TSCH Multiflow Scheduling with QoS Guarantees: A Comparison of SDN with Common Schedulers

Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSN) are becoming increasingly popular in production environments due to their ease of deployment, low cost and energy efficiency. However, the complexity accuracy demanded by these requires that IWSN implement quality service mechanisms allow them operate with high determinism. For this reason, IEEE 802.15.4e standard incorporates Time Slotted Channel Hopping (TSCH) protocol which reduces interference increases reliability transmissions. This does not specify how time resources allocated TSCH scheduling, leading multiple scheduling solutions. Schedulers can be classified as autonomous, distributed centralised. The first two have prevailed over centralised ones because they do require signalling, along advantages deployment performance. increased QoS requirements diversity traffic flows circulate through network today’s Industry 4.0 environment strict, dynamic control guarantee parameters such delay, packet loss deadline, independently for each flow. That cannot always achieved or autonomous schedulers. it is necessary use protocols a disruptive approach, Software Defined (SDN). In these, only MAC layer centralised, but all decisions nodes make up configured controller based on global vision topology resources, allows optimal made. work, comparative analysis made simulation testbed different schedulers demonstrate benefits fully centralized approach SDN. results obtained show SDN possible simplify management flows, without problems maintains Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR) levels other solutions, addition, achieves greater determinism bounded end-to-end delays Deadline Satisfaction (DSR) at power consumption.