Location-based mobility support for 6LoWPAN wireless sensor networks

A 6LoWPAN WSN has mobility, so it can obtain more extensive application space only if it provides good mobility support. However, the existing mobility protocols cannot work efficiently in 6LoWPAN WSN due to long handover latency and high packet loss rate. Therefore, this paper proposes a location-based mobility support scheme for 6LoWPAN WSN in order to reduce the handover delay and packet loss. In this scheme, the architecture based on cluster domains is proposed and based on this architecture the mobility support algorithm is presented. In this algorithm, the handover in the network layer (L3) and the one in the link layer (L2) are performed simultaneously. Also, a mobile node neither needs a care-of address nor participates in the handover process, so the packet loss caused by the address change and the node mobility is avoided. Moreover, a cluster head's IPv6 address includes the location information, so the routing path reaching a destination cluster head can be automatically established without routing discovery. As a result, the mobility handover performance is improved. The performance of this scheme is evaluated, and the data results show that this scheme reduces the handover cost, shortens the handover delay and lowers the packet loss rate. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.