Uplink Control Information-Based Clustered Access and Discontinuous Reception Management for mMTC

Uplink control information (UCI) and discontinuous reception (DRX) play important roles for massive machine type communication (mMTC). Despite their standalone significance, a conspicuous gap exists in comprehensively exploring the synergy between UCI and DRX concerning both energy conservation and latency reduction for mMTC. In this letter, we propose a UCI-based clustered access and DRX management (UCADM) scheme that strikes a balance between these two critical performance metrics, reducing energy usage while preserving low latency in uplink-downlink interaction for mMTC. Specifically, we present a strictly feasible solution for the proposed UCADM scheme by using the spectral radius and the constraint projection, which can effectively solve DRX switching operations as indicated by scheduling information from UCI. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of our scheme.