Universal Multi-Rat Tester For Mmtc Applications

Abstract

While the IoT has made significant progress along the lines of supporting its individualapplications, there are many massive Machine-Type Communication (mMTC) scenarios in which theperformance offered by any single Radio Access Technology (RAT) available today might be insufficient.To address these use cases, we introduce the concept of multi-RAT tester, which implies theavailability and utilization of several RATs within a single IoT device. We begin by offering insightsinto which use cases could be beneficial and what the key challenges for mMTC implementation are.We continue by discussing the potential technical solutions and employing our own prototype of amulti-RAT device capable of using different Low-Power Wide-Area (LPWA) communication technologies.It is assumed that use of multiple radios simultaneously will lead to overall improvementof communication parameters by leveraging the synergy between RATs. The novel vision enabledby the multi-RAT concept in this work could be impactful across multiple fields and calls for crosscommunityresearch efforts in order to adequately design, implement, and deploy future multi-RATmMTC solutions.