Anycast-Tree Addressing-Based Routing for 6LoWPAN

Abstract

This article proposes an anycast-tree addressing-based routing scheme for 6LoWPAN. In this scheme, multiple gateways are introduced to 6LoWPAN and divide 6LoWPAN into multiple tree topologies. Anycast is used to construct a tree topology which is called an anycast tree and where a gateway works as a root. A node joins the anycast tree identified by the nearest gateway to acquire a unique address, and achieves communications with the Internet via the nearest gateway. Anycast trees are distributed around 6LoWPAN, so the depth of an anycast tree is substantially shortened and the routing path and latency are also reduced. Moreover, if a gateway fails, its descendants can communicate with the Internet via the nearest active gateway and update their addresses instead of reacquiring new addresses. The performance parameters of this scheme are evaluated, and the data results show that this scheme effectively shortens the routing latency.