The growing use of mobile nodes in manufacturing environments is increasing the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of the communications infrastructures that support them, as is the case with Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSN). Managing networks using Software Defined Networks (SDN) addresses the challenge of handling multiple sources in a satisfactory manner. The global vision of the topology that the SDN controller has allows a logical segmentation of the network, through the allocation of dedicated resources for each information flow, thus ensuring independent service levels and complete isolation. Mobile nodes produce constant changes in topology, which lead to instability for routing protocols. Traditional routing solutions with protocols such as Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) require additional time to make the parent node change. This paper proposes Mobile Multicast Forwarding with Software Defined Network (MMF-SDN), an approach using Software Defined Networking solution for WIreless SEnsor Network (SDN WISE) protocol that exploits the advantages of SDN and Time Slotted Channel Hopping (TSCH) synchronism. The mobile nodes are managed as multicast sources, through a cumulative allocation of resources from the controller. This allows reception states to be synchronized at the parent nodes to provide network stability, avoiding subsequent recalculations in the routing protocol. Parent node changes are transparent and immediate. This proposal improves on other SDN based solutions, reducing energy consumption in reception by up to 50%, 70% end-to-end delay and improving scalability with a 30% reduction in slotframe occupancy.

Wireless Sensor Networks have become a key enabler for Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) applications; however, to adapt to the derived robust communication requirements, deterministic and scheduled medium access should be used, along with other features, such as channel hopping and frequency diversity. Implementing these mechanisms requires a correct synchronization of all devices in the network, a stage in deployment that can lead to non-operational networks. The present article presents an analysis of such situations and possible solutions, including the common current approaches and recommendations, and proposes a new beacon advertising method based on a specific Trickle Timer for the Medium Access Control (MAC) Time-Slotted Channel Hopping (TSCH) layer, decoupling from the timers in the network and routing layers. With this solution, improvements in connection success, time to join, and energy consumption can be obtained for the widely extended IEEE802.15.4e standard.

IWSNs (Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks) have become the next step in the evolution of WSN (Wireless Sensor Networks) due to the nature and demands of modern industry. With this type of network, flexible and scalable architectures can be created that simultaneously support traffic sources with different characteristics. Due to the great diversity of application scenarios, there is a need to implement additional capabilities that can guarantee an adequate level of reliability and that can adapt to the dynamic behavior of the applications in use. The use of SDNs (Software Defined Networks) extends the possibilities of control over the network and enables its deployment at an industrial level. The signaling traffic exchanged between nodes and controller is heavy and must occupy the same channel as the data traffic. This difficulty can be overcome with the segmentation of the traffic into flows, and correct scheduling at the MAC (Medium Access Control) level, known as slices. This article proposes the integration in the SDN controller of a traffic manager, a routing process in charge of assigning different routes according to the different flows, as well as the introduction of the Time Slotted Channel Hopping (TSCH) Scheduler. In addition, the TSCH (Time Slotted Channel Hopping) is incorporated in the SDN-WISE framework (Software Defined Networking solution for Wireless Sensor Networks), and this protocol has been modified to send the TSCH schedule. These elements are jointly responsible for scheduling and segmenting the traffic that will be sent to the nodes through a single packet from the controller and its performance has been evaluated through simulation and a testbed. The results obtained show how flexibility, adaptability, and determinism increase thanks to the joint use of the routing process and the TSCH Scheduler, which makes it possible to create a slicing by flows, which have different quality of service requirements. This in turn helps guarantee their QoS characteristics, increase the PDR (Packet Delivery Ratio) for the flow with the highest priority, maintain the DMR (Deadline Miss Ratio), and increase the network lifetime.

The advent of Industry 4.0 brought about digitalisation and the integration of advanced technologies into industrial processes, with wireless networks emerging as a key enabler in the interconnection of smart devices, cyber–physical systems, and data analytics platforms. With the development of Industry 5.0 and its emphasis on human–machine collaboration, Wi-Fi has positioned itself as a viable alternative for industrial wireless connectivity, supporting seamless communication between robots, automation systems, and human operators. However, its adoption in critical applications remains limited due to persistent concerns over latency, reliability, and interference in shared-spectrum environments. This study evaluates the practical performance of Wi-Fi standards from 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) to 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) across three representative environments: residential, laboratory, and industrial. Six configurations were tested under consistent conditions, covering various frequency bands, channel widths, and traffic types. Results prove that Wi-Fi 6/6E delivers the best overall performance, particularly in low-interference 6 GHz scenarios. Wi-Fi 5 performs well in medium-range settings but is more sensitive to congestion, while Wi-Fi 4 consistently underperforms. Early Wi-Fi 7 hardware does not yet surpass Wi-Fi 6/6E consistently, reflecting its ongoing development. Despite these variations, the progression observed across generations clearly demonstrates incremental gains in throughput stability and latency control. While these improvements already provide tangible benefits for many industrial communication scenarios, the most significant leap in industrial applicability is expected to come from the effective implementation of high-efficiency mechanisms. These include OFDMA, TWT, scheduled uplink access, and enhanced QoS features. These capabilities, already embedded in the Wi-Fi 6 and 7 standards, represent the necessary foundation to move beyond conventional best-effort connectivity and toward supporting critical, latency-sensitive industrial applications.