MTIN 101

IoT ARCHITECTURE AND PROTOCOLS

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Unit III
IoT Data Link Layer & Network Layer Protocols: PHY/MAC Layer(3GPP MTC, IEEE 802.11, IEEE
802.15), Wireless HART,ZWave,Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee Smart Energy, DASH7 - Network
Layer-IPv4,IPv6, 6LoWPAN, 6TiSCH,ND, DHCP, ICMP, RPL, CORPL, CARP

IoT Data Link Layer & Network Layer Protocols:

IoT Data Link Layer :

Several Communication Protocols are used in Internet of Things (IoT) to provide service to the network
layer.
As we know IoT is based on networking of things where smart devices communicate with each other by
sending and receiving data. So for that several network protocols (Communication protocols) are used to
connect the IoT enabled devices and to establish the communication.

Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless communication network over a radio frequency. Bluetooth is mostly
integrated into smartphones and mobile devices. The Bluetooth communication network works within 2.4
ISM band frequencies with data rate up to 3Mbps.

There are three categories of Bluetooth technology:

1. Bluetooth Classic
2. Bluetooth Low Energy
3. Bluetooth SmartReady

The features of Bluetooth 5.0 version is introduced as Bluetooth 5 which have been developed entirely for
the Internet of Things.

Properties of Bluetooth network

o Standard: Bluetooth 4.2
o Frequency: 2.4GHz
o Range: 50-150m
o Data transfer rates: 3Mbps

Advantages of Bluetooth network

o It is wireless.
o It is cheap.
o It is easy to install.
o It is free to use if the device is installed with it.

Disadvantages of Bluetooth network

o It is a short-range communication network.
o It connects only two devices at a time.
Bluetooth Low Energy

Bluetooth low energy (BLE) is a short

short-range
range communication network protocol with PHY (physical layer)
and MAC (Medium Access Control) llayer. It is designed for low-power
power devices which uses less data. BLE
always remain in sleep mode except when the connection between devices is initiated and data
transmission occurs, due to this it conserves power of the device. Bluetooth low energy follows
follow the
master/slave architecture and offers two types of frames that are adverting and data frames. Slave node
sent the advertising frame to discover one or more dedicated advertisement channels. Master nodes
sense this advertisement channels to find slaves and connect them.

Z-Wave

Z-Wave
Wave is a wireless communication protocol with the frequency of 900MHz. The ranges of Z-Wave
Z lies
between 30 meters to 100 meters with the data transfer rate of 100kbps so that it is suitable for small
messages in IoT applications
ions for home automation. This communication protocol operates on mesh
network architecture with one and several secondary controllers.

Properties of Z-Wave protocol

• Standard: Z-Wave
Wave Alliance ZAD12837 / ITU
ITU-T G.9959
• Frequency: 908.42GHz
• Range: 30-100m
• Data transfer rate: 100kbps

Advantages of Z-Wave protocol

• Low power consumption

 • Remote or local control
• Simple installation
• Interoperability

Application of Z-Wave protocol

• Smart product and IoT based application

• Energy saving
• Home security

ZigBee Smart Energy

ZigBee is a low power, low data rate wireless personal area network communication protocol. It is mostly
used in home automation and industrial settings. Since ZigBee is a low power communication protocol,
the IoT power devices used with ZigBee technol
technology.
ogy. The ZigBee communication protocol is based on the
IEEE 802.15.4 standard operating at the 2.4GHz frequency. The ZigBee protocol supports star, cluster or
wireless mesh technology topology.

