IoTorii: Outperforming RPL with scalable routing

RPL is the de-facto IPv6-based routing protocol for the Internet of Things (IoT), where networks are mainly formed by sensors and other low capacity devices. However, RPL lacks scalability and is inefficient in any-to-any communications. In this article, we present IoTorii, a layer-two hierarchical protocol that creates routes based on a probe frame, instead of the computation of a distance vector, as in RPL. We implemented a proof-of-concept of IoTorii and compared it with RPL, proving lower number of table entries, exchanged control messages and convergence time, with similar creation of shortest paths, which is particularly promising in the IoT field.