Time Slotted Channel Hopping and ContikiMAC for IPv6 Multicast-Enabled Wireless Sensor Networks

Area of Science:

• Networking
• Wireless Sensor Networks
• Smart Buildings

Background:

• IEEE 802.15.4e TSCH is crucial for reliable, power-aware wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs) in smart buildings.
• IPv6 multicast forwarding is essential for efficient communication between sensors and actuators, reducing network traffic.
• Bidirectional Multicast RPL Forwarding (BMRF) is a promising RPL-based approach for multicast in low-power and lossy networks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the performance of BMRF over TSCH in WSANs.
• To investigate the impact of TSCH schedulers on achieving quality of service (QoS).
• To present a theoretical model for BMRF's delay and energy consumption over TSCH.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical modeling of delay and energy consumption for BMRF over TSCH.
• Analysis of BMRF's link layer (LL) unicast and LL broadcast forwarding modes.
• Performance evaluation on restricted and realistic network topologies with varying interference levels.

Main Results:

• BMRF's LL broadcast on TSCH significantly improves packet delivery ratio and reduces delay compared to ContikiMAC, especially in high-interference environments.
• LL broadcast mode incurs high energy consumption due to scheduling overhead.
• LL unicast generally outperforms LL broadcast, but LL broadcast offers benefits for delay-sensitive applications.

Conclusions:

• BMRF over TSCH is a viable solution for reliable multicast in smart building WSANs.
• TSCH scheduler design is critical for meeting QoS requirements.
• The choice between LL unicast and LL broadcast depends on application-specific needs regarding delay and energy efficiency.