Chapter-3 : Network protocols

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1. Explain the advantages of IPv6 over IPv4 and justify the usage of IPv6
addressing mode to identify devices in the IoT domain.
Answer:

● More Efficient Routing – IPv6 reduces the size of routing tables and makes
routing more efficient and hierarchical. In IPv6 networks, fragmentation is
handled by the source device, rather than a router, using a protocol for
discovery of the path’s maximum transmission unit.
● More efficient packet processing – Compared with the IPv4, IPv6 contains
no IP-level checksum, so the checksum does not need to be recalculated
at every router hop.
● Directed Data Flows – IPv6 supports multicast rather than broadcast.
Multicast allows bandwidth-intensive packet flows to be sent to multiple
destinations simultaneously, saving network bandwidth.
● Simplified network configuration – IPv6 devices can independently
auto-configure themselves when connected to other IPv6 devices.
Configuration tasks that can be carried out automatically include IP
address assignment and device numbering.
● Security – IPSec security, which provides confidentiality, authentication,
and data integrity, is engraved into IPv6.

Why IPv6? IPv4 IPv6

IPv6 has
340 trillion trillion
more 4.3 billion addresses
trillion addresses
addresses

IPv6 networks
Networks must be
IPv6 provide
configured manually
networks are autoconfiguration
or with DHCP. IPv4
easier and capabilities. They are
has had many
cheaper to simpler, flatter and
overlays to handle
manage more manageable for
Internet growth,
large installations.
which demand
 increasing
maintenance efforts.

Widespread use of
NAT devices means Direct addressing is
IPv6 that a single NAT possible due to vast
restores address can mask address space – the
end-to-end thousands of need for network
transparenc non-routable address translation
y addresses, making devices is effectively
end-to-end integrity eliminated.
unachievable.

Security is
IPSEC is built into
IPv6 has dependent on
the IPv6 protocol,
improved applications – IPv4
usable with a
security was not designed
suitable key
features with security in
infrastructure.
mind.

Relatively
IPv6 provides
constrained network
IPv6 has interoperability and
topologies restrict
improved mobility capabilities
mobility and
mobility which are already
interoperability
capabilities widely embedded in
capabilities in the
network devices.
IPv4 Internet.

Given the numbers

IPv4 was designed
of addresses,
as a transport and
scalability and
communications
IPv6 flexibility of IPv6, its
medium, and
encourages potential for
increasingly any
innovation triggering innovation
work on IPv4 is to
and assisting
find ways around
collaboration is
the constraints.
unbounded.

Justification:
IPv6 can run end-to-end encryption. While this technology was retrofitted into IPv4, it remains
an extra option that is not universally used. The encryption and integrity-checking used in
current virtual private networks (VPNs) are a standard component in IPv6, available for all
connections and supported by all compatible devices and systems. Widespread adoption of IPv6
will therefore make “man-in-the-middle” attacks—i.e., thinking that you’re signing into a secure
bank log in when you’re actually walking into a cyber “trap”—significantly more difficult.

IPv6 also supports more-secure name resolution. The Secure Neighbor Discovery (SEND)
protocol is capable of enabling cryptographic confirmation that a host is who it claims to be at
the time of the connection. This renders Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) poisoning and other
naming-based attacks more difficult. And while IPv6 isn’t a replacement for application- or
service-layer verification, it still offers an improved level of trust in connections. With IPv4, it’s
fairly easy for an attacker to redirect traffic between two legitimate hosts and manipulate the
conversation or at least observe it—but IPv6 makes this very difficult.

Creators of IoT products that are connected over TCP/IP can rest assured that there will be a
unique identifier available for their devices for a long, long time.

IPv6 allows IoT products to be uniquely addressable without having to work around all of the
traditional NAT and firewall issues. Larger and more advanced host devices have all sorts of
tools to make working with firewalls and NAT routers easier, but small IoT endpoints do not. By
using IPv6, many of these issues become easier for TCP/IP enabled IoT devices to handle.

2. Consider a Low-power Wireless Personal Area Network with 100 nodes,

where the network layer does not perform any IP routing and IPv6 packets
are much larger than the packet size of the IEEE 802.15.4 data link layer.
For the above scenario, explain and justify your decision of selecting an
appropriate routing scheme in 6LoWPAN for routing/forwarding of packets
in both network and adaptation layers.
Answer:

To enable the transmission of large IPv6 packets over size constrained link layer
payload size (102 bytes of payload) in IEEE 802.15.4, the 6LoWPAN adaptation layer
provides IP packet fragmentation mechanism. All fragments are transmitted into multiple
link-layer frames for reassembling them at the other end under the mesh-under or
route-over routing scheme in 6LoWAN.

