Pseudo-random Aloha for Enhanced Collision-recovery in RFID

In this letter we motivate the need to revisit the MAC protocol used in Gen2 RFID system in order to leverage receiver structures with Collision Recovery capabilities at the PHY layer. To this end we propose to consider a simple variant of the Framed Slotted Aloha with pseudo-random (deterministic) slot selection as opposite to the classical random selection. Pseudo-random access allows naturally to implement Inter-frame Successive Interference Cancellation (ISIC) without changing the PHY modulation and coding format of legacy RFID standard. By means of simulations we show that ISIC can bring 20-25% gain in throughput with respect to traditional intra-frame SIC. Besides that, we elaborate on the potential of leveraging pseudo-random access protocols in combination with advanced PHY techniques in the context of RFID applications.Comment: This manuscript has been submitted to IEEE on the 19th September 201

Coded Slotted ALOHA: A Graph-Based Method for Uncoordinated Multiple Access

In this paper, a random access scheme is introduced which relies on the combination of packet erasure correcting codes and successive interference cancellation (SIC). The scheme is named coded slotted ALOHA. A bipartite graph representation of the SIC process, resembling iterative decoding of generalized low-density parity-check codes over the erasure channel, is exploited to optimize the selection probabilities of the component erasure correcting codes via density evolution analysis. The capacity (in packets per slot) of the scheme is then analyzed in the context of the collision channel without feedback. Moreover, a capacity bound is developed and component code distributions tightly approaching the bound are derived.Comment: The final version to appear in IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory. 18 pages, 10 figure

Modern Random Access for Satellite Communications

The present PhD dissertation focuses on modern random access (RA) techniques. In the first part an slot- and frame-asynchronous RA scheme adopting replicas, successive interference cancellation and combining techniques is presented and its performance analysed. The comparison of both slot-synchronous and asynchronous RA at higher layer, follows. Next, the optimization procedure, for slot-synchronous RA with irregular repetitions, is extended to the Rayleigh block fading channel. Finally, random access with multiple receivers is considered.Comment: PhD Thesis, 196 page

High Performance Signal Processing-Based Collision Resolution for Random Access Schemes

