RPL in IPv6 Networks (6LoWPAN): Optimizing Performance and Applicability for Smart City Scenarios

The IPv6 Routing Protocol for Low Power and Lossy Networks or (RPL) is a fairly young routing protocol for Low power and Lossy Networks (LLNs) that use 6LoWPAN protocol. The absence of flexible and diverse options to run the protocol in different environments and under several simultaneous criteria motivated us to discover new methods where it can be applied to futuristic networks within the concept of the Smart Cities and the Internet of Things. In this Thesis we explore the possibility of using composite metrics and holistic objective functions that accommodate more criteria than the existing RPL implementations, where the use of metric containers enables us to make routing decisions more precisely and efficiently. We propose a scenario that simulates an earthquake zone where the nodes must communicate with each other and provide information optimally while maintaining energy-aware routing decisions, and then compare the performance of our proposal with the already existing RPL implementations. Results showed that our implementation not only takes into account more criteria and demands when making routing decisions, but significantly improves the performance of the protocol considering various evaluation benchmarks like Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), Energy Consumption, Overhead, Latency, etc… We demonstrate the versatility of using metric containers and composite functions that are flexible and adaptable to whatever quality of service the designer wishes the network to fulfill, and pave the way to future experimentation and applications in this domain.