Performance evaluation of mobile IPv6 over 6LoWPAN

Abstract

Defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force, the IPv6 over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPAN) standard allows heavily constrained devices (such as wireless sensors) to connect to IPv6 networks. This is an important step towards the Internet of Things, in which connected devices will be present anywhere. Due to the pervasive nature of IP networks, mobile sensors would connect to various IPv6 networks. Layer 3 mobility is commonly managed by the Mobile IPv6 protocol. However, this protocol is categorized as too complex in the literature for heavily constrained devices because it involves mobile devices in the mobility management operations. Such conclusions are based on simulations or experimentations in which several aspects of the protocol remain insufficiently detailed nor evaluated. In this article, we propose a complete evaluation of Mobile IPv6 over 6LoWPAN networks. For this, we have implemented Mobile IPv6 in Contiki and have performed intensive experimentations on a real testbed. The results highlight that Mobile IPv6 can be used on 6LoWPAN with a reduced impact on delay and throughput thanks to the existing compression mechanisms. But they also point out the ineffectiveness of the movement detection used by Mobile IPv6.