Els darrers anys han experimentat un augment de la demanda de serveis interactius per satèl·lit per al gran consum, cobrint serveis fixes i mòbils, tal i com accés de banda ampla, comunicacions màquina-màquina (M2M), supervisió, control i adquisició de dades (SCADA), transaccions i aplicacions de seguretat crítiques. Aquestes xarxes de comunicacions es caracteritzen per tenir una gran població d’usuaris compartint l’amplada de banda amb unes condicions de tràfic molt dinàmiques. Concretament, en el canal de retorn (de l’usuari a la xarxa) de xarxes d’accés de banda ampla, els usuaris residencials generen grans ràfegues de tràfic amb períodes d’inactivitat freqüents. Una situació similar succeeix en xarxes de comunicacions mòbils per satèl·lit, on una gran població de terminals generen transmissions infreqüents de senyalització, serveis basats en la localització or altres aplicacions de missatgeria. Aquests serveis requereixen el desenvolupament de protocols d’accés múltiple eficients que puguin operar en les condicions descrites anteriorment. Els protocols d´accés aleatori són bons candidats per servir tràfic poc predictiu, amb transmissions infreqüents així com sensibles amb el retard. A més, els protocols d´accés aleatori suporten un gran nombre de terminals compartint el canal de comunicacions i requereixen poca complexitat en el terminals. El protocols d´accés aleatori han estat àmpliament estudiats i desplegats en xarxes terrestres, però les seves prestacions són pobres en el entorn satèl·lital, que està caracteritzat per retards de propagació molt grans. Avui en dia, el seu ús en les xarxes de comunicacions per satèl·lit està principalment limitat a la senyalització d’inici de sessió, transmissió de paquets de control i en alguns casos a la transmissió de petits volums de dades amb unes eficiència d’utilització del canal molt baixa. Aquesta tesi proposa tres noves tècniques d’accés aleatori, bens adaptades per proveir els serveis esmentats anteriorment en un entorn satèl·lital, amb altes prestacions i una complexitat en el terminal d’usuari reduïda. Les noves tècniques d’accés aleatori són Contention Resolution Diversity Slotted Aloha (CRDSA), Asynchronous Contention Resolution Diversity Aloha (ACRDA) i Enhanced Spread Spectrum Aloha (E-SSA), adaptades per un tipus d’accés ranurat, asíncron i d’espectre eixamplat respectivament. Les tres tècniques utilitzen una codificació de canal (FEC) robusta, capaç d’operar en front de interferències elevades, que són típiques en l’accés aleatori, i d’un mecanisme de cancel·lació successiva d’interferència que s’implementa en el receptor sobre els paquets descodificats satisfactòriament. Els nous protocols obtenen un throughput normalitzat superior a 1 bit/s/Hz amb una tassa de pèrdua de paquets inferior a 10-3, el qual representa un factor de millora de 1000 respecte a protocols d’accés aleatori tradicionals com l’ALOHA ranurat. Les prestacions de les noves tècniques d’accés aleatori has estat analitzades per mitjà de simulacions, així com amb nou models analítics desenvolupats en aquesta tesi capaços de caracteritzar el tràfic, la distribució estadística de la potència dels paquets, les prestacions de la codificació de canal (FEC) i el procés de cancel·lació d’interferència successiva.Los últimos años han experimentado un crecimiento de la demanda de servicios interactivos por satélite para el gran consumo, cubriendo servicios fijos i móviles, como el acceso de banda ancha, comunicaciones máquina a máquina (M2M), supervisión, control y adquisición de datos (SCADA), transacciones i aplicaciones criticas de seguridad. Estas redes de comunicaciones se caracterizan por tener una gran población de usuarios compartiendo el ancho de banda en unas condiciones de tráfico muy dinámicas. Concretamente, en el canal de retorno (del usuario a la red) de redes de acceso de banda ancha, los usuarios residenciales generan grandes ráfagas de tráfico con periodos frecuentes de inactividad. Una situación similar ocurre en las redes de comunicaciones móviles por satélite, donde una gran población de terminales generan transmisiones infrecuentes de señalización, servicios basados en la localización u otras aplicaciones me mensajería. Estos servicios requieren el desarrollo de protocolos de acceso múltiple eficientes capaces de operar en las condiciones descritas anteriormente. Los protocolos de acceso aleatorio son buenos candidatos para servir el tráfico poco predictivo, con transmisiones infrecuentes así como sensibles al retardo. Además, los protocolos de acceso soportan un gran número de terminales compartiendo el canal de comunicaciones y requieren poca complejidad en los terminales. Los protocolos de acceso aleatorio han estado ampliamente estudiados i