MASS Communication for Constrained Devices

In this paper, we introduce MASS, a Multiple channel Access solution for constrained devices relying on M-Ary direct sequence Spread Spectrum. MASS is uncoordinated in the sense that it does not require a per-device pre-shared key with the access point. It does not require per-device signal power adaptation to counter the popular near-far problem, and does not assume fixed size messages. As such, MASS does not need expensive coordination or complex hardware for the constrained sensors, and its multi-access solution leads to higher throughput and longer (and more predictable) lifetimes for constrained IoT devices compared to typical contention-based media access protocols. These benefits are achieved by trading-off the processing capacity at powerful access points for more efficient communication and more power savings for resource-constrained devices. Experimental results highlight the efficacy of MASS communication.