ZigBee uses the following devices in its network:

o Zigbee Coordinator
o Zigbee End Device
o Zigbee Router

Properties of ZigBee protocol

o Standard: ZigBee 3.0 based on IEEE802.15.4
o Frequency: 2.4GHz
o Range: 10-100m
o Data transfer rate: 250kbps

Advantages of ZigBee protocol

o Wireless
o Mesh networking
o Direct communication
o Low power consumption

Disadvantages of ZigBee protocol

o Costly
o Works with low speed within a small distance

Application of ZigBee protocol

o Commercial and residential control
 o Personal and healthcare
o Home networking
o Industrial control and management
o Consumer electronics

DASH7

DASH7 is an “instant-on,” long-range, low power wireless communications standard for applications
requiring modest bandwidth like text messages, sensor readings, or location-based advertising
coordinates.
DASH7 is an open source RFID-standard for wireless sensor networking, which operates in the 433 MHz
unlicensed ISM band/SRD band. DASH7 provides multi-year battery life, range of up to 2 km, indoor
location with 1 meter accuracy, low latency for connecting with moving things, a very small open source
protocol stack, AES 128-bit shared key encryption support, and data transfer of up to 200 kbit/s.

Wireless HART

https://instrumentationtools.com/wireless-hart-communication-protocol-overview/

https://www.pepperl-fuchs.com/india/hi/10028.htm

WirelessHart is a subset of the HART industrial instrument communication standard as of version 7,

communicating process data over 2.4 GHz radio waves. Individual instruments communicate with a
common “gateway” device serving as an interface between the wireless network and a wired network or a
host control system. In addition to this, though, individual WirelessHART devices also form links with one
another, so that the network data routes look like a “mesh” with all nearby nodes interconnected in
addition to connecting with the gateway.
In a mesh network, devices (nodes) perform double-duty as repeaters to relay data from other
instruments to the gateway as needed. In other words, data transmitted from one WirelessHART
instrument may not be directly received by the gateway device if that path is blocked or too far away.
Instead, the data may “hop” from one device to another nearby, which then re-broadcasts that information
to the gateway via a clearer path.
Network Layer Protocols:
IoT Network Layer Protocols

The network layer is divided into two sublayers: routing layer which handles the transfer of packets from
source to destination, and an encapsulation layer that forms the packets.

RPL Protocol

RPL stands for Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Network. It is a distance-vector protocol that
supports a varity of Data Link Protocols. RPL builds a Destination Oriented Directed Acyclic Graph
(DODAG) which has only one route from each leaf node to the root. All the traffic in this DODAG is routed
through the root. Initially, each node sends a DODAG Information Object (DIO) announcing them self as a
root. This information travels in the network, and complete DODAG is gradually built. When a new node
wants to join the network, it sends a DODAG Information Solicitation (DIS) request and root responds
back with a DAO Acknowledgment (DAO-ACK) confirming the join.

CORPL

CORPL protocol is the extension of the RPL protocol, which is termed as cognitive RPL. This network
protocol is designed for cognitive networks and uses DODAG topology. CORPL protocol makes two new
modifications in the RPL protocol. It uses opportunistic forwarding to forward a packet between the
nodes. Each node of CORPL protocol keeps the information of forwarding set rather than parents only
maintaining it. Each node updates its changes to its neighbor using DIO messages. On the basis of this
updated message, each node frequently updates its neighbor for constant forwarder set.

CARP Protocol

CARP (Channel-Aware Routing Protocol) is a distributed routing protocol. It is designed for underwater
communication. It has lightweight packets so that it can be used for Internet of Things (IoT). It performs
two different functionalities: network initialization and data forwarding. CARP protocol does not support
previously collected data. Hence, it is not beneficial for those IoT or other application where data is
changed frequently. The upgradation of CARP is done in E-CARP which overcomes the limitation of
CARP. The E-CARP allows the sink node to save previously received sensory data.

6LoWPAN

The 6LoWPAN protocol refers to IPv6 Low Power Personal Area Network which uses a lightweight
IP-based communication to travel over low data rate networks. It has limited processing ability to transfer
information wirelessly using an internet protocol. So, it is mainly used for home and building automation.
The 6LoWPAN protocol operates only within the 2.4 GHz frequency range with 250 kbps transfer rate. It
has a maximum length of 128-bit header packets.
 6LowPAN Security Measure

Security is a major issue for 6LowPAN communication Protocol. There are several attacks issues at the
security level of 6LoWPAN which aim is to direct destruction of the network. Since it is the combination of
two systems, so, there is a possibility of attack from two sides that targets all the layer of the 6LoWPAN
stack (Physical layer, Data link layer, Adaptation layer, Network layer, Transport layer, Application layer).

