An IPv6 address configuration scheme for wireless sensor networks

The paper proposes an IPv6 address configuration scheme for wireless sensor networks. The paper creates an IPv6 address structure for sensor nodes, and based on the proposed IPv6 address structure, the paper proposes an IPv6 address auto-configuration scheme. In the scheme, the transmission scope of the control packets is controlled within one-hop scope and the scheme neither records the address allocation status nor performs the duplicate address detection, so the address configuration cost is reduced and the address configuration delay is shortened. In addition, based on the proposed IPv6 address structure, the paper proposes the address recovery algorithm. From the perspectives of the address configuration cost and address configuration delay, the paper analyzes and compares the performance parameters of the proposed scheme and the existing schemes, including MANETConf, Strong DAD, LISAA and IAC. The analytical and simulative results show that the performance of the proposed scheme is better.

► The hierarchical IPv6 address structure for a sensor node is proposed. ► A sensor node can acquire a unique IPv6 address from its neighbor nodes. ► The transmission scope of the packets is controlled within one-hop scope. ► The algorithm for retrieving the address space occupied by failed nodes is proposed.