes Complexes, BP. 37 Le Belvédère 1002, Tunis, Tunisia ' LIG Laboratory, University Joseph Fourier of Grenoble, F-38402 Saint Martin d'Heres, France

Abstract: Mobile wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are characterised by dynamic changes in the network topology leading to route breaks and disconnections. The IPv6 routing protocol for low power and lossy networks (RPL), which has become a standard, uses the Trickle timer algorithm to handle changes in the network topology. However, neither RPL nor Trickle timer are well adapted to mobility. This paper investigates the problem of supporting mobility when using RPL. It enhances RPL to fit with sensors' mobility by studying two cases. Firstly, it proposes to modify RPL in order to fit with a dynamic and hybrid topology in the context of medical applications. Secondly, it investigates a more general case and introduces a new adaptive timer for RPL. The proposed approach is validated through extensive simulations and compared with existing protocols in the literature. Results show that our proposal significantly reduces disconnections and increases packet delivery ratio while maintaining low overhead.

Keywords: WSNs; wireless sensor networks; RPL protocol; node mobility; trickle timer.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAHUC.2019.098479

International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing, 2019 Vol.30 No.3, pp.173 - 186

Received: 09 Feb 2016
Accepted: 06 Feb 2017

Published online: 25 Mar 2019 *

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