Properties of 6LowPAN protocol

• Standard: RFC6282
• Frequency: Used over a variety of other networking media including Bluetooth Smart (2.4GHz)
or ZigBee or low-power RF (sub-1GHz)
• Range: NA
• Data Rates: NA

IP version 4 (IPv4) –

IPv4 is still the widely used network layer protocol used for networking computers. IPv4 addresses are
expressed as dotted decimal numbers. The address consist of four octets (32-bit number) divided into two
parts – network address to uniquely identify a TCP-IP or IOT network and host address to identify host
within the identified network. A subnet mask is used along with the 32-bit IP address to uniquely identify a
host (computer or IOT device). The subnet mask is also a 32-bit number. The subnet mask helps in
identifying the exact location of the host device. The routers extract the network address from the IPv4
address and compare it with a route table to identify the network and the data packet is first delivered to
the target network. Then, the subnet mask is used to uniquely identify the host and deliver the data
packet to the host device.
In the standard, there are five IPv4 classes – A, B, C, D and E. The class of an IPv4 address is identified
by the first octet of the IP address. The classes A, B and C are most commonly used. The class D is
reserved for multi-casting and Class E for experimental purposes.

In class A IPv4 address, first octet is used to identify network and remaining three octet are used to
identify the host. This addressing class is generally used in networks having large number of host
devices. The first bit of the first octet is always set to 0, so, the first octet can have a decimal value in
range from 1 to 127. The value of 127 for first octet in class A address remains reserved for loopback IP
address or localhost, so values only from 1 to 126 remains available. The default subnet mask for class A
is 255.0.0.0. With this addressing scheme, maximum 126 networks and maximum 16777214 host devices
in each network can be uniquely identified.

In class B IPv4 address, first two octet are used to identify network and last two octet are used to identify
host device. The first two bits in first octet of Class B address is always set to 10, so the network address
can range from 128.0.X.X to 191.255.X.X. The default subnet mask for class B address is 255.255.0.0.
With this addressing scheme, maximum 16384 networks and maximum 65534 host devices in each
network can be uniquely identified.
In class C IPv4 address, first three octet are used to identify network and last octet is used to identify host
device. The first three bits in first octet of Class C address is always set to 110, so its value can range
from 192 to 223. The network address can range from 192.0.0.X to 223.255.255.X. The default subnet
mask for class B address is 255.255.255.0. With this addressing scheme, maximum 2097152 networks
and maximum 254 host devices in each network can be uniquely identified.

Suppose, a class C IPv4 address be 192.168.8.1 and a subnet mask be 255.255.255.0. The subnet mask
in binary converts to 11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000, which implies that first three octet are the
network address and the last octet is the host address. So, in the IP address 192.168.8.1, 192.168.8.0
will be the network address and 000.000.000.1 will be the host address.

There is only address space for 4,294,967,296 addresses in IPv4 standard. This address space has
already exhausted and is not scalable to accommodate the billions of IOT devices. So, IPv6 has been
introduced to expand address space for the IOT.

IP version 6 (IPv6) –

IP Version 6 is an interoperable successor of IPv4. The address space in IPv4 is limited to roughly 4.3
billion devices. There will be 20 billion IOT devices alone by the year 2020. So, an IP addressing standard
that would be scalable to cater to the future IOT infrastructure was the need of the time.
Compared to 32-bit addresses in IPv4, there are 128-bit addresses in IPv6. The address is divided into
eight 16-bit blocks where each block can be represented by a 4-digit hexadecimal number. each block in
the IPv6 address is separated by a semi-colon. So, a typical IPv6 address would look like
77AD:45DF:A23D:8:2D:76DF:245:AF. There are eight blocks in the address – 77AD, 45DF, A23D, 8, 2D,
76DF, 245 and AF.

Each block is separated by a semicolon in the address.

