NATIVE SUPPORT FOR
M2M COMMUNICATION Wireless communication is becoming a commodity, just like electricity or water [13]. This commoditization, in turn, is giving rise to a large class of emerging services with new types of requirements. We point to a few representative such requirements, each exemplified by a typical service.
•A massive number of connected devices: Whereas current systems typically operate with, at most, a few hundred devices per base station, some M2M services might require over 104 connected devices. Examples include metering, sensors, smart grid components, and other enablers of services targeting wide area coverage.
•Very high link reliability: Systems geared at critical control, safety, or production have been
dominated by wire line connectivity largely because wireless links did not offer the same degree of confidence. As these systems transition from wire line to wireless, it becomes necessary for the wireless link to be reliably operational virtually all the time.
•Low latency and real-time operation: This can be an even more stringent requirement than the ones above, as it demands that data be transferred reliably within a given time interval. A typical example is vehicle-to-X connectivity, whereby traffic safety can be improved through
the timely delivery of critical messages (e.g.,alert and control).