desplegados en las redes terrestres, pero sus prestaciones son pobres en el entorno satelital, que se caracteriza por retardos de comunicaciones muy elevados. Hoy en día, su uso en la redes de comunicaciones por satélite está principalmente limitado a la señalización de inicio de sesión, transmisión de pequeños volumenes de datos con eficiencia de utilización del canal muy baja. Esta tesis propone tres nuevas técnicas de acceso aleatorio bien adaptadas para proveer los servicios mencionados anteriormente en un entorno de comunicaciones por satélite, con altas prestaciones y una complejidad en el terminal de usuario reducida. Las nuevas técnicas de acceso aleatorio son Contention Resolution Diversity Slotted Aloha (CRDSA), Asynchronous Contention Resolution Diversity Aloha (ACRDA) y Enhanced Spread Spectrum Aloha (E-SSA), adaptadas para un tipo de acceso ranurado, asíncrono y de espectro ensanchado respectivamente. Las tres técnicas utilizan una codificación de canal (FEC) robusta, capaz de operar en condiciones de interferencia elevadas, que son típicas en el acceso aleatorio, y de un mecanismo de cancelación sucesiva de interferencias que se implementa en el receptor sobre los paquetes que han sido decodificados satisfactoriamente. Los nuevos protocolos obtienen un throughput normalizado superior a 1 bit/s/Hz con una tasa de pérdida de paquetes inferior a 10-3, lo cual representa un factor de mejora de 1000 respecto a los protocolos de acceso aleatorio tradicionales como el ALOHA ranurado. Las prestaciones de las nuevas técnicas de acceso aleatorio han sido analizadas con simulaciones así como con nuevos modelos analíticos desarrollados en esta tesis, capaces de caracterizar el tráfico, la distribución estadística de la potencia de los paquetes, las prestaciones de la codificación de canal (FEC) y el proceso de cancelación sucesiva de interferencias.Over the past years there has been a fast growing demand for low-cost interactive satellite terminals supporting both fixed and mobile services, such as consumer broadband access, machine-to-machine communications (M2M), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), transaction and safety of life applications. These networks, are generally characterized by a large population of terminals sharing the available resources under very dynamic traffic conditions. In particular, in the return link (user to network) of commercial satellite broadband access networks, residential users are likely to generate a large amount of low duty cycle bursty traffic with extended inactivity periods. A similar situation occurs in satellite mobile networks whereby a large number of terminals typically generate infrequent packets for signaling transmission as well for position reporting or other messaging applications. These services call for the development of efficient multiple access protocols able to cope with the above operating conditions. Random Access (RA) techniques are by nature, good candidates for the less predictive, low duty cycle as well as time sensitive return link traffic. Besides, RA techniques are capable of supporting large population of terminals sharing the same capacity and require low terminal complexity. RA schemes have been widely studied and deployed in terrestrial networks, but do not perform well in the satellite environment, which is characterized by very long propagation delays. Today, their use in satellite networks is mainly limited to initial network login, the transmission of control packets, and in some cases, for the transmission of very small volumes of data with very low channel utilization. This thesis proposes three novel RA schemes well suited for the provision of the above-mentioned services over a satellite environment with high performance and low terminal complexity. The new RA schemes are Contention Resolution Diversity Slotted Aloha (CRDSA), Asynchronous Contention Resolution Diversity Aloha (ACRDA) and Enhanced Spread Spectrum Aloha (E-SSA), suited for slotted, unslotted and spread spectrum-based systems respectively. They all use strong Forward Error Correction (FEC) codes, able to cope with heavy co-channel interference typically present in RA, and successive interference cancellation implemented over the successfully decoded packets. The new schemes achieve a normalized throughput above 1 bit/s/Hz for a packet loss ratio below 10-3, which represents a 1000-fold increase compared to Slotted ALOHA. The performance of the proposed RA schemes has been analyzed by means of detailed simulations as well as novel analytical frameworks that characterize traffic and packets power statistical distributions, the performance of the FEC coding as well as the iterative interference cancellation processing at the receiver

