Proactive Maintenance in RPL for 6LowPAN

Maintenance is a core challenge in all routing protocols. The utilization of IPv6 for Low Power and Lossy Networks (6LowPAN) resulted in the recent standardization of a dedicated routing protocol called RPL (Routing Protocol for Low Power and Losy Neworks). In 6LowPAN, a critical challenge exists in decreasing packet loss under the stringent energy-efficiency mandate to increase network longevity. Moreover, the challenge of failed nodes/links, and operating in a lossy environment where connections require rapid maintenance, present significant challenges. Recent attempts at routing maintenance in RPL presented advancements in handling failures, yet under reactive mechanisms that respond to failures and attempt to reduce network down-time. In this paper we design and implement a proactive RPL (Pro-RPL) maintenance scheme that enables the network to selectively predict and mitigate failures before they impact network connectivity. In Pro-RPL we capitalize on a suffering index that is associated with RPL nodes, and monitors their tendency to result in a failure. This dynamic monitoring is decentralized in nature, and presents a conforming yardstick across RPL nodes, to eliminate overhead in implementation and potential control-traffic over the network. We evaluate the efficiency of Pro-RPL in reducing packet loss, energy consumption and extending network lifetime via extensive simulations with the Cooja Simulator over the Contiki OS.