An article on energy-efficient NB-FI networks for the Internet of Things has been published in Ad Hoc Networks (Elsevier)

The team of the Wireless Networks Lab – Dmitry Bankov, Anastasia Fedorishcheva, Polina Levchenko, Andrey Lyakhov, and Evgeny Khorov – has published a study on Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LPWAN) for the Internet of Things (IoT). The focus of the work is the Russian NB-Fi technology, designed for reliable long-distance data transmission while serving a large number of devices, and already applied in real IoT projects in Russia and abroad.

NB-Fi
NB-Fi is an LPWAN technology that enables data collection from thousands of sensors, providing high message delivery reliability and controlled radio channel load. Such networks are in demand for monitoring, telemetry, and the deployment of large-scale sensor systems.

What is it about?
The goal of the study was adaptive configuration of an NB-Fi network when serving a large number of devices (around 1,000 or more). The researchers studied how to ensure:

  • reliable data delivery,
  • base station compliance with constraints on radio channel occupancy,
  • minimal energy consumption of end devices.

To achieve this, the team developed a mathematical network model that describes data transmission as a stochastic process and enables derivation of the required performance metrics as functions of transmission parameters and device settings. Based on this model, the researchers formulated an optimization problem to minimize energy consumption while meeting reliability and channel load requirements. They also designed a corresponding network configuration algorithm.

What does this mean?
The results show that the proposed approach reduces device energy consumption by more than a factor of two, while simultaneously ensuring the required data transmission reliability and compliance with radio channel usage constraints.

The work is published in one of the leading international journals, Ad Hoc Networks (Elsevier), confirming the high scientific level and relevance of the research.

We are thrilled to have published another major paper on NB-Fi in a high-profile journal! Our solutions will enable NB-Fi networks to be configured for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. Before our research, there were virtually no papers on NB-Fi in the literature, and we have successfully filled this gap,

notes Dmitry Bankov, a Senior Researcher of the Laboratory.

An important part of this research was carried out as part of the bachelor’s thesis of Anastasia Fedorishcheva, a student of MIPT. The publication of the thesis results in such a prestigious journal confirms the high level of research and graduation projects defended at our base department of Information Transmission and Data Analysis at MIPT,

notes Evgeny Khorov, Head of the Laboratory and Deputy Head of the Department.

The Internet of Things is one of the key research areas of the Wireless Networks Lab, established in 2017 within a MegaGrant from the Government of Russia. In addition to NB-Fi, LoRaWAN, and Wi-Fi HaLow technologies, the lab also studies wireless communications for autonomous vehicles and robots, as well as techniques for ensuring ultra-reliable low-latency communications for industrial applications.

Link to the article:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1570870525003804