Prioritization of data streams in cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) may lead to unfavorable packet delays in low-priority streams. This paper studies allocating multiple candidate single-subframe resources (CSRs) per vehicle as a solution. It proposes a methodology to determine the number of CSRs for each vehicle based on the total number of neighboring vehicles, and to assign the multiple data streams among them for simultaneous transmission. The numerical results highlight the achievable delay gains of the proposed approach, and its negligible impact on packet collisions.

Supporting parallel multi-priority data streams is vital for maintaining the quality of service (QoS) in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. Hence, the European telecommunications standard institute (ETSI) has defined four packet types, with varying priority levels, to be used as broadcast packets in such communication. This paper studies the medium access control (MAC) layer performance of IEEE 802.11p and cellular-V2X (C-V2X) Mode 4 using discrete-time Markov chain (DTMC) based models, while considering parallel multi-priority data streams. The overall model consists of four queue models with their respective traffic generators, which are appropriately linked with the DTMCs modeling the MAC layer operations of IEEE 802.11p and C-V2X Mode 4. Closed-form solutions for the steady-state probabilities of the models are obtained, which are then utilized to derive expressions for key performance indicators at the MAC layer. Numerical results are provided to draw insights on the MAC layer performance of the two technologies. IEEE 802.11p is comparatively superior in average delay, and at maintaining fairness among multi-priority data streams, whereas C-V2X Mode 4 exhibits better collision resolution, which leads to its higher throughput. The paper also includes design insights on possible performance enhancements for future releases.

Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication plays a pivotal role in intelligent transport systems (ITS) with cellular-vehicle to everything (C-V2X) and IEEE 802.11p being the two competing enabling technologies. This paper presents multi-dimensional discrete-time Markov chain (DTMC) based models to study the medium access control (MAC) layer performance of the IEEE 802.11p standard and C-V2X Mode 4, considering periodic cooperative awareness messages (CAMs) and event-driven decentralized environmental notification messages (DENMs). Closed-form solutions for the steady-state probabilities of the models are obtained, which are then utilized to derive expressions for several key performance metrics. Numerical results are provided to draw insights on the performance. In particular, a performance comparison between IEEE 802.11p and C-V2X Mode 4 in terms of the average delay, the collision probability, and the channel utilization is presented. The results show that IEEE 802.11p is superior in terms of average delay, whereas C-V2X Mode 4 excels in collision resolution. The paper also includes design insights on possible future MAC layer performance enhancements of both standards.

The enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) mechanism enables IEEE 802.11p to accommodate differential quality of service (QoS) levels in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, through four access categories (ACs). This paper presents multi-dimensional discrete-time Markov chain (DTMC) based model to study the effect of parallel operation of the ACs on the medium access control (MAC) layer performance of ITS-G5 IEEE 802.11p. The overall model consists of four queue models with their respective traffic generators, which are appropriately linked with the DTMCs modeling the operation of each AC. Closed-form solutions for the steady-state probabilities of the models are obtained, which are then utilized to derive expressions for key performance indicators at the MAC layer. An application for a highway scenario is presented to draw insights on the performance. The results show how the performance measures vary among ACs according to their priority levels, and emphasize the importance of analytical modeling of the parallel operation of all four ACs.