There can be three types of addresses in IPv6 standard –

1) Unicast address – address to identify a single interface
2) Multicast address – address to identify multiple interfaces grouped into different nodes
3) Anycast address – address to identify single interface in a set of interfaces belonging to different
nodes
With 128-bit addresses, IPv6 can be used to identify 340 trillion trillion trillion (38X1038) devices which is
roughly 667 sextillion (667X1021) devices per square meter on earth. This is more than enough for the
farthest future of the IOT.

6TiSCH –

Developed by IETF, 6TiSCH is a IPv6 standard for 802.15.4 MAC layer protocols. The standard allows
IPv6 addresses to pass through Time-Slotted Channel Hopping (TSCH) mode of IEEE 802.15.4e MAC
layer, so that the IPv6 adaption layer can be used for industrial automation and Low Power Lossy
Networks (LLN).
What is DHCP?

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used to automate the
process of configuring devices on IP networks, thus allowing them to use network services such as DNS,
NTP, and any communication protocol based on UDP or TCP. A DHCP server dynamically assigns an IP
address and other network configuration parameters to each device on a network so they can
communicate with other IP networks. DHCP is an enhancement of an older protocol called BOOTP.
DHCP is an important part of the DDI solution (DNS-DHCP-IPAM).

What is the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)?

The Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is a network layer protocol used by network devices to
diagnose network communication issues. ICMP is mainly used to determine whether or not data is
reaching its intended destination in a timely manner. Commonly, the ICMP protocol is used on network
devices, such as routers. ICMP is crucial for error reporting and testing, but it can also be used
in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

What is ICMP used for?

The primary purpose of ICMP is for error reporting. When two devices connect over the Internet, the
ICMP generates errors to share with the sending device in the event that any of the data did not get to its
intended destination. For example, if a packet of data is too large for a router, the router will drop the
packet and send an ICMP message back to the original source for the data.

The medium access control (MAC)

The medium access control (MAC) is a sublayer of the data link layer of the open system interconnections
(OSI) reference model for data transmission. It is responsible for flow control and multiplexing for
transmission medium. It controls the transmission of data packets via remotely shared channels. It sends
data over the network interface card.

MAC Layer in the OSI Model

The Open System Interconnections (OSI) model is a layered networking framework that conceptualizes
how communications should be done between heterogeneous systems. The data link layer is the second
lowest layer. It is divided into two sublayers −

• The logical link control (LLC) sublayer

• The medium access control (MAC) sublayer

The following diagram depicts the position of the MAC layer −

MAC Addresses

MAC address or media access control address is a unique identifier allotted to a network interface
controller (NIC) of a device. It is used as a network address for data transmission within a network
segment like Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
MAC address is assigned to a network adapter at the time of manufacturing. It is hardwired or hard-coded
in the network interface card (NIC). A MAC address comprises of six groups of two hexadecimal digits,
separated by hyphens, colons, or no separators. An example of a MAC address is 00:0A:89:5B:F0:11.

The MAC and PHY layers

Most network protocols use the concept of layers to separate different components and functions into
independent modules that developers can assemble in different ways.
The PHY layer defines the physical and electrical characteristics of the network. It is responsible for
managing the hardware that modulates and demodulates the RF bits.
The MAC layer is responsible for sending and receiving RF frames. As part of each packet, there is a
MAC layer data header that has addressing information as well as packet options. This layer implements
packet acknowledgments (ACKs), packet tracking to eliminate duplicates, and so forth.

• When a device is transmitting, it cannot receive packets.

• When a device is not sleeping, it is either receiving or transmitting.
• There are no beacons or master/slave requirements in the design of the MAC/PHY.

The XBee/XBee-PRO SX RF Module uses a patented method for scanning and finding a transmission.
When a device transmits, it sends out a repeated preamble pattern, a MAC header, optionally a network
header, followed by packet data. A receiving device is able to scan all the channels to find a transmission
during the preamble, then once it has locked into that channel it attempts to receive the whole packet.