6LoWPAN divides routing schemes into mesh-under and route-over [2, 8] schemes. The
distinction is based on which layer of the 6LoWPAN protocol stack is in charge of
routing decisions; in route over they are taken at the network layer, and in mesh under
at the adaptation layer. Figure shows routing decision layer for both mesh-under and
route-over routing schemes.

4.1. Mesh-Under Routing Scheme

In the mesh-under routing scheme, the routing functions are placed at the link layer
based on IEEE 802.15.4 frame structure and the 6LoWPAN header [2, 8]. All fragments
will be sent to the next hop by mesh routing and finally reach to the destination.
Different fragments of one IP packet might reach the destination via different
route-paths. If all fragments are received at the destination successfully, the
destination’s adaptation layer reassembles all fragments into an IP packet. The
adaptation layer of the destination node starts the reconstruction process. However, any
fragment is missing in the forwarding process; all fragments of this IP packet are
retransmitted from the source to the destination.

4.2. Route-Over Routing Scheme

In the route-over scheme, each sensor node inside the route path acts as an IP router.
The IP packet is forwarded hop by hop from the source node to the destination node [2,
8]. The IP packet’s payload is encapsulated with IPv6 header. After that, IP packet is
fragmented by the adaptation layer and all IP fragments will be sent to the next hop
based on the routing table. The next hop has to reassemble them in order to reconstruct
the original IP packet in the adaptation layer when all fragments are received
successfully. The reconstruction process starts only when the last fragment arrives.
Once reconstructed, the IP packet will be sent to the network layer. Finally, the IP
packet will be fragmented again and these fragments will be delivered to the nexthop.
However, the retransmission executes only in one-hop distance if there is any fragment
lost in this forwarding process.

3. List and explain the various properties of RPL, CORPL, and CARP
protocols.
Answer:

RPL
Following are the features of RPL protocol as defined in RFC6550.

• It is a distance vector protocol which supports various data link protocols.

• Here DODAG (Dedicated Oriented Directed Acyclic Graph) has been built. This graph
will have only one route from node to the root. From this single route all the traffic is
routed.

• At the start, each of the nodes send DODAG information object (i.e. DIO). These
messages are propagated in the network which help in construction of the DODAG
graph.
• When any node wants to communicate, it sends a DAO to its parents, and the DAO is
propagated to the root. Now root decides where to transmit it based on destination
information available in the packet.

• Any node can join the network by sending the DODAG Information Solicitation (i.e.
DIS) Request to join. Root replies back with DAO-ACK as sign of confirmation of the
joining approval.

• Here all communications happen via root as it (i.e. root) has the complete knowledge
of the DODAG graph when stateless nodes are communicating. Stateful node has
knowledge of its parents and childrens and hence communication inside subtree of
DODAG does not require to go through root.

CORPL
Following are the features of CORPL protocol.

• It is an extension of RPL protocol described above.

• It is designed for cognitive networks.

• It uses DODAG topology.

• It uses opportunistic forwarding in order to forward the packet between nodes.

• Here each node keeps information of the forwarding set rather than only the parent
maintaining it. Each node updates others using DIO messages. Based on which each
node constructs a forwarding set.

CARP
Following are the features of CARP protocol.

• CARP stands for Channel Aware Routing Protocol.

• It is developed for underwater communication and can also be used for IoT (Internet of
Things) due to light weight packets.

• It selects the forwarding nodes based on link quality as per available historical data
transmission from neighbours.

• There are two steps in CARP routing viz. network initialization and data forwarding.

• In network initialization, HELLO packet is being broadcasted from sink to all other
nodes. In data forwarding, the packet is being routed hop by hop from sensor to the
sink. Here each of the next hop is determined independent of the others.
• E-CARP is an enhancement to the CARP.

Following table mentions comparison between RPL, CORPL and CARP protocols.

Features RPL CORPL CARP

Routing Protocol for Low-Power Cognitiv Channel-Aware

Full Form
and Lossy Networks e RPL Routing Protocol

Server Support
Supported Not supported
technologies ed

Not
Security Not supported support Not supported
ed

Storage Not
managemen Supported support Supported
t ed

Data
Support
managemen Supported Supported
ed
t