IoT Underlying Cellular Uplink Through D2D Communication Principle

Device-to-device (D2D) communication is an innovative technique within cellular networks, holding great potential for future wireless communication systems, particularly for the Internet of Things (IoT). One key advantage of D2D communication is its ability to alleviate cellular traffic congestion, as many IoT applications may prefer to use cellular networks due to interoperability and compatibility. In this paper, we propose a novel opportunistic channel access model and adaptive power control strategy for a cluster of IoT transmitter-receiver pairs (referred to as D2D pairs) underlying the cellular uplink. Our objective is to assess the feasibility of leveraging this proposed model for offloading IoT traffic. To this end, we evaluate the model’s performance under various parameter settings, considering practical limitations such as total power restrictions and minimum spectral efficiencies. Additionally, we compare the results against two baseline power control strategies. Our findings indicate that instead of constructing a new and dedicated network architecture for IoT applications, it is possible to offload IoT-generated traffic through D2D communication underlying the cellular uplink. This approach not only avoids detrimental effects on the cellular network’s traffic but also provides satisfactory performance for IoT users.