A Hybrid Reliable Routing Algorithm Based on LQI and PRR in Industrial Wireless Networks

Abstract

In Industrial Wireless Networks (IWNs), the communication through Machine-to-Machine (M2M) is often affected by the noise in the industrial environment, which leads to the decline of communication reliability. In this paper, we investigate how to improve route stability through M2M in an industrial environment. We first compare different link quality estimations, such as Signal-Noise Ratio (SNR), Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Link Quality Indicator (LQI), Packet Reception Ratio (PRR), and Expected Transmission Count (ETX). We then propose a link quality estimation combining LQI and PRR. Finally, we propose a Hybrid Link Quality Estimation-Based Reliable Routing (HLQEBRR) algorithm for IWNs, with the object of maximizing link stability. In addition, HLQEBRR provides a recovery mechanism to detect node failure, which improves the speed and accuracy of node recovery. OMNeT++-based simulation results demonstrate that our HLQEBRR algorithm significantly outperforms the Collection Tree Protocol (CTP) algorithm in terms of end-to-end transmission delay and packet loss ratio, and the HLQEBRR algorithm achieves higher reliability at a small additional cost.