A comparative analysis of simulation and experimental results on RPL performance

A wireless sensor network and associated routing protocols are the fundamental elements in Internet of Things (IoT) framework. The data routing protocol used in a sensor network is of major concern as it determines reliability, lifetime, speed and scalability of a network. Routing Protocol for Low-power and lossy networks (RPL) is an IPv6 based routing protocol specifically designed for IoT applications. Therefore, the RPL's performance is crucial to determine the overall functionality of an IoT system. Many researchers have conducted experimental studies on RPL's performance evaluation using simulation tools such as Cooja, NS2, but not much literature exist on performance evaluation in a real network. Addressing this challenge, this paper presents an RPL network built upon Contiki-3.0 operating system. It is implemented physically and in Cooja simulation software, using Z1 motes. Performance metrics are defined, evaluated, and compared between the two settings. The resulting wide variation in the data obtained from the two environments signifies the necessity of physical experimentation for actual performance evaluation.