## 1 Introduction  
### Context  
The use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has increased tremendously, and each year, increasingly more users are utilizing IoT-based solutions for personal [1], financial [2], and commercial applications [3]. The IoT networking paradigm provides communication between devices to connect our physical world [4]. The IoT is a network of smart devices operating in a lossy environment to enable connectivity between things, people, or services. These IoT devices are often battery-powered and contain limited computational capabilities. These resource-constrained sensor devices operate in a lossy environment and are often deployed in harsh environments [5]. IoT application areas span from the smart grid [6], smart transportation [7], and smart industries [8], to smart homes [9]. IoT-based applications can lead to a true realization of smart city environments. This requires a massive number of efficiently deployed IoT devices. The enormous use of IoT-based devices has created a complex network infrastructure generating large amounts of data. The increases in network size and data volume lead to poor network performance. Since these devices are battery-powered, they are therefore referred to as low-power and lossy networks (LLN) devices [10]. Apart from their low power, these devices are not equipped with adequate processing capabilities. Deploying nodes is also challenging and costly due to the complexity and variability of IoT environ ments. In a complex networking environment, maintaining information and resources is becoming challenging amid growing IoT services [11].  
These devices' communication mechanisms are managed by lightweight protocols specially designed for low-power and lossy devices. For example, in the medium access control (MAC) layer, some IoT devices use an IEEE 802.15.4-based MAC mechanism, which slightly differs in operation compared to the standard IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol [12; 13]. The IEEE 802.15.4 standard is a fundamental building block designed for devices with limited access to power sources and limited processing capabilities.  
Similarly, the network layer plays a vital role in the architecture of IoT devices. One key protocol designed for IoT networks is the routing protocol for low-power and lossy networks (RPL) [14]. The RPL is also specifically tailored to address the unique challenges of IoT devices. The network created using the RPL protocol is based on a destination-oriented directed acyclic graph (DODAG). The RPL creates a DODAG using a number of control overheads. The periodicity of these control messages is managed by a trickle timer mechanism. The IEEE 802.15.4 MAC and RPL networks based on the trickle timer mechanism are standardized protocols for LLN devices [15]. IoT devices often struggle to manage their limited computation and energy resources using standardized protocols. For example, backoff exponent (BE) is a parameter used in IEEE 802.15.4 and IEEE 802.11 standards, but it functions slightly differently in each standard. In the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC layer, the BE is incremented by one each time the channel is found to be busy, leading to an increase in the BE before frame transmission. A larger BE means the devices wait longer before attempting to transmit. Thus, if the network density or transmission rate increases, the blind increase in BE causes performance degradation [16]. Similarly, in the network layer, the transmission and reception of control overheads consume valuable resources, particularly if the network size increases [17]. To enhance the capabilities of an IoT network, an intelligent DODAG construction mechanism could be employed in the RPL, avoiding the introduction of high control overheads.