Ensuring an effective coexistence of conventional broadband cellular users with machine type communications (MTCs) is challenging due to the interference from MTCs to cellular users. This interference challenge stems from the fact that the acquisition of channel state information (CSI) from machine type devices (MTD) to cellular base stations (BS) is infeasible due to the small packet nature of MTC traffic. In this paper, a novel approach based on the concept of opportunistic spatial orthogonalization (OSO) is proposed for interference management between MTC and conventional cellular communications. In particular, a cellular system is considered with a multi-antenna BS in which a receive beamformer is designed to maximize the rate of a cellular user, and, a machine type aggregator (MTA) that receives data from a large set of MTDs. The BS and MTA share the same uplink resources, and, therefore, MTD transmissions create interference on the BS. However, if there is a large number of MTDs to chose from for transmission at each given time for each beamformer, one MTD can be selected such that it causes almost no interference on the BS. A comprehensive analytical study of the characteristics of such an interference from several MTDs on the same beamformer is carried out. It is proven that, for each beamformer, an MTD exists such that the interference on the BS is negligible. To further investigate such interference, the distribution of the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of the cellular user is derived, and, subsequently, the distribution of the outage probability is presented. However, the optimal implementation of OSO requires the CSI of all the links in the BS, which is not practical for MTC. To solve this problem, an online learning method based on the concept of contextual multi-armed bandits (MAB) learning is proposed. The receive beamformer is used as the context of the contextual MAB setting and Thompson sampling: a well-known method of solving contextual MAB problems is proposed. Since the number of contexts in this setting can be unlimited, approximating the posterior distributions of Thompson sampling is required. Two function approximation methods, a) linear full posterior sampling, and, b) neural networks are proposed for optimal selection of MTD for transmission for the given beamformer. Simulation results show that is possible to implement OSO with no CSI from MTDs to the BS. Linear full posterior sampling achieves almost 90% of the optimal allocation when the CSI from all the MTDs to the BS is known.

Scheduling fast uplink grant transmissions for machine type communications (MTCs) is one of the main challenges of future wireless systems. In this paper, a novel fast uplink grant scheduling method based on the theory of multi-armed bandits (MABs) is proposed. First, a single quality-of-service metric is defined as a combination of the value of data packets, maximum tolerable access delay, and data rate. Since full knowledge of these metrics for all machine type devices (MTDs) cannot be known in advance at the base station (BS) and the set of active MTDs changes over time, the problem is modeled as a sleeping MAB with stochastic availability and a stochastic reward function. In particular, given that, at each time step, the knowledge on the set of active MTDs is probabilistic, a novel probabilistic sleeping MAB algorithm is proposed to maximize the defined metric. Analysis of the regret is presented and the effect of the prediction error of the source traffic prediction algorithm on the performance of the proposed sleeping MAB algorithm is investigated. Moreover, to enable fast uplink allocation for multiple MTDs at each time, a novel method is proposed based on the concept of best arms ordering in the MAB setting. Simulation results show that the proposed framework yields a three-fold reduction in latency compared to a maximum probability scheduling policy since it prioritizes the scheduling of MTDs that have stricter latency requirements. Moreover, by properly balancing the exploration versus exploitation tradeoff, the proposed algorithm selects the most important MTDs more often by exploitation. During exploration, the sub-optimal MTDs will be selected, which increases the fairness in the system, and, also provides a better estimate of the reward of the sub-optimal MTD.

The paper introduces a LoRaWAN simulation model implemented for the Riverbed Modeler (former OPNET modeler suite). First, the key components of the developed simulator solution are detailed. Then, the results of the simulator's validation for several test scenarios are presented. The developed simulator is used to investigate the effect of collision models on the results of LoRaWAN performance simulation. Specifically, the three models are studied: a baseline - implying loss off all colliding packets, an intra spreading factor (SF) with capture effect, and intra/inter SF with capture effect. The simulations verify that the results of the baseline model are in line with that for pure Aloha, while the two other demonstrate up to two-three fold higher delivery ratio. The obtained results illustrate the substantial impact of the collision model on the accuracy of simulations and motivate the need for further practical studies for the collision and interference mechanisms within a LoRaWAN network. Based on the results obtained through simulations, several drawbacks related to the use of strictly periodic traffic in LoRaWAN networks are noted.

