Gateway selection in capillary networks

Abstract

The world is adopting machine-type communication, wherein sensors and actuators blend seamlessly with the environment around us, bringing a new ubiquitous computing and communication era - a shift that is, to some extent, illustrated by the explosive growth of the Internet of Things (IoT). Capillary Networks play an important role in the growth of IoT, enabling wireless sensor networks to connect and use the capabilities of cellular networks through Capillary Gateways. In that sense, Capillary Gateways facilitate the seamless integration of wireless sensor networks with cellular networks. Therefore, an optimal selection of the Capillary Gateways by the wireless sensor network is crucial for balancing the load between the gateways and optimizing the end-to-end path through both networks. This paper describes a set of possible gateway selection architectures and presents an algorithm for determining the gateway selection based on policies and a set of constraints. Then, the paper describes our implementation of two selected architectures, discussing the solutions and challenges encountered during implementation. Finally, the paper evaluates the traffic and load generated by gateway selection.