The increase of machine-to-machine (M2M) communications
over cellular networks imposes new requirements
and challenges that current networks have to handle with. Many
M2M UEs (User Equipment) may send small infrequent data,
which suppose a challenge for cellular networks not optimized
for such traffic, where signaling load could increase significantly
and cause congestion over the network. This paper evaluates
current proposals to manage small transmissions over the Long
Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network. We also propose a new
Random Access-based Small IP packet Transmission (RASIPT)
procedure for M2M UEs small data transmissions. Its main
feature is data transfer without establishment of Radio Resource
Control (RRC) connection to reduce signaling overhead. In
our design, we assume a Software Defined Networking-based
architecture for 5G system. When compared with current LTE
scheme, our procedure reduces significantly the signaling load
generated by M2M UEs small transmissions.This work is partially supported by the Spanish Ministry
of Economy and Competitiveness (project TIN2013-
46223-P), FEDER and the Spanish Ministry of Education,
Culture and Sport (FPU grant 13/04833)

Ameigeiras Gutiérrez, Pablo José

Andres-Maldonado, Pilar

López Soler, Juan Manuel

Prados Garzón, Jonathan

Ramos Muñoz, Juan José

English

Repositorio Institucional Universidad de Granada

           THIS IS AN AUTHOR-CREATED POSTPRINT VERSION.  Disclaimer: This work has been accepted for publication in Wireless Days (WD), 2016. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/WD.2016.7461499  Copyright: © 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.         This article has been accepted for publication in 2016 Wireless Days (WD)Reduced M2M Signaling Communications in 3GPPLTE and Future 5G Cellular NetworksPilar Andres-Maldonado, Pablo Ameigeiras, Jonathan Prados-Garzon, Juan J. Ramos-Munoz, Juan M. Lopez-SolerDepartment of Signal Theory, Telematics, and CommunicationsUniversity of GranadaGranada, Spainpam91@correo.ugr.es, {pameigeiras, jpg, jjramos, juanma}@ugr.esAbstract—The increase of machine-to-machine (M2M) com-munications over cellular networks imposes new requirementsand challenges that current networks have to handle with. ManyM2M UEs (User Equipment) may send small infrequent data,which suppose a challenge for cellular networks not optimizedfor such traffic, where signaling load could increase significantlyand cause congestion over the network. This paper evaluatescurrent proposals to manage small transmissions over the LongTerm Evolution (LTE) cellular network. We also propose a newRandom Access-based Small IP packet Transmission (RASIPT)procedure for M2M UEs small data transmissions. Its mainfeature is data transfer without establishment of Radio ResourceControl (RRC) connection to reduce signaling overhead. Inour design, we assume a Software Defined Networking-basedarchitecture for 5G system. When compared with current LTEscheme, our procedure reduces significantly the signaling loadgenerated by M2M UEs small transmissions.Index Terms—machine to machine; small data transmission;SDT; SDNI. INTRODUCTIONM2M refers to the communication between machines with-out human intervention. Current M2M UEs communicate inthe same way that human-to-human (H2H) UEs do. However,typically M2M applications only need to exchange a smallamount of data [1]. Despite its minor size, it triggers redundantand costly network procedures related to resource reservationsfor M2M UEs, lacking the efficient support for M2M servicesover the network. One example is conventional 3GPP LTE,which requires performing Random Access (RA) procedure,radio bearer setup and a service request procedure before anydata transmission if the UE is idle [2]. To overcome fore-seen challenges, the 3GPP group has promoted enhancementswithin LTE to allow efficient support of M2M communications[3], which can provide low cost and long battery life M2Mservices with high reliability.In this paper, we propose a new procedure, referredto as Random Access-based Small IP packet Transmission(RASIPT), based on a Software Defined Network (SDN) 5Garchitecture. We simulate a scenario with H2H UEs and M2MUEs to evaluate the proposed procedure. After conductedsimulations, we show that conventional LTE scheme is notefficient for M2M UEs with small transmissions and newsolutions as our proposed procedure can reduce significantlythe signaling load generated by M2M UEs in the network.II. BACKGROUNDA. LTEIn LTE, when a UE, registered and connected at the net-work, becomes inactive because is not using any service, thenetwork releases some of the allocated resources performingthe S1 release procedure [2]. This procedure is used bythe eNB to release the UE from connected state into idle.The inactivity timer that controls when this procedure istriggered is not standardized. It is rather defined as a vendorimplementation choice. A typical value for this timer is 10ms[4]. When an idle UE wants to send a data packet, it hasto perform the service request procedure to get activated andreallocated resources, see Fig.B. Efficient Small Data TransmissionOne of the system improvements considered for M2M com-munications on 3GPP networks is Small Data Transmission(SDT) procedure [3]. SDT optimizes message sequence forthe transmission of one IP packet and its response when theM2M UE is idle. To do that, the procedure uses pre-establishedNon Access Stratum (NAS) security context to send the data asNAS signaling. After RA procedure and RRC establishment,the M2M UE transmits a NAS message with the IP data packetto the Mobility Management Entity (MME) (see Fig.MME Serving GW PDN GW2. NAS: Service Request1. NAS: Service Request7. S1-AP: Initial Context Setup Complete3. Authentication/SecurityHSS4. S1-AP: Initial Context Setup Request5. Radio Bearer Establishment 6. Uplink Data8. Modify Bearer Request12. Modify Bearer ResponseUE eNodeB11. Modify Bearer ResponsePCRF(A)10. PCEF Initiated IP-CANSession Modification9. Modify Bearer RequestFig. 