Mutually Complementary Communication Protocol for Indoor Sensor/Actuator Networks

We propose the use of a mutually complementary communication protocol (MCCP) for indoor sensor/actuator networks based on multi-interface communications. The MCCP uses several metrics which use packet reception ratio (PRR) against link quality indicator (LQI) in each interface to detect a better path for transmitting data. In this work, we used IEEE 802.15.4 wireless communications and power line communications (PLCs) for constructing the indoor sensor/actuator networks. To evaluate the performance of the MCCP, we developed evaluation boards which are connected with both IEEE 802.15.4 and the PLC module. Experimental results show that interface switching method using PRR against LQI is useful for routing part of the MCCP.