Low-Latency Communication Protocols for Mission-Critical IoT Applications
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15662/IJEETR.2020.0203002Keywords:
Low-latency communication, mission-critical IoT, MQTT, CoAP, 5G URLLC, edge computing, adaptive retransmission, protocol optimizationAbstract
Mission-critical Internet of Things (IoT) applications such as healthcare monitoring, industrial automation, and autonomous vehicles require reliable, real-time communication with minimal latency. Traditional communication protocols often struggle to meet the stringent delay and reliability requirements due to resource constraints, network congestion, and heterogeneous IoT environments. This study investigates the design and evaluation of low-latency communication protocols tailored for mission-critical IoT scenarios.
We analyze existing protocols such as MQTT, CoAP, and 5G-enabled Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and evaluate their suitability for low-latency requirements. A hybrid protocol framework combining features from lightweight messaging protocols and 5G ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) is proposed. The hybrid approach incorporates priority-based scheduling, adaptive retransmission, and edge computing integration to reduce end-to-end delay.
Simulations using realistic IoT traffic models demonstrate that the proposed protocol achieves an average latency reduction of 40% compared to traditional MQTT over TCP/IP, while maintaining high packet delivery ratios exceeding 99%. The adaptive retransmission mechanism minimizes retransmission overhead by predicting channel conditions, and edge processing reduces cloud communication delays.
Our findings highlight that protocol optimization combined with emerging 5G technologies and edge intelligence can meet the latency and reliability demands of mission-critical IoT. The study contributes practical insights for IoT designers and network engineers aiming to deploy efficient communication systems in latency-sensitive environments.
Future work will focus on real-world testbed implementation and extending the protocol to support large-scale heterogeneous IoT deployments. This research advances the field by bridging protocol design and emerging network infrastructure to facilitate responsive and dependable mission-critical IoT applications.
References
1. Jin, Y., Chen, H., & Wang, X. (2019). "Latency optimization in MQTT-based IoT communication for real-time
applications." IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 6(3), 5085-5093.
2. Zhang, L., & Li, Q. (2019). "5G URLLC resource allocation for industrial IoT: A scheduling approach." IEEE
Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 15(8), 4624-4632.
3. Patel, S., & Desai, A. (2019). "Edge computing-based IoT architecture for low latency healthcare monitoring."
Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 137, 137-148.
4. Sharma, V., Kumar, N., & Singh, R. (2019). "Adaptive retransmission strategies for low latency in wireless IoT
networks." International Journal of Communication Systems, 32(15), e3962.
5. Wang, J., Li, F., & Chen, M. (2019). "A survey on communication protocols for mission-critical IoT applications
