Classification of M2M MAC protocols

TheMACprotocols can be classified on the basis of the underlying mechanism of collision avoidance and the organizational approach to sensor nodes [32]. One can classifyMAC

protocols based on architecture (distributed or centralized), based on the mode of opera- tion (random access, slotted access, frame slotted), and many other types of classifications can be made [32].

For the sake of simplicity, most of the literature settles that currentMACprotocols can be generally classified as contention-free, contention-based, and hybrid protocols that combine aspects of contention-based and contention-free, trying to leverage their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses [9].

2.4.2.1 Contention-based MAC protocols

Contention-based MAC protocols are among the simplest protocols in terms of imple- mentation and setup [9]. In these protocols, the nodes compete for the channel in several ways to acquire the channel and transmit data. However, the biggest downside of this approach is its severe energy inefficiency due to collisions, idle listening, control packet overhead and overhearing[32].

This is especially perceived when the number of devices contending is very high, i.e. tens of thousands, causing serious latency due the increasing number of packets collisions, consequently snowballing energy consumption and affecting the scalability. Nevertheless, in [32] it is pointed out that being adaptive is the key to efficient energy usage, whether

these adaptations are made at traffic management or topology level.

An example of a contention-based protocol is the Fast-Adaptive Slotted ALOHA

(FASA). Originally proposed in [33], in this protocol, the network condition regarding the

number of backlogged devices Nt is estimated by using drift analysis on the access results

of the past slots [9]. Using this information, each node in the network is then given 1/Nt

as its transmission probability in each slot. TheBSis in charge of estimating the number of backlogged nodes and reporting the transmission probability to backlogged devices [9].

C H A P T E R 2 . R E L AT E D WO R K

2.4.2.2 Contention-free MAC protocols

Contention-free or scheduled-basedMAC protocols, erase the collision problem by al- locating in advance transmission resources to the nodes in the network [9]. Some of the known contention-free protocols includeCDMAandTime Division Multiple Access

(TDMA).

The main advantage of contention-freeMACscheme is energy efficiency due its fea-

tures such as the built-in duty cycle, being collision-free and the absence of control-packet overhead [32]. However, in the context ofM2M communications, these protocols lack flexibility and scalability, having a hard time adapting when the number of nodes in a net- work varies or the load is bursty [9], [32]. Since a contention-freeMACscheme needs to rigidly follow the assigned communication time slots, it requires frame synchronization which involves the complicated tasks of slot allocation and schedule maintenance, lead- ing to additional latency that decreases the throughput, and increases the nonproductive consumption of energy [32].

An example of a contention-freeMACprotocol is cognitive polling, proposed in [34], a protocol that uses cognitive radio techniques and considers M2Mdevices secondary users [9]. The protocol is assumed to function in a scenario where network access is frame-based and the BS broadcasts the information regarding the resource allocation to the primary users in each frame [9]. In this protocol, M2M devices listen to these broadcasts and use the vacant resources for communicating among themselves. Still, the protocol does not grant any assurances on the throughput and delays theM2Mdevices undergo, and is inefficient forM2Mdevices with bursty traffic [9].

2.4.2.3 Hybrid MAC protocols

As it was discussed above, contention-based protocols adapt with ease to changing net- work scenarios and are more appropriate for networks with low loads. On the other hand, contention-free protocols get rid of collisions and can achieve a greater channel utilization at higher loads [9]. To capitalize on the advantages of both categories, hybrid protocols have been proposed that incorporate aspects of the contention-free and contention-based protocols.

