IETF 6TiSCH: A Tutorial

The IETF IPv6 over the TSCH mode of IEEE802.15.4e (6TiSCH) working group has standardized a set of protocols to enable low power industrial-grade IPv6 networks. 6TiSCH proposes a protocol stack rooted in the Time Slotted Channel Hopping (TSCH) mode of the IEEE802.15.4-2015 standard, supports multi-hop topologies with the IPv6 Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) routing protocol, and is IPv6-ready through 6LoWPAN. 6TiSCH has defined the missing control plane protocols to match link-layer resources to the routing topology and application communication needs. 6TiSCH has also defined a secure light-weight join processes combining link-layer security features (through Counter with CBC-MAC (CCM*)) with a secure joining procedure using the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP). This tutorial provides a comprehensive overview of the 6TiSCH architecture and protocol suite, including the 6TiSCH Operation Sublayer (6top), the 6top Protocol (6P), and how it uses 6LoWPAN, IP-in-IP encapsulation, and RPL. This document is meant to be used both as a primer, and as a reference. It is tailored to the advanced researcher and engineer implementing and building upon IETF 6TiSCH specifications.