The support of multipath routing in IPv6-based internet of things

The development of IPv6-based network architectures for Internet of Things (IoT) systems is a feasible approach to widen the horizon for more effective applications, but remains a challenge. Network routing needs to be effectively addressed in such environments of scarce computational and energy resources. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) specified the IPv6 Routing Protocol for Low Power and Lossy Network (RPL) to provide a basic IPv6-based routing framework for IoT networks. However, the RPL design has the potential of extending its functionality to a further limit and incorporating the support of advanced routing mechanisms. These include multipath routing which has opened the doors for great improvements towards efficient energy balancing, load distribution, and even more. This paper fulfilled a need for an effective review of recent advancements in Internet of Things (IoT) networking. In particular, it presented an effective review and provided a taxonomy of the different multipath routing solutions enhancing the RPL protocol. The aim was to discover its current state and outline the importance of integrating such a mechanism into RPL to revive its potentiality to a wider range of IoT applications. This paper also discussed the latest research findings and provided some insights into plausible follow-up researches

Exploiting the power of multiplicity: a holistic survey of network-layer multipath

The Internet is inherently a multipath network: For an underlying network with only a single path, connecting various nodes would have been debilitatingly fragile. Unfortunately, traditional Internet technologies have been designed around the restrictive assumption of a single working path between a source and a destination. The lack of native multipath support constrains network performance even as the underlying network is richly connected and has redundant multiple paths. Computer networks can exploit the power of multiplicity, through which a diverse collection of paths is resource pooled as a single resource, to unlock the inherent redundancy of the Internet. This opens up a new vista of opportunities, promising increased throughput (through concurrent usage of multiple paths) and increased reliability and fault tolerance (through the use of multiple paths in backup/redundant arrangements). There are many emerging trends in networking that signify that the Internet's future will be multipath, including the use of multipath technology in data center computing; the ready availability of multiple heterogeneous radio interfaces in wireless (such as Wi-Fi and cellular) in wireless devices; ubiquity of mobile devices that are multihomed with heterogeneous access networks; and the development and standardization of multipath transport protocols such as multipath TCP. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive survey of the literature on network-layer multipath solutions. We will present a detailed investigation of two important design issues, namely, the control plane problem of how to compute and select the routes and the data plane problem of how to split the flow on the computed paths. The main contribution of this paper is a systematic articulation of the main design issues in network-layer multipath routing along with a broad-ranging survey of the vast literature on network-layer multipathing. We also highlight open issues and identify directions for future work

A self-healing framework for WSNs : detection and recovery of faulty sensor nodes and unreliable wireless links

Proponemos un marco conceptual para acoplar técnicas de auto-organización y técnicas de autocuración. A este marco se le llama de auto-curación y es capaz de hacer frente a enlaces inalámbricos inestables y nodos defectuosos. Dividimos el marco en dos componentes principales: la auto-organización y auto-curación. En el componente de auto-organización, nosotros construimos una topología de árbol que determine las rutas hacia el sumidero. En el componente de auto-curación, la topología del árbol se adapta a ambos tipos de fallas siguiendo tres pasos: recopilación de información, detección de fallas, y la recuperación de fallos. En el paso de recopilación de información, los nodos determinan el estado actual de la red mediante la recopilación de información de la capa MAC. En el paso de detección de fallas, los nodos analizan la información recopilada y detectan nodos/enlaces defectuosos. En el paso de recuperación de fallos, los nodos recuperan la topología del árbol mediante la sustitución de componentes defectuosos con redundantes (es decir, componentes de respaldo). Este marco permite una red con resiliencia que se recupera sin agotar los recursos de la red.We propose a conceptual framework for putting together self-organizing and self-healing techniques. This framework is called the self-healing framework and it is capable of coping with unstable wireless links and faulty nodes. We divide the framework into two major components: selforganization and self-healing. In the self-organization component, we build a tree topology that determines routing paths towards the sink. In the self-healing component, the tree topology copes with both types of failures by following three steps: information collection, fault detection, and fault recovery. In the information collection step, the nodes determine the current status of the network by gathering information from the MAC layer. In the fault detection step, the nodes analyze the collected information and detect faulty nodes/links. In the fault recovery step, the nodes recover the tree topology by replacing the faulty components with redundant ones (i.e., backup components). This framework allows a resilient network that recovers itself without depleting the network resources.Doctor en IngenieríaDoctorad

Load balancing and context aware enhancements for RPL routed Internet of Things.

