EMA-RPL: Energy and mobility aware routing for the Internet of Mobile Things

Abstract Internet of Mobile Things (IoMT) is a new paradigm of the Internet of Things (IoT) where devices are inherently mobile. While mobility enables innovative applications and allows new services, it remains a challenging issue as it causes disconnection of nodes and intermittent connectivity, which negatively impacts the network operation and performance. In addition, energy saving presents a real challenge for networks with limited resources. In this context, a new energy efficient and mobility aware routing protocol called EMA-RPL is proposed based on the well-known Routing Protocol for Low power and Lossy Networks (the RPL standard). Unlike the RPL which is basically designed for static devices, EMA-RPL enables better sustaining of connectivity of mobile nodes and conserving energy. The proposed protocol integrates an enhanced mobility detection method through a continuous control of the distance between the mobile node and its attachment, a novel point of attachment prediction based on the new location of the mobile node, and an efficient replacement strategy preserving the mobile node energy. EMA-RPL overcomes and mitigates problems caused by the mobility of nodes. Simulations using Cooja/Contiki show that EMA-RPL outperforms both the RPL and its mobility aware variant (MRPL) in terms of handover delay, data loss rate, signaling cost and energy consumption.