What is Machine Type Device

Machine to Machine (M2M) communications have been recently introduced as a viable paradigm for allowing low cost and efficient communications among devices mainly in an autonomous manner. Even if M2M protocols need dedicated resources, a new paradigm, called Cognitive M2M (CM2M) communications, has been recently considered exploiting cognitive/opportunistic radio communications. After having introduced the problem of applying cognitive techniques in M2M scenarios, the authors focus their attention on the Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols for CM2M scenarios, with a particular attention on the OFDMA-based primary systems. Among other approaches, the authors focus on a data-aided approach for the access of the secondary devices aiming to reduce interference toward the primary system.