Traffic characterization and LTE performance analysis for M2M communications in smart cities

The paper presents a model for the characterization of Machine-to-machine (M2M) traffic and the performance evaluation of LTE access to support M2M communication, embedded into a web-based application. The application enables the study of the traffic produced by realistic M2M elements in the context of smart cities. Packet generation for each machine is modeled by means of three mathematical distributions (Poisson, Beta, and Deterministic), which makes it possible to represent a wide variety of M2M applications. A case study was constructed based on the city of Montreal. Real data on the position of machines were retrieved from public datasets. The case study includes a realistic representation of the LTE infrastructure that allows the estimation of traffic load at each eNodeB, as well as other performance indexes, such as collision probability and access delay. The use of real geographic information enables visual analyses aiming at identifying bottlenecks and possible roadblocks to the M2M integration in the LTE infrastructure.