Ultra Narrow Band Technique for Low Power Wide Area Communications

Abstract

Ultra Narrow Band (UNB) transmission technique makes a powerful comeback in the frame of Machine-To-Machine (M2M) communications thanks to advances in signal processing. After explaining why, among others, it is one of the best candidate for Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) communications, we present its specificities and associated constraints. In particular UNB is inseparable from random access so we introduce Time/Frequency Aloha, a random access scheme adapted for UNB. Then, we propose an analytical model to evaluate its performance in terms of packet loss ratio and normalized throughput in both terrestrial and satellite context. Several axes of improvement based on advanced signal processing techniques are proposed to enhance the capacity of a system using UNB signals.