Defragmenting the 6LoWPAN Fragmentation Landscape: A Performance Evaluation.

Area of Science:

• Computer Engineering
• Wireless Networking
• Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

Background:

• The Internet of Things (IoT) necessitates ubiquitous wireless connectivity, with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) demanding high reliability.
• The IEEE Std 802.15.4-2015 standard and 6LoWPAN adaptation layer address IIoT needs but struggle with low link quality.
• Existing solutions for low link quality in 6LoWPAN are insufficient for demanding industrial applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate state-of-the-art Forward Error Correction (FEC) methods for improving wireless connectivity reliability in IIoT.
• To introduce and analyze Network Coding FEC (NCFEC) as a novel solution for low link-quality scenarios.
• To compare the performance of NCFEC against existing methods through theoretical analysis and experimental simulation.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical analysis of existing FEC methods and the proposed NCFEC.
• Implementation of FEC methods within the 6TiSCH network simulator.
• Experimental evaluation of NCFEC and other FEC techniques under simulated low link-quality conditions.

Main Results:

• NCFEC demonstrates superior performance in ensuring high reliability over low-quality wireless links, outperforming existing methods.
• The proposed NCFEC introduces a trade-off involving additional network and computational overhead.
• Simpler FEC solutions become viable only when higher link quality can be guaranteed, but offer less adaptation flexibility.

Conclusions:

• NCFEC is the optimal solution for IIoT applications requiring high reliability in environments with consistently low-quality wireless links.
• The choice of FEC method should balance reliability requirements, link quality, and acceptable overhead.
• NCFEC provides enhanced robustness and adaptation flexibility for critical industrial wireless networks.