A communication device may employ one or more interfaces for communicating over a wireless network. Such a communication device may transmit and receive a wide variety of communications. Protocols to support these communications are often oriented toward supporting the exchange of data generated and/or consumed by human beings. However, protocols developed from the perspective of supporting human data communication may be less suitable for supporting communication between machines.
For example, Machine-Type Communication (MTC) may be an important revenue stream for operators and may have huge potential from the operator perspective. Further, it may be efficient, for example, for operators to serve MTC User Equipment (UEs) using already deployed radio access technology, such as 3GPP LTE, as a competitive radio access technology for efficient support of MTC. Lowering the cost of MTC UEs may also be an important enabler for implementation of the concept of “internet of things.” For example, MTC UEs used for many applications may require low operational power consumption and may be expected to communicate using infrequent, small-burst transmissions. In addition, there may be a substantial market for machine-to-machine (M2M) use cases of devices deployed deep inside buildings which may require coverage enhancement in comparison to a defined LTE cell coverage footprint.
3GPP LTE Rel-12 defines a UE power saving mode that allows long battery lifetime and defines a new UE category allowing reduced modem complexity. Subsequent releases of 3GPP LTE may further reduce UE cost and provide coverage enhancement. Despite these features, improved wireless communication mechanisms are still needed to support a broad variety of devices and communication being exchanged therewith.