1. UE triggered Service Request procedure [2].c© 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media,including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resaleor redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.DOI: 10.1109/WD.2016.7461499This article has been accepted for publication in 2016 Wireless Days (WD)III. PROPOSALOur proposed procedure, RASIPT, is intended to reducesignaling to transfer one small IP packet to the network whena M2M UE is idle. The procedure is oriented to infrequenttraffic without QoS requirements. Our solution is designed fora 5G SDN-based core architecture (e.g. [5]), where NFV andSDN controller run network functions, such as a MME. Theidea itself is originated as a combination of the SDT procedurementioned before, and the radio access enhancement proposedin the Hybrid Random Access and Data Transmission protocol[6]. The mechanism of [6] allows an idle M2M UE to senddata packets after preamble transmission on the RA procedure,so, the RRC connection establishment is not needed. Thesolution combines an adaptive resource allocation of M2Mdata channels over radio resources by the eNB, and an accessbarring scheme to start the procedure to reduce overload overRadio Access Network (RAN) interface. We assume the sameRAN design than LTE. The steps of RASIPT are as follows:• Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) Scheduling:The eNB configures radio resources and the access bar-ring parameter from the estimation of active M2M UEsand broadcasts the information.• Access Barring: Each active M2M UE participates in theaccess barring.• Preamble transmission: After a successful access barring,the M2M UEs choose one preamble and send it.• Data scheduling: The eNB schedules uplink data channelsfor all the preambles detected and reports the M2M UEs.• RASIP request, Uplink data: The M2M UEs send theRASIPT request and the data packet together in the radioresources allocated before by the eNB. The eNB forwardsthis packet to the virtualized MME and this entity authen-ticates the M2M UE by decoding the packet with the UEsecurity context stored during attach procedure [2].• Uplink data: The virtualized MME forwards the authen-ticated data packet to the gateway, as depicted at Fig.Although our proposed procedure uses a 5G SDN-basedarchitecture, it could be implemented in LTE by addingsome changes, as the increase of MME functionalities oreNB MMEUES-GW/P-GWb) RRC Connection Request(S-TMSI, small data indicator )RRC Connection Setupc) RRC Connection SetupComplete (NAS PDU, releaseind) d) Initial UE message (NASPDU, release ind )g) Downlink Data Notification(Bearer ID , UDP/IP responsepacket)h) Downlink InformationTransfer (NAS PDU)f) UE Context Releasee) GTP-U (TEID, UDP/IP packet)small data indicator inhibits eNB sendingMeasurment Configuration to the UEh) Downlink NAS Transport(NAS PDU)f) RRC Connection Releasealt. Aalt. Ba) small data capability exchangel) Downlink Data Notification AckFig. 2. SDT procedure sequence [3].the removal of RRC connection for small transmissions.Without bearer establishment, the network will reducesignaling messages needed for the RRC connection andreconfiguration, eNB UE’s context request, Access Stra-tum (AS) security establishment and later releases ofresources. As in the SDT procedure, we assume no datatransmission acknowledgements above RRC layer, thedata transfer relies on RRC layer of the control plane,and NAS security context stored between M2M UE andSDN controller for authentication.IV. EVALUATIONA. Simulation ModelWe implement our system in ns-3 simulator, where wesimulated a scenario with H2H UEs and M2M UEs. H2Htraffic models included are web, VoIP [7] and NRTV(Non Real Time Video) [8]. M2M traffic model simulatedis based on [9], where the presented traffic model usesCoupled Markov Modulated Poisson Processes (CMMPP)to model coordinated and uncoordinated transmissions ofinfrequent small reports by M2M UEs. For our simula-tion, we use a simplified version of this model withoutspace correlation. We assume one M2M use case of afleet management scenario [10], with three M2M UEstates (state0, state1 and alarm). The transition matricesproposed in [10] have a convergence issue due to the largenumber of M2M UEs that change their state to alarmand after that to state0. These M2M UEs need a longtime to converge to the stationary state. To solve this, wemodified the probability to change to alarm state in thecoordinated traffic transition matrix. The rest of the valuesof the model remain as original values defined in [10].We scheduled periodically alarms to model synchronoustraffic, which generates signaling load peaks. TableIn the simulation, each UE has a network state (con-nected/idle/detached). We consider a scenario with 800H2H UEs and 4800 M2M UEs. We compare threeschemes, which use different control procedures for M2Msmall data transmissions if the M2M UE is idle: for base-line LTE (LTE-Base), the M2M UE will perform a servicerequest, for LTE-SDT, a SDT procedure, and for 5GSDN-based architecture scheme, a RASIPT procedure.To evaluate the scenario, the simulator stores statisticsUE eNB VirtualizedMMEGWAccess barringRACH PreambleTA + Scheduling Grant.RASIPT RequestUplink DataRASIPT RequestUplink DataVirtualized MMEauthenticates UEUplink DataFig. 