An Experimental Study of Sub-1 GHz Frequency-Hopping-Based 6LoWPAN Mesh Networking for Smart-Grid Applications

الملخص EN

This paper presents an experimental study of a multihop Internet Protocol Version 6 over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPAN)-based mesh system that uses un-slotted channel hopping (USCH) medium access control (MAC).

Designers of wireless smart-grid networks are using (or looking to use) the Sub-1 GHz spectrum, given its longer radio range compared to the traditional 2.4 GHz spectrum used in Wi-Fi® or Bluetooth® low energy.

The frequency-hopping (FH) technique is attractive in this area, as it provides improved robustness and longer range owing to the higher transmission power that regulatory requirements allow.

Although Sub-1 GHz allows for a longer range, smart-grid networks deployed over a large geographic area still require multiple hops to provide the required coverage.

Many proprietary and standards-based solutions have been proposed to implement such a networking protocol.

Notable specifications in this area include the Field Area Networks (FAN) specification from the Wi-SUN (smart utility networks) Alliance and the JupiterMesh specification from the Zigbee Alliance.

Little is known about the performance of FH systems over a multihop network, however.

This paper presents an implementation of an FH-based multihop networking protocol based on the Texas Instruments (TI) SimpleLink™ TI 15.4-stack, with an experimental study of such a system over multiple hops compared to a non-frequency-hopping (non-FH) system.

Results show that the proposed FH-based 6LoWPAN mesh system significantly improves network coverage, network capacity, and communication robustness to interference while demonstrating coexistence capabilities.