6DYN : 6TiSCH with Heterogeneous Slot Durations

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Networking
• Wireless Communication

Background:

• Advancements in radio chip technology allow dynamic adjustment of modulation, datarate, and frequency.
• Industrial low-power wireless networks require enhanced determinism and latency predictability.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce 6DYN, an extension to the IETF 6TiSCH protocol stack.
• Leverage dynamic physical layer switching for improved network performance in industrial settings.

Main Methods:

• Nodes dynamically switch physical layers on a link-by-link basis.
• Utilize heterogeneous slot durations, adapting slot length to the physical layer used.
• Standardize 6DYN using reserved bits in 6TiSCH headers.
• Implement 6DYN within the OpenWSN reference implementation of 6TiSCH.

Main Results:

• 6DYN enables exploitation of physical layer diversity for network agility.
• Heterogeneous slot durations contribute to low latency and high network capacity.
• Reserved bits in 6TiSCH headers provide a standardization mechanism for 6DYN.

Conclusions:

• 6DYN enhances industrial low-power wireless networks by enabling dynamic physical layer adaptation.
• The proposed approach improves network determinism, latency predictability, and capacity.
• Standardization via 6TiSCH headers and OpenWSN implementation demonstrates practical viability.