Internet of Things (IoT) has been paving the way for a plethora of potential applications, which becomes more spatial and demanding. The goal of this work is to optimise the performance within the IPv6 Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) in the network layer.RPL still suffers from unbalanced load traffic among the candidate parents. Consequently, the overloaded parent node drains its energy much faster than other candidate parent nodes. This may lead to an early disconnection of a part of the network topology and affect the overall network reliability. To solve this problem, a new objective function (OF) has been proposed to usher better load balancing among the bottleneck candidate parents, and keep the overloaded nodes lifetime thriving to longer survival.Moreover, several IoT applications have antagonistic requirements but pertinent, which results in a greater risk of affecting the network reliability, especially within the emergency scenarios. With the presence of this challenging issue, the current standardised RPL OFs cannot sufficiently fulfil the antagonistic needs of Low-power and Lossy Networks (LLNs) applications. In response to the above issues, a context adaptive OF has been proposed to facilitate exchanging the synergy information between the application and network layers. Thus, the impact of the antagonistic requirements based on context parameters will be mitigated via rationalizing the selection decision of the routing path towards the root node.We implemented the proposed protocol and verified all our findings through excessive measurements via simulations and a realistic deployment using a real testbed of a multi-hop LLNs motes. The results proved the superiority of our solution over the existing ones with respect to end-to-end delay, packet delivery ratio and network lifetime. Our contribution has been accepted initially to be adopted within the standard body Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

