This network standard is the key to us using the Internet protocols over the low power wireless network to the sensor nodes. Each node has a unique IPv6 address and communications from the “outside world” into the sensor network (and visa-versa) are possible. It means we can make a complete chain from the servers/desktops/etc all the way via the Estate building, up the mountain, hopping via other nodes – to a sensor node to communicate with it. It is also possible to use different vendor’s hardware with this standard (as long as the radio transceivers are compatible).

6LowPAN is a special case of IPv6 designed for resource constrained computers and low bandwidth radio.

The test nodes allowed a ping6 request to check their connectivity but it was also possible to send web requests to them. They POST their binary data to the server, or ine the later version we tested the server using CoAP GET from them. So the IP network has proven to be very flexible, which was one of the pints of the project.