Dimensioning payload size for fast retransmission of MQTT packets in the wake of network disconnections

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) is spreading rapidly around the world, and Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) is one of the main protocols used to explore device-to-device (D2D) communication. The industry typically requires communication systems that can transmit data continuously while optimizing both bandwidth and transmission time. Due to the vast amount of data that can be lost, companies often find that even short periods of network downtime lead to significant costs. In this paper, we propose a retransmission mechanism to allow sensor nodes to relay missing data via MQTT to a local server when it reconnects after an unexpected disconnection. To assess its performance, several tests in a digital healthcare use case scenario have been designed. Since the procedure involves transferring a considerable amount of data, our main goal is to determine the maximum payload of each message to restore the missing information, while minimizing the retransmission time without information loss.