Orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS) modulation has been proposed recently as a new waveform in the context of doubly-selective multi-path channels. This article proposes a novel pilot design that improves OTFS's spectral efficiency (SE) while reducing its peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). Instead of adopting an embedded data-orthogonal pilot for channel estimation, our scheme relies on Chu sequences superimposed to data symbols. We optimize the construction by investigating the best energy split between pilot and data symbols. Two equalizers, and an iterative channel estimation and equalization procedure are considered. We present extensive numerical results of relevant performance metrics, including the normalized mean squared error of the estimator, bit error rate, PAPR and SE. Our results show that, while the embedded pilot scheme estimates the channel more accurately, our approach yields a better tradeoff by achieving much higher spectral efficiency and lower PAPR.

A vast population of low-cost low-power transmitters sporadically sending small amounts of data over a common wireless medium is one of the main scenarios for Internet of things (IoT) data communications. At the medium access, the use of grant-free solutions may be preferred to reduce overhead even at the cost of multiple-access interference. Unsourced multiple access (UMA) has been recently established as relevant framework for energy efficient grant-free protocols. The use of a compressed sensing (CS) transmission phase is key in one of the two main classes of UMA protocols, yet little attention has been posed to sparse greedy algorithms as orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) and its variants. We analyze their performance and provide relevant guidance on how to optimally setup the CS phase. Minimum average transmission power and minimum number of channel uses are investigated together with the performance in terms of receiver operating characteristic (ROC). Interestingly, we show how the basic OMP and generalized OMP (gOMP) are the most competitive algorithms in their class.

In this paper, we investigate the design and analysis of a novel hybrid optical wireless communication (OWC)/radio frequency (RF) solution suitable for massive machine-type communications (mMTC). We consider a two-tier network architecture where a massive collection of indoor OWC-based small cells, each consisting of low-cost Internet of Things (IoT) devices and an OWC access point, are connected to the network infrastructure via an outdoor low-power wide-area network (LP WAN). Both indoor OWC and outdoor LP WAN tiers of the mMTC system deploy the Slotted ALOHA (SA) random access protocol. For the proposed hybrid OWC/RF IoT system, we are interested in the error probability in the finite block-length regime, i.e., the probability that a short block-length data packet originating from an OWC-based IoT device is delivered at its nearest LP WAN base station. Based on the derived error probability expression, we present numerical results that indicate important insights into the design of an SA-based hybrid OWC/RF IoT system.

With the rapid expansion of the Internet of Things, the efficient sharing of the wireless medium by a large amount of simple transmitters is becoming essential. Scheduling-based solutions are inefficient for this setting, where small data units are broadcast sporadically by terminals that most of the time are idle. Modern random access has embraced the challenge and provides suitable slot-synchronous and asynchronous multiple access solutions based on replicating the packets and exploiting successive interference cancellation (SIC) at the receiver. In this work, we focus on asynchronous modern random access. Specifically, we derive an analytical approximation of the performance of irregular repetition ALOHA (IRA) in the so-called error floor region. Numerical results show the tightness of the derived approximation under various scenarios.

Terrestrial and satellite communication networks often rely on two-hop wireless architectures with an access channel followed by backhaul links. Examples include cloud-radio access networks (C-RAN) and low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems. Furthermore, communication services characterized by the coexistence of heterogeneous requirements are emerging as key use cases. This article studies the performance of critical service (CS) and non-CS (NCS) for Internet-of-Things (IoT) systems sharing a grant-free channel consisting of radio access and backhaul segments. On the radio access segment, IoT devices send packets to a set of noncooperative access points (APs) using slotted ALOHA (SA). The APs then forward correctly received messages to a base station over a shared wireless backhaul segment adopting SA. We study first a simplified erasure channel model, which is well suited for satellite applications. Then, in order to account for terrestrial scenarios, the impact of fading is considered. Among the main conclusions, we show that orthogonal interservice resource allocation is generally preferred for NCS devices, while nonorthogonal protocols can improve the throughput and packet success rate of CS devices for both terrestrial and satellite scenarios.

