On the Performance of One Stage Massive Random Access Protocols in 5G Systems

The next generation of cellular systems are expected to experience a proliferation of the number of emerging use cases alongside supporting high speed mobile broadband services. Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC), which caters to a large number of low-data rate and low-cost devices, is such an use case. Smart utility meters, automated sensors in farms, and vehicle tracking nodes for logistics monitoring are all examples of emerging mMTC devices. Ensuring efficient mechanisms to access the wireless channel for such a massive number of densely deployed devices is the key challenge posed by mMTC applications. A framework for the analysis of the one-stage massive access protocol is proposed in this paper, which allows to model and evaluate its performance with respect to important performance metrics for mMTC services.