Performance analysis of M2M communication networks for QoS-differentiated smart grid applications

Abstract

We study the performance of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications in Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) networks. The proposed analysis is applied to the random access procedure within LTE-A for the calculation of the average overall delay, by considering multiple classes of M2M devices with diverse Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements. The QoS differentiation is expressed through different Access Class Barring (ACB) parameters and backoff times for the various QoS classes. For the packet arrival process of M2M devices we consider an ON-OFF arrival process, which is a realistic approach, especially for M2M communications in Smart Grid environments. Furthermore, the proposed analysis is suitable for smart grid communication networks, where multiple M2M gateways are installed in different points of the network. The comparison of analytical results with simulations reveals the high accuracy of the proposed analysis.