Providing a CoAP-based technique to get wireless sensor data via IoT gateway

Abstract

The advancement of wireless sensor networks and the possibility of using Internet protocols in devices with limited resources (such as sensors) have changed the future of the Internet. How to interact and exchange information is one of the challenges in the Internet of Things (IoT). The 6LoWPAN (IP6 Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network) and CoAP (Constrained Application Protocol) standards have been developed for using web protocols in sensor-based LLN (Low-power and Lossy Network). The 6LoWPAN/CoAP protocol stack enables access to the sensor network via web protocols. This facilitates the development of applications on the sensor network and their access to the Internet. Each of the layers of the 6LoWPAN/CoAP protocol stack imposes an overhead on the transmitted messages, and the resulting data overhead intensifies the energy consumption in multi-hop networks. In this paper, a technique is provided to reduce the burden imposed on small and medium-size packets on 6LoWPAN/CoAP multi-hop networks by scheduling and aggregating CoAP packets on sensor nodes. It classifies the CoAP requests/responses over the network (by specifying the maximum allowed delay) and manages the timing and aggregation of received messages on the sensor nodes (based on the maximum allowed delay on each one). The results of the evaluation of the provided technique indicated reducing the power consumption and network traffic for applications such as monitoring in multi-hop networks based on the 6LoWPAN/CoAP protocol stack.