Performance comparison of LTE-A RAN operating in 800MHz and 2.4GHz bands for M2M communications

Abstract

This paper studies Machine to Machine (M2M) communications over the Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) operating at both 2.4 GHz and 800 MHz bands. We compare the legacy frequency with the recently proposed 800 MHz band because of its enhanced propagation characteristics in indoor and outdoor environments. The performance of Radio Access Network (RAN) in the Random Access Channel (RACH) in a macro-cell environment is evaluated by considering the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) level for each device and the limited resources in the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). We analyze the effect of a number of system parameters on the M2M device performance. Our study shows that operating at the 800 MHz band is a tradeoff between access success probability and average access delay. The results show higher access success probability offered by 800 MHz as compared to the legacy 2.4 GHz, while the lower band results in higher average access delay.