This paper proposes a multi-dimensional Markov model to evaluate the medium access control (MAC) layer performance of 3GPP cellular vehicle to everything (V2X) Mode 4. The Mode 4 specifications enable quality of service guarantees in a decentralized manner, without the connectivity of a cellular base station, and therefore, ideal for V2X messaging in intelligent transportation systems (ITS). To this end, periodic cooperative aware messages (CAMs) and event triggered decentralized environmental notification messages (DENMs) are considered in the paper. The discrete time Markov model consists of a node model, a queue model, and traffic generators for CAM and DENM packets that are dependent and solved in closed form and iteratively. The model is applied to a highway scenario to provide insights on the average delay, the collision probability, and the channel utilization in Mode 4. The results show that Mode 4 has been partially over-specified for ITS applications and able to serve CAMs and DENMs conveniently. However, there exists locally optimal combinations of CAM and DENM intervals that can lead to lower average delay.

Selection of the most appropriate communications technology for a smart grid (SG) application is far from trivial. We propose such a feasibility assessment starting from identification of key performance indicators (KPIs) required for peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading and grid control operations from a communications perspective. A set of cross-disciplinary KPIs, both quantitative and qualitative, are considered from communications, power, business, actor involvement, financial, and demand side management categories. They serve as a general baseline for use cases, as there have been few previous works attempting to capture the essential features of P2P SG operations. The KPIs are briefly identified along with their relations to P2P energy trading and grid control. A straightforward comparison of the quantitative and qualitative KPIs' impact on technology selection is not feasible. This paper addresses the comparison with: 1) a prioritization of the KPIs using the analytic hierarchy process; 2) a comparison of technology solutions evaluated in our previous works against the KPIs' requirements; and 3) a total feasibility evaluation of the solutions against selected KPIs. The prioritization shows latency, reliability, security, scalability, robustness, costs of information and communication technologies (ICT) devices, and costs of ICT deployment are the most important KPIs in enabling P2P energy trading and grid control. Further, the technology feasibility assessment enables identification of the most suitable candidates for an SG application.

The purpose of the paper is to examine if public long term evolution (LTE) network is suitable for smart grid (SG) automatic metering usage, in a suburban scenario, without causing significant hindrance to typical LTE traffic. In addition, the same generalized suburban scenario is evaluated with a hybrid sensor - LTE network where wireless sensor network (WSN) cluster heads are also equipped with LTE remote terminal units (RTUs). The simulation topology is formed as a suburban area that consists of single RTU per apartment/house for SG traffic and an average 3.7 people per habitat, each with their user equipment, using one of the available carriers. Normal SG traffic is generated in both directions, uplink and downlink. The worst-case usage factor is considered as a power outage, where all SG meters in the area of influence simultaneously detect and attempt to report such a failure. Thus, emergency SG traffic is generated simultaneous by all RTUs. To alleviate the problem of the high momentary SG emergency traffic load, two distinct solutions are proposed and simulated. As the first solution, an artificial, up to one-second random delay is introduced in the transmission scheduling of emergency messages. The second solution applies low-power WSNs at the cluster level and cluster heads that contain both 802.15.4 and LTE communication interfaces, i.e., a hybrid sensor-LTE network. The simulation results show that both of the solutions that try to alleviate the high instantaneous traffic loads can reach the quality of service criteria for SG traffic without compromising other public LTE traffic. The deciding factor to use either pure LTE approach or a hybrid sensor-LTE network comes from non-functional requirements of the system.

In this paper, we analyze the effects of guaranteed time slots (GTSs) to the performance of IEEE 802.15.4 slotted Aloha (S-Aloha) medium access control (MAC) protocol utilizing impulse radio ultrawideband (IR-UWB) technology. IEEE 802.15.4e, amendment to IEEE 802.15.4 standard, defines an optional MAC scheme termed as deterministic and synchronous multi-channel extension (DSME). One of the key features of DSME is that it enables the MAC to operate in fully scheduled mode utilizing DSME-GTS slots for communications. The feasibility of DSME-GTSs is analytically derived in terms of throughput and it is verified by simulations performed in Opnet. Furthermore, the impact of DSME-GTSs for packet delivery ratio and delay is simulated in wireless hospital room scenario and the results are compared to contention-based operation of IEEE 802.15.4 MAC. The results show that significantly higher throughput and packet delivery ratio is achieved when IEEE 802.15.4 MAC operates in fully scheduled mode. In addition, fully scheduled mode guarantees upper bound for end-to-end data packet delay, and therefore it is the preferable mode for transmitting vital biomedical information.

