What Is NB‑IoT? Uncovering the Evolution of LPWAN’s Biggest Star

Everyone knows Wi‑Fi for internet access, Bluetooth for connecting peripherals, and ZigBee in factories, but low‑power wide‑area networks (LPWAN) are still fuzzy for many; this article tells the growth story of the LPWAN family’s biggest star, NB‑IoT.

First, let’s introduce a few hardworking communication “babies”.

LPWAN can be divided into two categories: one works in unlicensed spectrum (e.g., LoRa, SigFox), and the other operates in licensed spectrum under 3GPP‑supported 2/3/4G cellular technologies such as EC‑GSM, LTE‑Cat‑M, and NB‑IoT.

LTE‑M (LTE Machine‑to‑Machine) is an LTE‑evolved IoT technology, called Low‑Cost MTC in Release 12 and LTE‑enhanced MTC (eMTC) in Release 13, designed to meet IoT device needs on existing LTE carriers.

For those familiar with LTE UE categories: to suit IoT scenarios, 3GPP defined a minimum‑rate UE‑Cat‑1 in Release 11 (up‑link 5 Mbps, down‑link 10 Mbps). In Release 12, a lower‑cost, lower‑power Cat‑0 was introduced with both uplink and downlink rates of 1 Mbps.

NB‑CIoT was proposed jointly by Huawei, Qualcomm, and Neul, while NB‑LTE was proposed by Ericsson, Nokia, and others.

NB‑CIoT introduced a brand‑new air‑interface that requires significant changes to existing LTE networks, but it uniquely satisfies the five goals set at the TSG GERAN #67 meeting (improved indoor coverage, massive device connectivity, reduced device complexity, lower power consumption, and lower latency). Its module cost is lower than GSM and NB‑LTE modules.

NB‑LTE is more compatible with existing LTE deployments, making it easier to roll out.

Finally, after intense negotiations at the RAN #69 meeting in September 2015, NB‑IoT emerged as a convergence of NB‑CIoT and NB‑LTE.

Some claim that the NB‑IoT standard will eclipse technologies like SigFox and LoRa because operators supporting NB‑IoT have a larger customer base.

Fans of SigFox and LoRa argue that NB‑IoT is not yet commercially deployed and its cost will remain high for years, though recent progress suggests costs are dropping and the future remains uncertain.

IoT application scenarios are extensive, including smart parking, bicycle anti‑theft, vehicle networking, smart cities, intelligent buildings, and environmental monitoring.

Source: IoT Knowledge Base

Reprinted with author’s permission