Since LTE was not designed for IoT applications, it is not efficient
to use smart objects as User Equipments (UE),
as recognized by both research studies, e.g., [7],
and the 3GPP itself, which in fact is carrying out initiatives to natively support the
so-called Machine-Type Communication (MTC) in futureevolutions of the LTE,
likely beyond Release 11 [8], [9].
For instance, efficient sharing of the random-access resources is
very difficult in an LTE network with many smart objects,
as identified by the authors in [10], who propose to differentiate
the medium access control rules for machines and humans.
However, the major impediments of LTE to an efficient
M2M communication (see [11] for a thorough description)
disappear when the UE is co-located with the gateway,
rather than with the smart objects themselves. Hence,
at least in principle, exploiting LTE as an access network technology
for IoT applications is an opportunity to be considered by telecom and service operators,
due to its (future) pervasive diffusion and the advantages it brings.