The following table shows the AT commands related to the MAC/PHY layers.
 AT
command Function

CM The Channel Mask is a user-defined list of channels that the device operates on.
For additional information, see CM (Channel Mask).
HP Change HP (Preamble ID) to make it so a group of devices will not interfere with another
group of devices in the same vicinity. The advantage of changing this parameter is that a
receiving device will not lock into a transmission of a transmitting device that does not have
the same Preamble ID.
ID Change ID (Network ID) to further keep devices from interfering with each other. The device
matches this ID after it matches the preamble pattern and after it receives the MAC header.
A unique network identifier distinguishes each network. For devices to communicate, they
must be configured with the same network identifier. The ID parameter allows multiple
networks to co-exist on the same physical channel.
PL Sets the transmit (TX) power level. You can reduce the power level from the maximum to
reduce current consumption or for testing. This comes at the expense of reduced radio range.
RR Specifies the number of times a sending device attempts to get an ACK from a destination
device when it sends a unicast packet.

MT Specifies the number of times that a device repeatedly transmits a broadcast packet. This
adds redundancy, which improves reliability.

3GPP MTC

A MTC Device might also communicate locally (wirelessly, possibly through a PAN, or hardwired)
with other entities which provide the MTC Device “raw data” for processing and communication to the
MTC Server(s) and/or other MTC Device(s). Local communication between MTC Device(s) and other
entities is out of scope of this technical specification.
Machine-type communication (MTC) is a form of data communication which involves one or more
entities that do not necessarily need human interaction.
MTC Device: A MTC Device is a User Equipped (UE) for Machine Type Communication, which
communicates through a PLMN with MTC Server(s) and/or other MTC Device(s).
MTC Feature: MTC Features are network functions to optimise the network for use by M2M applications.
MTC Group: A MTC Group is a group of MTC Devices that share one or more MTC Features and that
belong to the same MTC Subscriber.
MTC Server: A MTC Server is a server, which communicates to the PLMN itself, and to MTC Devices
through the PLMN. The MTC Server can also have an interface which can be accessed by the MTC User.
The MTC Server can:

• Provides services for other servers (e.g. The MTC Server is a Services Capability Server for an
Application Server), and/or

• Provides services for applications and can host the application (e.g. The MTC Server is an
Application Server).
MTC User: A MTC User uses the service provided by the MTC Server.

MTC Subscriber: A MTC Subscriber is a legal entity having a contractual relationship with the network
operator to provide service to one or more MTC Devices.
 What does IEEE 802.11 mean?

IEEE 802.11 refers to the set of standards that define communication for wireless LANs (wireless local
area networks, or WLANs). The technology behind 802.11 is branded to consumers as Wi-Fi.

As the name implies, IEEE 802.11 is overseen by the IEEE, specifically the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards
Committee (IEEE 802). The current version of the standard is IEEE 802.11-2007.

IEEE 802.15

IEEE 802.15 is the IEEE working group for Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs). The working
group is developing standards for short- range communicatons of devices within a personal operating
space. A personal wireless network consists of mobile devices such as a handheld or pocket computer,
PDA, mobile phone and wireless microphone.

IEEE 802.15 consists of a number of working groups:

• 802.15.1(Standardization Task Group)

o Standardization of Bluetooth
• 802.15.2 (Recommended practice)
o Coexistence of WPAN and WLAN devices
• 802.15.3 (High Rate WPAN)
o High-rate (>20 Mbit/s) WPANs
o IEEE 802.15.3a is a standard for UWB devices
o IEEE 802.15.3c is a standard for gigabit wireless (> 2 Gbit/s) in the 60 GHz band
• 802.15.4 (Low Rate WPAN)
o Low-rate WPANs (up to 200 kbit/s)
o Standardization of ZigBee

NarrowBand-Internet of Things (NB-IoT)

NarrowBand-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is a standards-based low power wide area (LPWA)
technology developed to enable a wide range of new IoT devices and services. NB-IoT
significantly improves the power consumption of user devices, system capacity and spectrum
efficiency, especially in deep coverage. Battery life of more than 10 years can be supported for a
wide range of use cases.