Evaluation of MAC protocols for IoT satellite systems

Abstract

The growing development of Internet of Things (Internet of Things) applications and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications has extended throughout the world, including remote areas as well as extreme and unpredictable mobility applications. This fact motivates the use of satellite technology as an alternative to connectivity for the growing number of devices destined to the IoT around the globe. The existing solutions for this service (e.g., Argos) may not offer a scalable solution to the expected number of devices to be connected in the near future. This promotes the consideration of MAC protocols development for the satellite environment. In addition, given the current interest and relevance of low-cost solutions for space technology with cubesats, simple, low processing and low storage demands protocols are prioritized. This document reviews and exposes the performance of the main protocols considered for satellite IoT.