RPL Protocol in Cooja

RPL Protocol stands for Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks which is mainly used for routing in wireless networks. In general, RPL Protocol in Cooja supports low power consumption and is susceptible to packet loss.  As a matter of fact, it is a proactive protocol to assist one-to-one messages which rely on distance vectors. Also, it operates on IEEE 802.15.4 which is optimized for multi-hop and many-to-one communication.

This page is worth reading about new technological innovations and happening research topics in the field of RPL Protocol in Cooja Simulator!!!

This protocol supports several link layers which rapidly generate network routes for sharing routing information and efficiently adapting the topology. And also, there exist three classes of traffic flows as follows,

  • Point-to-Point Traffic – Among devices in LNN
  • Multi Point-to-Point Traffic – From subset devices in LLN to central point
  • Point-to-MultiPoint Traffic – From central point to subset devices in LLN

By the by, here the root node broadcasts the routing limitations to hand-pick the optimal path. For this, it eliminates nodes that do not meet the limitations. Next, we can see the role of DODAG in the RPL Protocol in Cooja.

Research Guidance for RPL Protocol in Cooja

What is DODAG in RPL PROTOCOL?                                                         

In RPL, DODAG Information Solicitation (DIS) message is used to explore the locality for adjacent DODAGs. The DODAG Information Object (DIO) carries information to let a node do the following things,

  • To find out an RPL Instance
  • Learn its Configuration Parameters
  • Choose a DODAG Parent Set
  • Maintain the DODAG

Overall, DODAG has the main objective to discover a path with the best ETC value and low latency. At that time, it avoids the constrained links and nodes for routing. Then RPL protocol permits a node in the network to link with one or more graphs. Now, let’s have a glance over essential characteristics embedded RPL Protocol in Cooja.

Main Features RPL Protocol in Cooja 

  • Flexibility – Here, the RPL protocol combines two different topologies as mesh and hierarchical. On one hand, hierarchical topology offers self-organizing nodes in terms of the parent-child relationship. On the other hand, mesh topology enables routing via neighbor nodes when required. This arrangement offers flexible routing in the network.
  • Auto-Configuration – Here, the RPL protocol merges with IPv6 for the IP routing characteristics. Whereas, it comprises dynamic network paths discovery and destinations. And also, it is assured by Neighbor Discovery mechanisms
  • Self-Healing – Here, the LLN links and nodes are changing dynamically (i.e.) unstable. Hence, RPL protocol incorporates adapting capability to alter network topologies in the case of node failures. For that, it chooses more than one parent per node. 
  • Loop Avoidance and Detection – Here, the loops are obvious in LLN so they can be minimized through RPL protocol using two rules such as: 
  • Max-depth-rule – Choose a node with greater rank as a parent than its neighboring nodes. 
  • Greedy rule – Do not let a node turn greedy and try to move deeper in the graph. 

Also, the RPL protocol in cooja uses some recovery systems (global repair and local repair) if a loop arises in the network projects.

  • Independent and Transparency – Here, RPL protocol does not depend on data-link layer technologies. Since it functioned over multi-link layers and can work in restricted networks or concurrence with highly restricted devices.  
  • Multiple Edge Routers – In a network, the RPL protocol supports multiple DODAG graphs. As well, it enables a node to contribute in more than one DODAG. Here, every graph has its root and dissimilar roles in an instance. Hence, the network was promoted from the high availability of routes and load balancing. 

So far, we have a debate on RPL protocol importance, DODAG in RPL protocol, and key features. Now it’s time to discuss the current challenging research areas in RPL protocol in Cooja simulator. For that, we have listed a few current ongoing research works in our PhD Guidance in RPL Protocol service. 

Research Ideas in RPL Protocol

  • Network Congestion Control
  • Scheduling with Localization
  • Link Routing with Reliability
  • Route Preservation and Retrieval
  • Hierarchical Multi-hop Routing
  • Decision Making using HOP-Interval
  • Traffic Forensics Identification
  • Data Transmission using Trust Metric
  • Cross-Layer Design and Passive Monitoring

In the above, we have listed very few research ideas in RPL protocol in cooja as a point of reference. If you want to know more exciting information about our PhD Guidance in RPL Protocol service, then contact us. 

           In any kind of study, results are more important because it reveals the actual weightage of the project. So, here we have given you key factors that are more required for RPL protocol performance evaluation.

RPL Protocol in Cooja Simulator Performance

In the following steps, we have described how the RPL Protocol simulated by the cooja simulator

Language – C

Operating System – Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (64bit)

Simulator – Cooja, Vmware Player 12.5.6 and Instant Contiki-3.0

  • Step 1 – At first open the Contiki OS and create the directories to execute the cooja simulator tools.
    • Go to the terminal, give the command – cd “/home/user/Contiki/tools/cooja” to open the directory. Next press Enter
    • Then type the command and run and press Enter
    • After the error-free execution of the above commands, it automatically builds the “make” file 
    • Next, the Contiki Cooja Network simulator application tool will get opened where the terminal is in blue color 
  • Step 2 – Then, Open the “file” menu in the cooja simulator and construct a new simulation using random seeding. At that time, it autogenerates the seeds each time while reloading the simulation.
    • Here, first go to File -> new simulation (or) press ctrl+ n
    • Than, select Radio medium 
    • After that, click on the New random seed on reload option.
    • Next, click on Create 
  • Step 3 – Next, create new motes in the cooja simulator.
    • For that, go to motes menu and follow the below steps,
      • Add motes->create new motes type-> choose mote
    • The number of motes may vary based upon your requirements. Below 4 files are essentials to create the motes and run RPL protocols, 
      • Udp-server.c
      • Udp-client.c
      • Udp-server.h
      • Udp-client.h
  • Step 4 – Next, to create server motes follow the below steps,
    •  /home/user/contiki/examples/ipv6/rpl-udp/udp-server.c
    • Select a file location -> compile -> create -> choose sever -> Add motes
  • Step 5 – Similarly, to create client motes follow below steps,
    • /home/user/contiki/examples/ipv6/rpl-udp /udp-client.c
    • Select a file in location -> compile -> create -> choose client count (30) -> Add motes
  • Step 6 – In network terminal, go to View menu and choose the options you want,
    • For example mote ID’s, mote Type, radio traffic, etc
    • Simulation Control
    • Click start to run the simulation

Performance Analysis in RPL Protocol 

By the by, various metrics greatly influence the RPL performances. And they are the number of nodes, the number of sink nodes, and the mobility type. Also, the network scalability increases all metrics however giving less packet loss.

Performance Metrics in RPL Protocol in Cooja

  • Control Traffic Overhead – This represents the total amount of control messages transferred through nodes for building DODAG. And also, it selects the best parent between candidate neighbors or other nodes.
  • ETX (Expected Transmission) – This denotes a maximum number of retransmissions of an individual packet through a wireless link to reach the endpoint.
  • Hop Count – Here, the hop count metric (HC) is measured by the number of hops among nodes and the root. Whereas, the node refers to the candidate neighbor
  • Packet Delivery Ratio – This shows the level of data delivered to the endpoint. Also, it provides maximum PDR in better performance of the protocol 
  • Node Energy – This point out the average energy obtained from network nodes 

On the whole, we support you in research, code implementation, and manuscript writing of RPL protocol in Cooja simulator research.