SET: Session Layer-Assisted Efficient TCP Management Architecture for 6LoWPAN with Multiple Gateways

Saima Zafar, AliHammad Akbar, Sana Jabbar, NoorM Sheikh
2010 EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking  
6LoWPAN (IPv6 based Low-Power Personal Area Network) is a protocol specification that facilitates communication of IPv6 packets on top of IEEE 802.15.4 so that Internet and wireless sensor networks can be inter-connected. This interconnection is especially required in commercial and enterprise applications of sensor networks where reliable and timely data transfers such as multiple code updates are needed from Internet nodes to sensor nodes. For this type of inbound traffic which is mostly
more » ... TCP as transport layer protocol is essential, resulting in end-to-end TCP session through a default gateway. In this scenario, a single gateway tends to become the bottleneck because of non-uniform connectivity to all the sensor nodes besides being vulnerable to buffer overflow. We propose SET; a management architecture for multiple split-TCP sessions across a number of serving gateways. SET implements striping and multiple TCP session management through a shim at session layer. Through analytical modeling and ns2 simulations, we show that our proposed architecture optimizes communication for ingress bulk data transfer while providing associated load balancing services. We conclude that multiple split-TCP sessions managed in parallel across a number of gateways result in reduced latency for bulk data transfer and provide robustness against gateway failures. research challenges for commercial WSNs are support for multiple applications, several service providers sharing a single-sensor network, WSN and the Internet connectivity, and reliable, timely, and multiple code updates thereof. The IEEE 802.15.4 working group maintains the standard which specifies physical and MAC layers for Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) such as WSN. For commercial and public usage of WPANs, efforts are underway to connect them to the Internet, especially through IPv6. This owes to the fact that the Internet, although both IPv4 and IPv6 are coexistent at present, is directed towards complete transition to IPv6 due to address range limitations in IPv4. 6LoWPAN aims at realizing such connectivity and is especially targeting IEEE 802.15.4 as the baseline technology for WSNs. By supporting IPv6, sensor nodes are able to communicate with any IPv6-enabled host over the Internet, benefit from standardized and already established services, and network management tools, and achieve end-to-end
doi:10.1155/2010/936457 fatcat:ujijaekm6nbnxppqr4jvzyxzoe