Bringing life out of diversity: Boosting network lifetime using multi‐PHY routing in RPL

Abstract

AbstractIn this article, we propose a routing mechanism based on the RPL protocol in a wireless network that is equipped with a mix of short‐range and long‐range radios. We introduce Life‐OF, an objective function for RPL which uses a combination of metrics and the diverse physical layers to boost the network's lifetime. We evaluate the performance of Life‐OF compared to the classical MRHOF objective function in simulations. Two key performance indicators (KPIs) are reported: network lifetime and network latency. Results demonstrate that MRHOF tends to converge to a pure long‐range network, leading to short network lifetime. However, Life‐OF improves network lifetime by continuously adapting the routing topology to favor routing over nodes with longest remaining lifetime. Life‐OF combines diverse radios and balances power consumption in the network. This way, nodes switch between using their short‐range radio to improve their own battery lifetime and using their long‐range radio to avoid routers that are close to depletion. Results show that using Life‐OF improves the lifetime of the network by up to 470% that of MRHOF, while maintaining similar latency.