These protocols work by switching between scheduled access at high loads and ran- dom access-based operation at low loads to avoid the degraded throughput and collisions of random access protocols at high loads and low channel utilization of schedule access at low loads [9]. Hybrid protocols seem a promising approach for designingMACpro- tocols forM2Mcommunications. The main drawbacks of this type of protocols is their scalability, since manyM2Mscenarios are envisioned to have node densities that might be several orders of magnitude higher than the currently deployed ones. At such high densities, the frequency of collisions during the random access-based reservation phase of hybrid protocols turn into the bottleneck that keeps the network from accomplishing

2 . 4 . M AC P R O T O C O L S F O R M 2 M C O M M U N I C AT I O N S

a high utilization [9]. In addition, the advantages hybrid protocols provide come at the cost of protocol complexity, and such complexity might not be feasible [32].

An example of a hybridMACprotocol is the IEEE 802.11ah. Its access mechanism operates as follows [35]: every station connected to the Access Point (AP), receives a unique identifier –Association identifier (AID). TheAIDcan be used to determine which stations can access the medium. In particular, IEEE 802.11ah presents the concept of

Restricted Access Window (RAW)[35], during which just certain stations are permitted to

contend based on theirAIDs. This restriction improves the access efficiency, corroborated

by the number of stations whose transmissions do not experience collisions. RAWis split into slots, and the number of them as well as their duration and assignment are indicated in the beacon frame that is periodically sent by theAPto the stations. Every slot can be assigned to a single or multiple stations, and only active stations contend in the assigned slots [35]. An example of aRAWslot is presented in figure2.7.

Figure 2.7: Beacon frame announcing a RAW with six slots followed by a RA frame that allocates slots for stations 1,3 and 5 (adapted from[35])

After viewing the three types ofMACprotocols, one can conclude that all of them have their strengths and weaknesses, but when it comes to fulfillingM2Mcommunication requirements, hybrid protocols clearly have an edge over the other types, although they still need to be refined and enhanced. A taxonomy of moreM2Mspecific protocols and a table comparing some of them according to various parameters are presented below respectively in figures2.8and2.9.

One can conclude from figure2.9, that theM2Mprotocols presented meet and miss some of the parameters. TheCode Expanded Random Access (CERA)protocol proposed in [36], is based on an alteration of theLTEdynamicRandom Access Channel (RACH), and intends to provide support for a greater number of devices as compared toLTE, with- out increasing the resource requirements [9]. Although it achieves high throughput and low latency, and can handle bursts, it is somewhat hard to scale, and it is not very energy efficient. The IEEE 802.11ah, already presented above, does have a better scalability but has a higher latency thanCERA. FASAis very simple to implement and has a low cost, but it performs worse in the rest of the parameters compared to other protocols in the table.

Cognitive polling is able to achieve high energy efficiency due toM2Mdevices listen- ing to the broadcasts mentioned above and using unoccupied resources to communicate

C H A P T E R 2 . R E L AT E D WO R K

Figure 2.8: Taxonomy of M2M MAC protocols (adapted from [9])

Figure 2.9: Comparison table of M2M MAC protocols (adapted from [9])

among themselves, having no need to do spectrum scanning to find unused resources [9]. However, this protocol has a very high latency.M2M LTEprotocol proposed in [37], suggests simplifications that improve theMAClayer inLTE-Aefficiency and avoids un-

necessary control overhead. However, contention resolution and collision possibility are not discussed, thus having low scalability. Adaptive Traffic Load slotted MACA (ATL-S-

MACA)protocol proposed in [38], is a modification of theMultiple Access with Collision

Avoidance (MACA). Nonetheless, when comparing to the rest of the protocols, one can

see it performs just as worse as theFASAprotocol.

One interesting observation is that if it is desired a high throughput, low latency can be provided but it is impossible to have high energy efficiency. If it is desired high energy efficiency, throughput will go down and latency will go up, as it is shown in figure2.9

by the red markings. This means, that if it is desired high throughput, low latency and on top of that high energy efficiency, the three big requirements forURLLC, theM2M

protocols shown cannot provide that. In the following section, the mission critical case

2 . 4 . M AC P R O T O C O L S F O R M 2 M C O M M U N I C AT I O N S

will be described, andMACprotocols designed forWSNs that fulfill the requirements will be presented.