EC-RPLIE: An Innovative Protocol for RPL in IIoT Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces EC-RPLIE, an improved routing protocol for industrial IoT networks that enhances energy efficiency and reliability.

Contribution

EC-RPLIE introduces the Expected Breakage Cost (EBC) metric to optimize energy distribution and reduce retransmissions in industrial IoT networks.

Findings

EC-RPLIE achieves energy savings of up to 36.8% in high-density 31-node networks.

The protocol improves average latency by 12.68% in dense configurations.

EC-RPLIE effectively mitigates 'retransmission storms' in industrial environments.

Abstract

The integration of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications presents significant challenges in terms of energy efficiency and network reliability, especially in dynamic industrial environments. The Routing Protocol for Low-Power and High-Loss Networks for Indoor Environments (RPLIE), while designed for low-power lossy networks (LLNs), lacks mechanisms to adequately balance energy consumption, a critical requirement for industrial sustainability. This research introduces an enhancement called Energy-Conscious Routing Protocol for Industrial Environments (EC-RPLIE), which incorporates the Expected Breakage Cost (EBC) metric to optimize energy distribution and network stability by managing medium-term jitter. Through extensive simulations in the Cooja environment, the performance of EC-RPLIE was evaluated against the state-of-the-art RPLIE across topologies of 11, 21, and 31 nodes. Quantitative results demonstrate that EC-RPLIE significantly reduces unnecessary retransmissions by maintaining a superior Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR) and optimizing parent selection. The protocol achieved energy savings of 9.6% in 11-node networks, which increased to 36.8% in high-density 31-node scenarios, effectively doubling the network persistence compared to RPLIE. Additionally, EC-RPLIE improved average latency by 12.68% in dense configurations, confirming its robustness in handling industrial traffic. These findings confirm that EC-RPLIE is particularly effective in high-density networks, where the EBC metric successfully mitigates the ‘retransmission storms’ typical of standard protocols. This proposal provides a robust framework for enhancing the sustainability and resilience of WSNs in Industry 4.0, offering a scalable solution that addresses the energy–reliability trade-off. The results lay the groundwork for future large-scale implementations in real-world industrial environments.

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