Wireless random access protocols are attracting a revived research interest as a simple yet effective solution for machine-type communications. In the quest to improve reliability and spectral efficiency of such schemes, the use of multiple receivers has recently emerged as a promising option. We study the potential of this approach considering a population of users that transmit data packets following a simple slotted ALOHA policy to a set of uncoordinated relays (phase-1). These, in turn, independently forward - part of - what decoded towards a collecting sink (phase-2). For an on-off fading channel model, we provide exact expressions for phase-1 throughput and packet loss rate for an arbitrary number of relays, characterising the benefits of multi-receiver schemes. Moreover, a lower bound on the minimum amount of phase-2 resources needed to deliver all information collected at the relays is provided. The bound is proven to be achievable via random linear coding when no constraints in terms of latency are set, with an overhead that approaches zero with the inverse of the packet length. We complement our study discussing a family of simple forwarding policies that require no packet-level coding, and optimising their performance based on the amount of available phase-2 resources. The behaviour of both random linear coding and simplified policies is also characterised when receivers are equipped with finite buffers, revealing non-trivial tradeoffs.

In this paper, we study the coexistence of critical and non-critical Internet of Things (IoT) services on a grant-free channel consisting of radio access and backhaul segments. On the radio access segment, IoT devices send packets to access points (APs) over an erasure collision channel using the slotted ALOHA protocol. Then, the APs forward correctly received messages to a base station (BS) over a shared wireless backhaul segment, modeled as an erasure collision channel. The APs hence play the role of uncoordinated relays that provide space diversity and may reduce performance losses caused by collisions. Both non-orthogonal and inter-service orthogonal resource sharing are considered and compared. Throughput and reliability metrics are analyzed, and numerical results are provided to assess the performance trade-offs between critical and non-critical IoT services.

Asynchronous random access protocols have become attractive for several satellite applications of interest, reducing the complexity at the transmitter side while granting good performance. These schemes typically follow two paradigms, using either (i) spread spectrum techniques or (ii) replication of the transmitted packets to achieve time diversity. In both cases, the receiver employs successive interference cancellation to resolve collisions. In this paper we offer a comparison of the two approaches in a narrowband scenario, discussing the relevant use case of the upcoming ITU VDES standard for maritime communications.

Automation is a key part of the new industrial revolution, that will be enabled by the deployment of thousands of sensors and actuators. The flexible deployment of these devices requires wireless connectivity which is labeled as industrial internet of things, IIoT. The sporadic activity pattern of IIoT devices naturally suggest the use of random access techniques, albeit posing new and unexplored challenges for the current wireless networks. On top of the demand for new access protocols, the latency-reliability requirements further challenge the existing random access protocols. In this work we investigate the adaptation of a well known modern random access algorithm, Irregular Repetition Slotted ALOHA (IRSA) to IIoT in 5G New Radio. The key contribution of the paper is the proposed system level protocol, Adaptive-Multichannel IRSA, that can fulfill the latency-reliability requirements. On top of this, the definition and solution of the resource allocation problem as a resource efficiency optimization guarantees that the algorithm minimizes the system resources. We show that for a set of specific requirements, AMC-IRSA can fulfill the requirements in a lot resource efficient manner. Lastly, we analyze most critical parameters to consider for integration of IRSA for 5G NR.

Recent advances in random access (RA) have highlighted the performance improvement yield by the joint use of proactive replication of packets and successive interference cancellation (SIC). Users send multiple replicas and collisions are resolved via iterative cancellation of the interference. The optimal choice for the number of replicas is drawn from a properly designed probability mass function (PMF). Selfish uncoordinated users are prone to choose the maximum number of replicas and diverge from the designed PMF. Exploiting game theoretic tools, we describe such scenario as a noncooperative game. Properly setting the cost per replica transmission, we are able to drive the Nash equilibrium to the designed PMF and thus hinder the users to diverge. Numerical results complement the study, showing the practical impact of the proposed solution.