Sensor-based management systems based on RFID technology

Παρατηρήσεις έκδοσης: λείπουν οι σελίδες 78, 102 από το φυσικό τεκμήριο.In this diploma thesis, the RFID technology is analyzed (operating principles, readers' and tags hardware, coding, modulation, anticollision procedures, frequencies, standards, applications). Moreover, a protocol to synchronize readers working in a multi-reader multi-tag environment is proposed. The protocol is applied to the store shelf scanning application and further refined to meet the requirements of this specific application

Criptografía ligera en dispositivos de identificación por radiofrecuencia- RFID

Esta tesis se centra en el estudio de la tecnología de identificación por radiofrecuencia (RFID), la cual puede ser considerada como una de las tecnologías más prometedoras dentro del área de la computación ubicua. La tecnología RFID podría ser el sustituto de los códigos de barras. Aunque la tecnología RFID ofrece numerosas ventajas frente a otros sistemas de identificación, su uso lleva asociados riesgos de seguridad, los cuales no son fáciles de resolver. Los sistemas RFID pueden ser clasificados, atendiendo al coste de las etiquetas, distinguiendo principalmente entre etiquetas de alto coste y de bajo coste. Nuestra investigación se centra fundamentalmente en estas últimas. El estudio y análisis del estado del arte nos ha permitido identificar la necesidad de desarrollar soluciones criptográficas ligeras adecuadas para estos dispositivos limitados. El uso de soluciones criptográficas estándar supone una aproximación correcta desde un punto de vista puramente teórico. Sin embargo, primitivas criptográficas estándar (funciones resumen, código de autenticación de mensajes, cifradores de bloque/flujo, etc.) exceden las capacidades de las etiquetas de bajo coste. Por tanto, es necesario el uso de criptografía ligera._______________________________________This thesis examines the security issues of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, one of the most promising technologies in the field of ubiquitous computing. Indeed, RFID technology may well replace barcode technology. Although it offers many advantages over other identification systems, there are also associated security risks that are not easy to address. RFID systems can be classified according to tag price, with distinction between high-cost and low-cost tags. Our research work focuses mainly on low-cost RFID tags. An initial study and analysis of the state of the art identifies the need for lightweight cryptographic solutions suitable for these very constrained devices. From a purely theoretical point of view, standard cryptographic solutions may be a correct approach. However, standard cryptographic primitives (hash functions, message authentication codes, block/stream ciphers, etc.) are quite demanding in terms of circuit size, power consumption and memory size, so they make costly solutions for low-cost RFID tags. Lightweight cryptography is therefore a pressing need. First, we analyze the security of the EPC Class-1 Generation-2 standard, which is considered the universal standard for low-cost RFID tags. Secondly, we cryptanalyze two new proposals, showing their unsuccessful attempt to increase the security level of the specification without much further hardware demands. Thirdly, we propose a new protocol resistant to passive attacks and conforming to low-cost RFID tag requirements. In this protocol, costly computations are only performed by the reader, and security related computations in the tag are restricted to very simple operations. The protocol is inspired in the family of Ultralightweight Mutual Authentication Protocols (UMAP: M2AP, EMAP, LMAP) and the recently proposed SASI protocol. The thesis also includes the first published cryptanalysis of xi SASI under the weakest attacker model, that is, a passive attacker. Fourthly, we propose a new protocol resistant to both passive and active attacks and suitable for moderate-cost RFID tags. We adapt Shieh et.’s protocol for smart cards, taking into account the unique features of RFID systems. Finally, because this protocol is based on the use of cryptographic primitives and standard cryptographic primitives are not supported, we address the design of lightweight cryptographic primitives. Specifically, we propose a lightweight hash function (Tav-128) and a lightweight Pseudo-Random Number Generator (LAMED and LAMED-EPC).We analyze their security level and performance, as well as their hardware requirements and show that both could be realistically implemented, even in low-cost RFID tags

Intelligent Sensor Networks

In the last decade, wireless or wired sensor networks have attracted much attention. However, most designs target general sensor network issues including protocol stack (routing, MAC, etc.) and security issues. This book focuses on the close integration of sensing, networking, and smart signal processing via machine learning. Based on their world-class research, the authors present the fundamentals of intelligent sensor networks. They cover sensing and sampling, distributed signal processing, and intelligent signal learning. In addition, they present cutting-edge research results from leading experts

