MC-WiFi: A Low-Latency and Ultra-Reliable PHY Layer Architecture for Mission-Critical Machine-Type Communications
Authors:
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Journal: Multidisciplinary International Research Journal
Abstract
Mission-critical Machine-Type Communication (mcMTC), also termed Ultra-Reliable Low-
Latency Communication (URLLC), demands ultra-high reliability and very low latency for
concurrent short-packet transmissions in industrial automation, power systems, healthcare,
and safety-critical applications. However, current wireless standards for mcMTC
rely on general-purpose PHY layers with only upper-layer customisation, leaving the physical
layer (PHY) design insufficiently optimised for the stringent requirements of missioncritical
services. This research proposes an innovative PHY layer architecture — Mission
Critical WiFi (MC-WiFi)—built upon the IEEE 802.11a standard. The architecture targets
a substantial reduction in PHY layer packet transmission time and a significant improvement
in transmission reliability through three primary contributions: (1) a single-symbol
preamble design reducing overhead from 16 μs to 4 μs; (2) a novel Packet Detection
and Channel Synchronisation (PDCS) algorithm operating on one preamble symbol; and
(3) block-wise polar codes with CRC-aided Successive Cancellation List (CRC-SCL) decoding
for short-packet error correction. Mathematical analysis and simulation results
demonstrate that MC-WiFi achieves a PHY layer packet transmission time of 5 μs (at
80 MHz) and reliability of Packet Error Rate (PER) ≤ 10^-7 as confirmed by the finiteblocklength
normal approximation bound, with direct Monte Carlo simulation (10^6 iterations)
validating PER ≤ 10^-5 — outperforming all reviewed industry standards and prior
proposals.
Keywords: Mission-Critical MTC, URLLC, Polar Codes, Single-Symbol Preamble, Wi-Fi PHY Layer, Short-Packet Communication, CRC-SCL Decoding, IEEE 802.11