Engineering:Narrowband IoT

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Short description: Radio technology standard

Narrowband Internet of things (NB-IoT) is a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) radio technology standard developed by 3GPP for cellular network devices and services.[1][2] The specification was frozen in 3GPP Release 13 (LTE Advanced Pro), in June 2016.[3] Other 3GPP IoT technologies include eMTC (enhanced Machine-Type Communication) and EC-GSM-IoT.[4]

NB-IoT focuses specifically on indoor coverage, low cost, long battery life, and high connection density. NB-IoT uses a subset of the LTE standard, but limits the bandwidth to a single narrow-band of 200kHz. It uses OFDM modulation for downlink communication and SC-FDMA for uplink communications.[5][6][7][8][9] IoT applications which require more frequent communications will be better served by LTE-M, which has no duty cycle limitations operating on the licensed spectrum.

In March 2019, the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) announced that over 100 operators had either NB-IoT or LTE-M networks.[10] This number had risen to 142 deployed/launched networks by September 2019.[11]

3GPP LPWAN standards

Deployments

As of March 2019 GSA identified:[12]

  • 149 operators in 69 countries investing in one or both of the NB-IoT and LTE-M network technologies
  • 104 of those operators in 53 countries had deployed/launched at least one of the NB-IoT or LTE-M technologies of those, 20 operators in 19 countries had deployed/launched both NB-IoT and LTE-M[13]
  • 22 countries are now home to deployed/launched NB-IoT and LTE-M networks
  • 29 countries are home to deployed/launched NB-IoT networks only
  • Two countries are home to deployed/launched LTE-M networks only
  • 141 operators in 69 countries investing in NB-IoT networks; 90 of those operators in 51 countries had deployed/launched their networks[13]
  • 60 operators in 35 countries investing in LTE-M networks; 34 of those operators in 24 countries had deployed/launched their networks

Devices and modules

The 3GPP-compliant LPWA device ecosystem continues to grow. In April 2019, GSA identified 210 devices supporting either Cat-NB1/NB-2 or Cat-M1 – more than double the number in its GAMBoD database at the end of March 2018.[14] This figure had risen a further 50% by September 2019, with a total of 303 devices identified as supporting either Cat-M1, Cat-NB1 (NB-IoT) or Cat-NB2. Of these, 230 devices support Cat-NB1 (including known variants) and 198 devices support Cat-M1 (including known variants). The split of devices (as of September 2019) was 60.4% modules, 25.4% asset trackers, and 5.6% routers, with data loggers, femtocells, smart-home devices, and smart watches, USB modems, and vehicle on-board units (OBUs), making up the balance.[15]

In 2018 first NB-IoT data loggers are other certified devices started to appear. For example ThingsLog released their first CE certified single channel NB-IoT data logger on Tindie in late 2018.

To integrate NB-IoT into a maker board for IoT developments, SODAQ, a Dutch IoT hardware and software engineering company, crowdfunded an NB-IoT shield on Kickstarter.[16] They then went on to partner with module manufacturer u-blox to create maker boards with NB-IoT and LTE-M integrated.[17]

Since 2021, there also is a cheap all-in-one NB-IoT solution available to the general public developed by the Chinese manufacturer Ai-Thinker.[18]

At the beginning of 2023 the Belgian company DPTechnics released the Walter IoT board which combines an ESP32-S3 together with a Sequans Monarch 2 NB-IoT/LTE-M platform. The board is focused on long-term availability and includes a GNSS receiver.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "NarrowBand – Internet of Things (NB-IoT)". https://www.gsma.com/iot/narrow-band-internet-of-things-nb-iot/. 
  2. ↑ Grant, Svetlana (September 1, 2016). "3GPP Low Power Wide Area Technologies - GSMA White Paper". GSMA. pp. 49. http://www.gsma.com/connectedliving/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/3GPP-Low-Power-Wide-Area-Technologies-GSMA-White-Paper.pdf. 
  3. ↑ "Standardization of NB-IOT completed". 3GPP. June 22, 2016. pp. 1. http://www.3gpp.org/news-events/3gpp-news/1785-nb_iot_complete. 
  4. ↑ "Extended Coverage - GSM - Internet of Things (EC-GSM-IoT)". GSMA. May 11, 2016. pp. 1. http://www.gsma.com/connectedliving/extended-coverage-gsm-internet-of-things-ec-gsm-iot. 
  5. ↑ Ryu, Jaeku. "NB-IoT Handbook". http://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Handbook_LTE_NB_LTE.html. 
  6. ↑ Lawson, Stephen (September 21, 2015). "NarrowBand IoT standard for machines moves forward". Computerworld / IDG. pp. 1. http://www.computerworld.com/article/2984928/mobile-wireless/narrowband-iot-standard-for-machines-moves-forward.html. 
  7. ↑ Jones, Dan (September 11, 2015). "Ericsson, Intel, Nokia Back New Narrowband LTE IoT Spec". LightReading. pp. 1. http://www.lightreading.com/mobile/4g-lte/ericsson-intel-nokia-back-new-narrowband-lte-iot-spec-/d/d-id/718162. 
  8. ↑ Scales, Ian (September 18, 2015). "3GPP agrees 'harmonized' proposal for narrowband IoT radio technology". TelecomTV. pp. 1. http://www.telecomtv.com/articles/iot/3gpp-agrees-harmonized-proposal-for-narrowband-iot-radio-technology-12853/. 
  9. ↑ Lawson, Stephen (September 22, 2015). "LTE standard for Internet of Things machines gets the green light". PCWorld / IDG. pp. 1. http://www.pcworld.com/article/2985233/internet-of-things/lte-standard-for-machines-gets-the-green-light.html. 
  10. ↑ GSA: Global Narrowband IoT – LTE-M networks – March 2019 (retrieved 27 March 2019)
  11. ↑ GSA: NB-IoT and LTE-MTC Global Ecosystem and Market Status (retrieved 15 October 2019)
  12. ↑ GSA: Global Narrowband IoT – LTE-M networks – March 2019 (retrieved 25 March 2019)
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 GSA: NB-IoT and LTE-M: Global Ecosystem and Market Status, April 2019 (retrieved 24 April 2019)
  14. ↑ GSA: IoT Ecosystem: NB-IoT and LTE-M Report: April-19
  15. ↑ GSA: NB-IoT and LTE-MTC Global Ecosystem and Market Status (retrieved 15 October 2019)
  16. ↑ "The first NB-IoT shield for Arduino: supported by T-Mobile" (in en). https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sodaq/the-first-nb-iot-shield-for-arduino-supported-by-t. 
  17. ↑ "SODAQ SARA AFF R410M" (in en). SODAQ. https://shop.sodaq.com/sodaq-sara-aff-r410m.html. 
  18. ↑ Post, Sponsored (2021-12-06). "Ai Thinker enters the NB-IoT LPWAN market with EC-01 modules (Sponsored) - CNX Software" (in en-US). https://www.cnx-software.com/2021/12/06/ai-thinker-nb-iot-lpwan-ec-01-modules/. 

External links



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