Technology

Machine Type Communication Technology to Revolutionize the Internet of Things

Current communication solutions are still focused on mobile communication between people. In the future, they will also extend to the exchange of data and information between devices – a huge number of devices (Massive IoT). The system requirements needed for communication between machines are different to current solutions. Many IoT devices like sensors just need to transmit a few Bytes once in a while and work with very low power consumption. Using existing cellular network infrastructure ensures highest level of security and quality of service – now and in the future.

In sum – Massive IoT requires a revolutionary Machine-Type-Communication (MTC) technology combined with smart architectural approaches.

3GPP Release 13 Standard for NB-IoT

The number of devices connected via the Internet is continuously growing. To secure a seamless and secure data exchange a set of rules and constraints is needed. For this, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the worldwide standardization committee for mobile communication, has just published the NB-IoT standard – a complete new cellular communication standard that is part of the Release 13 package. The industry’s attention and commitment on NB-IoT is enormous. According to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) already more than 20 operators are committed to deploy NB-IoT, several commercial and trial IoT networks have been announced or already are in operation. This provides the basis for the NB-IoT technology.

The NB-IoT cellular communication technology is based on using available networks worldwide. It is designed to operate in a wide range of environmental conditions, is able to support a huge number of devices and is cost effective and easy to deploy and operate. The NB-IoT technology provides the basis for revolutionary smart communication solutions in areas like health care, smart home, transport, logistic systems, or industrial applications.

NB-IoT Characteristics at a Glance

Global Roll-Out in Existing Networks

Starting 2017 NB-IoT will be rolled out in already existing cellular networks. Generally, this is planned to be done via software updates. Numerous operators are committed to deploy NB-IoT. Several commercial networks and trials for cellular IoT networks have already been announced. This demonstrates the enormous attention and industry’s commitment on NB-IoT.

Massive Number of Devices

NB-IoT provides optimized protocols enabling a massive number of devices.
The operation in licensed spectrum prevents interference due to centrally controlled demand oriented radio access while keeping broadband services.

Sustainability

Smart devices are planned to work for years with a constant level of quality. NB-IoT uses a licensed spectrum ensuring that capacity and coverage performance can be guaranteed for the lifetime of a device. Furthermore, this addresses the incalculable risk of the usage of un-licensed spectrum. NB-IoT is designed for almost unlimited scalability of massive number of devices ensuring that every device will remain at the agreed level of service.

Guaranteed Uplink Latency

The NB-IoT protocol structure, well planned networks and Quality of Service agreements ensure maximum uplink latency enabling security, safety, health care and other latency sensitive applications.

Extended Coverage

NB-IoT provides a link budget of 20dB margin compared to LTE, WCDMA or GPRS.
Since the site-density of cellular networks will be re-used, remote rural areas, basements, tunnels and other signal-challenging locations can be reached.

Low Device Costs

The NB-IoT standardization is driven by strong cost saving demands. To meet this, the technological requirements have been adapted accordingly. Examples for this are the low bandwidth, the usage of an integrated power amplifier and of half duplex data transmission. These measures allow for implementations with extreme small memory footprint.

Quality of Service

NB-IoT devices operate in licensed spectrum; a central instance has full control over resources and usage, which guarantees high Quality of Service. Furthermore, NB-IoT is designed to scale with the number of devices. This eliminates the risk to run into limitations affecting Quality of Service.

Global Service Coverage

The goal is to connect a massive number of devices worldwide. NB-IoT is a truly global standard. The existing network structure combined with established deployment scenarios and the possibility of software updates enable connectivity worldwide. Furthermore, network operators have already long established business relations which will be the basis for seamless roaming services.

Security

Cellular technology provides an established basis for secure communication. NB-IoT leverages the security advantages of SIM technology in order to have reliable identification of devices and also protection on application level. In addition a cellular encryption technology is used, which protects the content of communication.

Low Overall Cost of Ownership

NB-IoT uses an already existing network infrastructure; the required connectivity is provided as service of established network providers. This enables low subscription costs and minimal installation and maintenance effort.

Ultra-Low Power Consumption

NB-IoT provides drastically enhanced power saving procedures enabling extreme long and efficient sleep times. The narrow bandwidth and reduced protocol overhead enable a power-efficient implementation. This secures long battery life in remote rural areas and ensures long runtimes without maintenance.

Extended coverage ensures global reachability – also in signal challenging areas. Ultra-low power consumption provides the basis for long battery runtimes and low maintenance effort. The usage of the already existing cellular network structure reduces the total cost of ownership and enables connectivity worldwide. Operation in licensed spectrum guarantees high quality of service for more than a lifetime of a device. The usage of cellular technology provides the highest security level. Optimized protocols enable massive IoT by scalability with the number of devices.

The industry’s commitment is enormous – the roll-out in existing cellular networks is planned to start already 2017.