In this paper we compare impulse-radio ultra wideband (IR-UWB) physical layer related medium access control (MAC) protocols, Slotted Aloha and optional preamble mode six of IEEE 802.15.4-2011, and preamble sense multiple access when the events of false alarm and miss-detection are introduced. Furthermore, a generalized multi-slot channel access scheme is proposed that can, with a proper selection of slots, represent any of the above MAC protocols. As a result of the generalization, an efficiency factor is then proposed, which allows for the protocols to be compared efficiently. At present, the challenge of designing a random access protocol suitable for IR-UWB is however, not completely solved. The generalized multi-slot model and efficiency factor help in determining the optimal number of slots, given certain preamble lengths and channel conditions. While there does not exist a globally optimal solution for all combinations of preamble length and signal-to-noise ratio, this paper shows that dividing the maximum MAC protocol data unit from 4 to 8 equally-sized slots, each with their own preamble, provides the best solution in all but the extreme cases.

In this paper, group training protocols for beamforming of multiple devices are proposed in the context of the IEEE 802.15.3c standard using single carrier. The standard defined sector and beam-level training sequences function well if only the establishment of one or two communication links is required, but in the case of, e.g. interactive gaming or conference room environment it can lead to considerable inefficiency. The proposed group training protocols address the cases where two or more devices need to carry out beamforming in order to communicate with each other. Moreover, the group training method exploits the knowledge that the personal area network coordinator already has on the associated devices. The standard defined beamforming protocol and the group training proposals are evaluated using varying superframe lengths in both symmetric and asymmetric antenna systems. The results show that group training can reduce the time to achieve beam-level synchronization considerably even when only two devices need to connect while staying compliant with the standard.

This paper describes the implementation architecture and performance analysis of nanoMAC, a CSMA/CA based medium access control protocol, which is specifically designed for high density wireless sensor networks. We empirically show that nanoMAC performs with high reliability in a variety of network traffic conditions in single and multihop scenarios. For energy efficient operation and minimizing idle-overhearing, nanoMAC uses a specialized sleep algorithmWe also show results from a comparative study of nanoMAC with B-MAC in terms of performance measures.

In this paper we evaluate the energy, event delivery, and delay performance of a number of medium access control protocols suitable for ultra-wideband (UWB) physical layer. While ultra-wideband is a promising technology, it creates unique challenges in MAC protocol design. Firstly, we analytically inspect the energy consumption of three UWB suitable MAC protocols and secondly concentrate on simulation of the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC and its UWB version. Comparison between UWB and direct sequence radios with the 802.15.4 MAC protocol clearly show the superior performance of UWB technology

The paper provides an analytical model for the study of energy consumption in multihop wireless embedded and sensor networks. The nodes in this type of network are battery-powered and therefore must be extremely frugal with their energy budget. The networks usually have a large number of nodes whose deployment and topology is application dependent. Low-power optimization techniques developed for conventional ad hoc networks are not sufficient as they do not properly address particular features of embedded and sensor networks. As well as reducing overall energy consumption, it is also important to maximize the network lifetime, that is, maintain full network connectivity for as long as possible. The paper considers different multihop scenarios to compute the energy per bit, efficiency, and the energy consumed by individual nodes and by the whole network. The analysis uses a detailed model for the energy consumed by the radio at each node. Multihop topologies with equidistant and optimal node spacing are studied. Numerical computations illustrate the effects of packet routing. These results show that using a simple multihop message relay strategy is not always a good procedure to extend a network's lifetime. Depending on the radio hardware characteristics and on the topology, direct relay to a sink or a routing mechanism that bypasses intermediate nodes can sometimes be the recommended procedure.