TSCH in Edge IoT: A Comprehensive Survey of Research Challenges

Abstract

Time-slotted channel hopping (TSCH) is a promising approach for efficient communication in Internet of Things (IoT) networks, with its significance extending to the emerging landscape of Edge computing. This survey article investigates TSCH within the framework of IoT, exploring its advantages, challenges, and applications. TSCH divides time into slots and dynamically hops between channels, enabling multiple devices to share the same frequency band while mitigating interference. The study aims to address existing research issues and motivations by providing an innovative methodology for examining TSCH's role in IoT communication. The benefits of TSCH, such as improved reliability, energy efficiency, and scalability, are discussed, alongside the challenges associated with its implementation in IoT networks, including synchronization, channel selection, slot allocation, and the energy-performance trade-off. Various techniques and algorithms proposed in the literature to tackle these challenges are reviewed, offering a comprehensive analysis of their effectiveness. The potential applications of TSCH in domains like smart homes, industrial automation, smart grids, and healthcare are explored, with a focus on the unique requirements and characteristics of each domain. How TSCH can effectively address the communication needs of these applications is highlighted. Performance evaluation of TSCH in IoT networks is presented through a review of existing studies, simulation models, and experimental deployments. Key performance metrics, such as packet delivery ratio, latency, energy consumption, and network capacity, are discussed. The paper concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing TSCH's impact on IoT communication protocols. This paper serves as a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners involved in IoT communications, providing insights into TSCH's benefits, challenges, and applications in IoT networks.