3. RASIPT procedure sequence.This article has been accepted for publication in 2016 Wireless Days (WD)TABLE IM2M TRAFFIC MODEL PARAMETERSParameter ValueReport size 100BBitrates [state0, state1, alarm] [0.15, 6.5, 24.7] B/sAlarms frequency 1800sUncoordinated traffictransition matrix©­­«0.9999325 0.000147 0.390.0000675 0.999853 00 0 0.61ª®®¬Coordinated traffictransition matrix©­­«0.93 0 00 0.93 00.07 0.07 1ª®®¬Fig. 4. Comparison of the average signaling packets/s in different parts ofthe network.about each control procedure requested, and calculatesthe signaling messages exchanged to perform the controlprocedure. The simulation duration is set to 30000 s, butthe first 5000 s of the simulation are removed from theresults to avoid transitory behavior during H2H and M2MUE connections. The resolution is set to 1s. We assumeLTE bitrate of 10 Mpbs, 5G bitrate of 300 Mbps, aninactivity timer of 10s [4], and a restart H2H session timeand attach time modeled as an exponential distributionwith a mean of 1200s.B. Simulation ResultsFig.The obtained results show better reduction for the corepart of the network. It is due to the improvement ofresource allocation reached with SDT and RASIPT so-lutions, where only a few network entities take part ofthe procedure to transmit the data packet and no databearer establishment is needed, reducing the number ofsignaling packets exchanged. In alarm events, the totalreduction attained is slightly higher than before due to thelarge amount of idle M2M UEs that change their state toalarm state and want to send a data packet.V. CONCLUSIONIn this paper, we have presented the results of an evalua-tion of the signaling impact of M2M communicationsover cellular networks. We proposed a novel procedure,RASIPT, which simplifies the transmission of a datapacket using RA procedure to get enough resourcesto send the data packet, avoiding the need of a RRCconnection and drastically reducing the signaling loadgenerated per transmission. Our evaluation indicates thatbaseline LTE scheme is not efficient for supportingmassive M2M communications deployments where M2MUEs use infrequent and small transmissions, the use ofservice request and S1 release procedures generates anexcessive amount of signaling. New mechanisms orientedto M2M communications have better performance innetwork signaling load and, especially for our proposedRASIPT procedure, where the reduction of signaling loadhas reached higher values.ACKNOWLEDGMENTThis work is partially supported by the Spanish Min-istry of Economy and Competitiveness (project TIN2013-46223-P), FEDER and the Spanish Ministry of Education,Culture and Sport (FPU grant 13/04833).REFERENCES[1] Service requirements for Machine Type Communications (MTC),3GPP TS 22.368 Rel 13, 2014.[2] General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements for EvolvedUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Access,3GPP TS 23.401 Rel 12, 2014.[3] Study on Machine Type Communications and other mobile dataapplications communications enhancements, 3GPP TR 23.887 Rel12, 2013.[4] Nokia, “What is going on in Mobile Broadband Networks?Smartphone Traffic Analysis and Solutions,” White paper, 2014.[5] P. Ameigeiras, J. Ramos-Munoz, L. Schumacher, J. Prados-Garzon, J. Navarro-Ortiz, and J. Lopez-Soler, “Link-level accesscloud architecture design based on SDN for 5G networks,” IEEENetworks, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 24–31, 2015.[6] D. Wiriaatmadja and K. W. Choi, “Hybrid random access and datatransmission protocol for Machine-to-Machine communications incellular networks,” IEEE Trans. on Wireless Commun., vol. 14,no. 1, pp. 33–46, 2015.[7] N. Alliance, “Next Generation Mobile Net-works Radio Access Performance Evalua-tion Methodology,” May 2015. [Online]. Avail-able: https://www.ngmn.org/publications/all-downloads/article/ngmn-radio-access-performance-evaluation-methology.html[8] J. Ramos-Munoz, J. Prados-Garzón, P. Ameigeiras, J. Navarro-Ortiz, and J. Lopez-Soler, “Characteristics of mobile Youtubetraffic,” IEEE Wireless Commun., vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 18–25, 2014.[9] M. Laner, P. Svoboda, N. Nikaein, and M. Rupp, “Traffic modelsfor machine type communications,” in Proc. of the Tenth Int.Symp. on Wireless Commun. Systems, Germany, 2013, pp. 1–5.[10] C. Anton-Haro and M. Dohler, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Com-munications: Architecture, Performance and Applications. Wood-head Publishing, 2015.

Reduced M2M Signaling Communications in 3GPP LTE and Future 5G Cellular Networks

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Reduced M2M Signaling Communications in 3GPP LTE and Future 5G Cellular Networks

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