Recently, random access protocols have acquired a new wave of interest, not only from the satellite communication community, but also from researchers active in fields, such as Internet of Things and machine-to-machine. Asynchronous (slot- and frame-wise) ALOHA-like random access protocols, are very attractive for such applications, enabling low complexity transmitters and avoiding time synchronization requirements. Evolutions of ALOHA employ time diversity through proactive replication of packets, but the time diversity is not fully exploited at the receiver. Combining techniques, as selection combining and maximal-ratio combining, are beneficial and are adopted in the enhanced contention resolution ALOHA (ECRA) scheme, presented here. A tight approximation of the packet loss rate for asynchronous random access, including ECRA, well suited for the low channel load region is derived. Finally, ECRA is evaluated in terms of spectral efficiency, throughput and packet loss rate in comparison with recent protocols, showing that it is able to largely outperform both slotted synchronous and asynchronous schemes.

Random access protocols relying on the transmission of packet replicas in multiple slots and exploiting interference cancellation at the receiver have been shown to achieve performance competitive with that of orthogonal schemes. So far the optimization of the repetition degree profile, defining the probability for a user to transmit a given number of replicas, has mainly been performed targeting the collision channel model. In this paper the analysis is extended to a block fading channel model, also assuming capture effect at the receiver. Density evolution equations are developed for the new setting and, based on them, some repetition degree profiles are optimized and analyzed via Monte Carlo simulation in a finite frame length setting. The derived distributions are shown to achieve throughputs largely exceeding 1 [packet/slot].

This article surveys the unsatisfying communication capabilities in the harsh Arctic regions. By melting of the ice caps, the undergoing change of the north polar area opens new opportunities and, therefore, increases the need for human and machine-to-machine communications. The emerging demands and challenges are reviewed. New satellite systems, architectures, and technologies being deemed as key enablers are highlighted. As also addressed in this article, satellite links could additionally backhaul terrestrial networks for local communications.

In this paper we investigate several central aspects of using the unslotted Contention Resolution Diversity ALOHA (CRA) scheme with Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC). A model for the co-user-interference under consideration of time-, phase- and frequency-offsets is presented. With this model, the throughput and Packet Loss Ratio (PLR) performance of CRA is investigated when using Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes, showing that CRA can achieve remarkable performance also in these conditions. Moreover, the throughput and PLR gain of CRA in presence of power unbalance is studied, showing that significant gains can be expected. Following this, the central question is answered which channel rates optimize the goodput of CRA, showing that for CRA with few replicas a low, robust channel rate achieves optimum while for high numbers of replicas a high channel rate performs optimum. Finally an investigation of the interference distribution of an asynchronous TDMA scheme with replicas and the SIC operations in it are shown.

Random Access MAC protocols are simple and effective when the nature of the traffic is unpredictable and sporadic. In the following paper, investigations on the new Enhanced Contention Resolution ALOHA (ECRA) are presented, where some new aspects of the protocol are investigated. Mathematical derivation and numerical evaluation of the symbol interference probability after SIC are here provided. Results of the optimum header positioning which is found to be in the beginning and in the end of the packets, are exploited for the evaluation of ECRA throughput and Packet Error Rate (PER) under imperfect knowledge of packets positions. Remarkable gains in the maximum throughput are observed for ECRA w.r.t. Contention Resolution ALOHA (CRA) under this assumption.

Ensuring a correct signal integrity within the entire FlexRay network and for all the possible environmental situations is mandatory for reliable operation of the distributed application. However, this is a goal difficult to reach due to the large number of parameters that influence the signal integrity. The use of simulation is a natural answer to efficiently support space exploration. We discuss in this work how the TEODACS test approach supports the validation process of the simulation models for FlexRay topologies and provides trustfulness for the simulation results even if hardware reference is not available. Further, we introduce a new method for the advanced analysis and evaluation of signal integrity in FlexRay networks.