Connection-less communication of IoT devices over LTE mobile networks

The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) introduces a vast ecosystem of new network-enabled objects. Although most current cellular IoT services run over 2G and 3G cellular networks, the Long Term Evolution (LTE) is expected to be one of the main platforms for the emergence of new Machine to Machine (M2M) communication systems. Cellular communication protocols were designed and optimized to handle human-originated communications. However, with the forecasted deployment of billions of M2M devices, there is a growing concern in the industry that the cellular core may be overloaded by the sharp increase in control plane signaling load. The traffic characteristics of IoT devices are very different from those of smartphones and can enhance the risk for signaling storms. A new connection-less communication protocol for IoT systems over LTE mobile networks is proposed to spare signaling exchanges at the cellular core for M2M communications. It requires no standards modification and provides an overlaying channel between connected objects and base stations. Its effectiveness is demonstrated through simulations with realistic background network load parameters extracted from real LTE traffic sniffed from a busy downtown Manhattan intersection.