To
explore and evaluate the network performance of Demand-Response (DR) programs
in smart homes, we designed and implemented a simplified networking simulation
model characterized by a Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS) network and a
combination of ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 and HomePlug C&C in the Network
Simulator Version-2 (NS-2) which supports multiple interfaces/channels.
Simulation results show that a combined network generally outperforms a single
wireless or wired network. Forwarding RBDS packets to all nodes, AODV and
ZigBee routing perform worse than Flooding. Focusing on forwarding packets to
individual nodes, for both AODV and ZigBee, a dual-path routing strategy and a
backbone-based path routing strategy are superior to a joint-path strategy in
terms of packet reception. Under such circumstances, the choice of protocols
and routing strategies mainly depends upon various scenarios specific to a
smart home as well as the constraints with respect to network energy
consumption and the average network latency.