M-Ary Aggregate Spread Pulse Modulation for Robust and Scalable Low-Power Wireless Networks

• Published in: IEEE access 2022, Vol.10, p.96652-96671
• Main Authors: Nikitin, Alexei V., Davidchack, Ruslan L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aggregate spread pulse modulation (ASPM); Chirp; Interference; intermittently nonlinear filtering (INF); Internet of Things; Internet of Things (IoT); LoRa; Low power electronics; Low-power wide area networks; low-power wide-area network (LPWAN); M-ary ASPM (M-ASPM); Physical layer; physical layer (PHY); Pulse modulation; Receivers; spread spectrum; Spread spectrum management; time-bandwidth product (TBP); Transmitters; Wide area networks; Wireless networks
• ISSN: 2169-3536; 2169-3536
• DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3205009

In this paper we present an overview of the M-ary Aggregate Spread Pulse Modulation (M-ASPM), and provide an assessment of its suitability and advantages for use in low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs). Notably, M-ASPM combines high energy-per-bit efficiency, robustness, resistance to interference, and a number of other favorable technical characteristics, with the spread-spectrum ability to maintain the network capacity while extending its range. We quantify the impact of mutual interference of multiple M-ASPM transmitters and demonstrate how such capacity-preserving range extension can be achieved for numerous desired areal distributions of the uplink nodes. Throughout the paper, LoRa is used for benchmark comparison and quantification of various M-ASPM features. In particular, we show that, while sharing many essential properties with LoRa, M-ASPM provides far more effective network range extension. When used in the same manner as LoRa, M-ASPM can serve as an appealing LoRa alternative. In addition, while being different LPWAN solutions, M-ASPM and LoRa can be designed to concurrently operate in the same spectral band and geographical area, cooperatively complementing each other's coverage.