Executive Summary : | Extensive use of IoT devices in urban and rural parts of India will become inevitable, motivated by various initiatives from Govt. of India such as smart city, smart agriculture, etc. Also, there is a rise in the number of conventional broadband users, necessitating large deployments involving cost-effective base stations (BSs) serving user equipments (UEs) in both regimes. This can be achieved by integrating fourth generation (4G) and Internet-of-Things (IoT) BSs into a since unified BS, which effectively utilizes the available spectrum. Thus, the main objective of the proposal is to build a cost-effective integrated BS combining Release 14 LTE with NB-IoT capabilities. Moreover, the project aims to develop efficient resource scheduling algorithms to efficiently utilize the spectrum and improve the energy efficiency of the network. For example, when the NB-IoT is not using the spectrum, the BS can either schedule a 4G UE to transmit in the uplink in the NB-IoT band. The spectral efficiency can be further enhanced by using coded caching, especially when the BS is transmitting in the NB-IoT band to 4G users. The project will be executed with the expertise from IIT Dharwad and Lekha wireless Pvt. Ltd. While Lekha Wireless specializes in building LTE UE and BS as well as NB-IoT UE products with patents, IIT Dharwad has immense research expertise in the area of NB IoT, caching, scheduling algorithm design and optimization. The project flow consists of (i) system architecture and algorithm design, (ii) hardware and software design/implementation, (iii) testing and field trials. The deliverables include (i) MATLAB (and C/C++) implementation of the proposed resource allocation and coded caching algorithms, (ii) protocol stack for physical, MAC and Network layers of NB-IoT BS (iii) tested and verified NB-IoT BS, and integrated (4G/5G + NB-IoT) BS, (iv) patents, research papers, and project reports. Despite reducing the operational and capital expenditures, the proposed BS has the advantages of providing enhanced coverage, faster network upgradation (scalability) towards 5G technologies, improved reliability and high carrier-class network security. Thus, the unified BS enables operators to provide last mile connectivity and also effectively serve multiple upcoming applications (from broadband applications like high-definition (HD) videoconferencing and enhanced gaming to IoT applications like smart agriculture, logistics, healthcare, home automation, military IoT, etc.), spanning both urban and rural scenarios. |