A Mesh Routing Protocol using Cluster Label in the ZigBee Network

Abstract

IEEE 802.15.4-based ZigBee routing is based on ad hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) so that ZigBee states the possibility of building mesh network with data dissemination manner similar to ad hoc network. Although ZigBee focuses on low data rate, routing overhead for route discovery may interfere with network traffic. Since it affects network performances such as end-to-end delay and packet delivery ratio in dense networks, it is necessary that routing protocols improving the scalability are designed. In this paper, we present a mesh routing protocol for ZigBee, called ZigBee cluster label (ZiCL). As ZiCL divides the ZigBee network into one or more logical clusters and encourages nodes to share routing information, it reduces numerical potential route discoveries. Therefore, it shows that network performances such end-to-end delay and packet delivery ratio are significantly improved, especially in dense network. Simulation results demonstrate that ZiCL enhances scalability