Business impact, risks and controls associated with the internet of things

Thesis (MCom)--Stellenbosch University, 2017.ENGLISH SUMMARY : Modern businesses need to keep up with the ever-evolving state of technology to determine how a change in technology will affect their operations. Adopting Internet of Things to operations will assist businesses in achieving the goals set by management and, through data integration, add additional value to information. With the Internet of Things forming a global communication network, data is gathered in real time by sensor technologies embedded in uniquely identifiable virtual and physical objects. This data gathered are integrated and analysed to extract knowledge, in order to provide services like inventory management, customised customer service and elearning as well as accurate patient records. This integrated information will generate value for businesses by, inter alia, improving the quality of information and business operations. Business may be quick to adopt the Internet of Things into their operations because of the promised benefits, without fully understanding its enabling technologies. It is important that businesses acquire knowledge of the impact that these technologies will have on their operations as well as the risks associated with the use of these technologies before they deploy the Internet of Things in their business environment. The purpose of this study was to identify the business impact, risks and controls associated with the Internet of Things and its enabling technologies. Through the understanding of the enabling technologies of Internet of Things, the possible uses and impact on business operations can be identified. With the help of a control framework, the understanding gained on the technologies were used to identify the risks associated with them. The study concludes by formulating internal controls to address the identified risks. It was found that the core technologies (smart objects, wireless networks and semantic technologies) adopt humanlike characteristics and convert most manual business operations into autonomous operations, leading to increased business productivity, market differentiation, cost reduction and higher-quality information. The identified risks centred on data integrity, privacy and confidentiality, authenticity, unauthorised access, network availability and semantic technology vulnerabilities. A multi-layered approach of technical and non-technical internal controls were formulated to mitigate the identified risks to an acceptable level. The findings will assist information technology specialists and executive management of industries to identify the risks associated with the implementation of Internet of Things in operations, mitigate the risks to an acceptable level through controls as well as assist them to determine the possible uses and its impact on operations.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : Moderne ondernemings moet tred hou met die voortdurende ontwikkeling van tegnologie om te bepaal hoe ʼn verandering in tegnologie hulle bedrywighede sal beïnvloed. Inkorporering van Internet van Dinge in bedrywighede sal besighede help om die doelwitte wat deur bestuur gestel is te bereik en, deur data integrasie, additionele waarde te voeg tot inligting. Met Internet van Dinge wat ʼn globale kommunikasienetwerk vorm, word data in regte tyd versamel deur ensortegnologieë wat ingebed is in unieke identifiseerbare virtuele en fisiese voorwerpe. Hierdie versamelde data word geïntegreer en ontleed om kennis te onttrek om sodoende dienste te lewer, soos voorraadbestuur, pasgemaakte kliëntediens en e-leer sowel as akkurate pasiënt rekords. Hierdie geïntegreerde inligting sal waarde genereer vir ondernemings deur, inter alia, die gehalte van inligting en sakebedrywighede te verbeter. Ondernemings mag vinnig Internet van Dinge in hulle bedrywighede inkorporeer as gevolg van die beloofde voordele, sonder om die instaatstellende tegnologieë ten volle te verstaan. Dit is belangrik dat ondernemings kennis inwin oor die impak wat hierdie tegnologieë sal hê op hulle bedrywighede sowel as die risiko’s wat geassosieer word met die gebruik van hierdie tegnologieë voordat Internet van Dinge in hulle sakeomgewings ontplooi word. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die besigheidsimpak, risko’s en kontroles wat geassosieer word met Internet van Dinge en die instaatstellende tegnologieë te identifiseer. Deur die instaatstellende tegnologieë van Internet van Dinge te verstaan, kan die moontlike gebruike en impak daarvan op sakebedrywighede geïdentifiseer word. Met behulp van ʼn kontroleraamwerk, is die begrip van die tegnologieë gebruik om die risiko’s wat geassosieer word met hulle te identifiseer. Die studie sluit af met die formulering van interne kontroles om die geïdentifiseerde risko’s aan te spreek. Daar is gevind dat die kerrntegnologiekomponente (slim voorwerpe, draadlose netwerke en semantiese tegnologieë) menslike eienskappe aanneem en die meeste handsakebedrywighede omskakel na outonome bedrywighede, wat lei tot verhoogte sakeproduktiwiteit, markdifferensiasie, kostebesparing en hoërgehalte-inligting. Die geïdentifiseerde risiko’s is toegespits op data integriteit, -privaatheid en - vertroulikheid, egtheid, ongemagtigde toegang, netwerkbeskikbaarheid en semantiese tegnologiekwesbaarhede. ʼn Multilaagbenadering van tegniese en nie-tegniese interne kontroles is geformuleer, om sodoende die geïdentifiseerde risiko’s tot ʼn aanvaarbare vlak te versag. Die bevindinge sal inligtingstegnologie-spesialiste en uitvoerende bestuur van industrieë help om die risiko’s verbonde aan implementering van Internet van Dinge te identifiseer, risko’s te versag tot ʼn aanvaarbare vlak met kontroles sowel as hulle te help om moontlike gebruike en hulle impak op bedrywighede vas te stel

Security of the Internet of Things: Vulnerabilities, Attacks and Countermeasures

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) constitute one of the most promising third-millennium technologies and have wide range of applications in our surrounding environment. The reason behind the vast adoption of WSNs in various applications is that they have tremendously appealing features, e.g., low production cost, low installation cost, unattended network operation, autonomous and longtime operation. WSNs have started to merge with the Internet of Things (IoT) through the introduction of Internet access capability in sensor nodes and sensing ability in Internet-connected devices. Thereby, the IoT is providing access to huge amount of data, collected by the WSNs, over the Internet. Hence, the security of IoT should start with foremost securing WSNs ahead of the other components. However, owing to the absence of a physical line-of-defense, i.e., there is no dedicated infrastructure such as gateways to watch and observe the flowing information in the network, security of WSNs along with IoT is of a big concern to the scientific community. More specifically, for the application areas in which CIA (confidentiality, integrity, availability) has prime importance, WSNs and emerging IoT technology might constitute an open avenue for the attackers. Besides, recent integration and collaboration of WSNs with IoT will open new challenges and problems in terms of security. Hence, this would be a nightmare for the individuals using these systems as well as the security administrators who are managing those networks. Therefore, a detailed review of security attacks towards WSNs and IoT, along with the techniques for prevention, detection, and mitigation of those attacks are provided in this paper. In this text, attacks are categorized and treated into mainly two parts, most or all types of attacks towards WSNs and IoT are investigated under that umbrella: “Passive Attacks” and “Active Attacks”. Understanding these attacks and their associated defense mechanisms will help paving a secure path towards the proliferation and public acceptance of IoT technology