Multiple Access for Massive Machine Type Communications

The internet we have known thus far has been an internet of people, as it has connected people with one another. However, these connections are forecasted to occupy only a minuscule of future communications. The internet of tomorrow is indeed: the internet of things. The Internet of Things (IoT) promises to improve all aspects of life by connecting everything to everything. An enormous amount of effort is being exerted to turn these visions into a reality. Sensors and actuators will communicate and operate in an automated fashion with no or minimal human intervention. In the current literature, these sensors and actuators are referred to as machines, and the communication amongst these machines is referred to as Machine to Machine (M2M) communication or Machine-Type Communication (MTC). As IoT requires a seamless mode of communication that is available anywhere and anytime, wireless communications will be one of the key enabling technologies for IoT. In existing wireless cellular networks, users with data to transmit first need to request channel access. All access requests are processed by a central unit that in return either grants or denies the access request. Once granted access, users' data transmissions are non-overlapping and interference free. However, as the number of IoT devices is forecasted to be in the order of hundreds of millions, if not billions, in the near future, the access channels of existing cellular networks are predicted to suffer from severe congestion and, thus, incur unpredictable latencies in the system. On the other hand, in random access, users with data to transmit will access the channel in an uncoordinated and probabilistic fashion, thus, requiring little or no signalling overhead. However, this reduction in overhead is at the expense of reliability and efficiency due to the interference caused by contending users. In most existing random access schemes, packets are lost when they experience interference from other packets transmitted over the same resources. Moreover, most existing random access schemes are best-effort schemes with almost no Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees. In this thesis, we investigate the performance of different random access schemes in different settings to resolve the problem of the massive access of IoT devices with diverse QoS guarantees. First, we take a step towards re-designing existing random access protocols such that they are more practical and more efficient. For many years, researchers have adopted the collision channel model in random access schemes: a collision is the event of two or more users transmitting over the same time-frequency resources. In the event of a collision, all the involved data is lost, and users need to retransmit their information. However, in practice, data can be recovered even in the presence of interference provided that the power of the signal is sufficiently larger than the power of the noise and the power of the interference. Based on this, we re-define the event of collision as the event of the interference power exceeding a pre-determined threshold. We propose a new analytical framework to compute the probability of packet recovery failure inspired by error control codes on graph. We optimize the random access parameters based on evolution strategies. Our results show a significant improvement in performance in terms of reliability and efficiency. Next, we focus on supporting the heterogeneous IoT applications and accommodating their diverse latency and reliability requirements in a unified access scheme. We propose a multi-stage approach where each group of applications transmits in different stages with different probabilities. We propose a new analytical framework to compute the probability of packet recovery failure for each group in each stage. We also optimize the random access parameters using evolution strategies. Our results show that our proposed scheme can outperform coordinated access schemes of existing cellular networks when the number of users is very large. Finally, we investigate random non-orthogonal multiple access schemes that are known to achieve a higher spectrum efficiency and are known to support higher loads. In our proposed scheme, user detection and channel estimation are carried out via pilot sequences that are transmitted simultaneously with the user's data. Here, a collision event is defined as the event of two or more users selecting the same pilot sequence. All collisions are regarded as interference to the remaining users. We first study the distribution of the interference power and derive its expression. Then, we use this expression to derive simple yet accurate analytical bounds on the throughput and outage probability of the proposed scheme. We consider both joint decoding as well as successive interference cancellation. We show that the proposed scheme is especially useful in the case of short packet transmission

Protocol for Extreme Low Latency M2M Communication Networks

As technology evolves, more Machine to Machine (M2M) deployments and mission critical services are expected to grow massively, generating new and diverse forms of data traffic, posing unprecedented challenges in requirements such as delay, reliability, energy consumption and scalability. This new paradigm vindicates a new set of stringent requirements that the current mobile networks do not support. A new generation of mobile networks is needed to attend to this innovative services and requirements - the The fifth generation of mobile networks (5G) networks. Specifically, achieving ultra-reliable low latency communication for machine to machine networks represents a major challenge, that requires a new approach to the design of the Physical (PHY) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layer to provide these novel services and handle the new heterogeneous environment in 5G. The current LTE Advanced (LTE-A) radio access network orthogonality and synchronization requirements are obstacles for this new 5G architecture, since devices in M2M generate bursty and sporadic traffic, and therefore should not be obliged to follow the synchronization of the LTE-A PHY layer. A non-orthogonal access scheme is required, that enables asynchronous access and that does not degrade the spectrum. This dissertation addresses the requirements of URLLC M2M traffic at the MAC layer. It proposes an extension of the M2M H-NDMA protocol for a multi base station scenario and a power control scheme to adapt the protocol to the requirements of URLLC. The system and power control schemes performance and the introduction of more base stations are analyzed in a system level simulator developed in MATLAB, which implements the MAC protocol and applies the power control algorithm. Results showed that with the increase in the number of base stations, delay can be significantly reduced and the protocol supports more devices without compromising delay or reliability bounds for Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communication (URLLC), while also increasing the throughput. The extension of the protocol will enable the study of different power control algorithms for more complex scenarios and access schemes that combine asynchronous and synchronous access