IEEE 802.15.6-Based LTE Overlay Network with Priority Support

We describe a priority-based CSMA/CA overlay network over LTE which is suitable for many application areas that require Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications. The proposed overlay network uses LTE physical random access channel (PRACH) as the physical layer and a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) mechanism similar to the one used in IEEE 802.15.6 Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN). We analyze the performance of H2H traffic in the presence of the overlay as well as the performance of the overlay itself, taking into consideration noise and sensing errors coming from the concurrent human to human (H2H) traffic in that same cell as well as in neighboring cells. We show that the overlay network allows fair coexistence of PM2M and H2H traffic, and that high priority M2M traffic is distinctly prioritized over low priority one, even though the latter still enjoys satisfactory performance.