6TiSCH: deterministic IP-enabled industrial internet (of things)

Abstract

Industrial and IP-enabled low-power wireless networking technologies are converging, resulting in the Industrial Internet of Things. On the one hand, low-power wireless solutions are available today that answer the strict reliability and power consumption requirements of industrial applications. These solutions are based on Time- Synchronized Channel Hopping, a medium access control technique at the heart of industrial standards such as the WirelessHART and ISA100.11a, and layer 1 and 2 standards such as IEEE802.15.4e. On the other hand, a range of standards have been published to allow low-power wireless devices to communicate using the Internet Protocol (IP), thereby becoming true “fingers of the Internet,” and greatly simplifying their integration into existing networks. This article acknowledges the standardization effort to combine those capabilities. The networks resulting from this convergence exhibit reliability and power consumption performances compatible with demanding industrial applications, while being easy to integrate, and following the end-to-end paradigm of today’s Internet. In particular, this article presents the work being done in 6TiSCH, a newly-formed working group in the Internet Engineering Task Force, which is standardizing the mechanisms making the Industrial Internet of Things a reality.