Management of 6TiSCH Networks Using CORECONF: A Clustering Use Case. Fabian Graf, David Pauli, Michael Villnow, Thomas Watteyne. IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management (TNSM), 30 October 2025.
Industrial low-power wireless sensor networks demand high reliability and adaptability to cope with dynamic environments and evolving network requirements. While the 6TiSCH protocol stack provides reliable low-power communication, the CoAP Management Interface (CORECONF) for runtime management remains underutilized. In this work, we implement CORECONF and introduce clustering as a practical use case. We implement a cluster formation mechanism aligned with the Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) and adjust the TSCH channel-hopping sequence within the established clusters. Two use cases are presented. First, CORECONF is used to mitigate external Wi-Fi interference by forming a cluster with a modified channel set that excludes the affected frequencies. Second, CORECONF is employed to create a priority cluster of sensor nodes that require higher reliability and reduced latency, such as those monitoring critical infrastructure in industrial settings. Simulation results show significant improvements in latency, while practical experiments demonstrate a reduction in overall network charge consumption from approximately 50 mC per hour to 23 mC per hour, by adapting the channel set within the interference-affected cluster.