5G & LTE IoT Solutions for a Smarter Future | Fibocom

The 5G & LTE IoT solutions by Fibocom are set to change the world, empowering different industries with modules that fits all your innovative IoT scenarios.

The Narrowband IoT refers to a radio technology standard established by 3GPP to allow a broad range of cellular services and devices. In June 2016, the specification was frozen in 3GPP Release 13 (LTE Advanced Pro). Indoor coverage, low cost, long battery life, and high link density are all priorities for Narrowband IoT.

The NB-IoT standard is based on a subset of the LTE IoT standard, but the bandwidth is limited to a single narrow band of 200 kHz. For downlink communication, it uses OFDM modulation, and for uplink communication, it uses SC-FDMA. NB- LTE IoT, which operates on the permitted spectrum and has no service cycle restrictions, would be best suited to IoT applications that require more repeated communications.

A Broad View of Narrowband-Internet of Things

Narrowband IoT is identified as a standards-centric low-power wide-area (LPWA) technology developed to support an array of different IoT devices and services. NB-IoT improves user device power consumption, spectrum efficiency, and system capacity, especially in deep coverage of LTE IoT. For a wide variety of use cases, a battery life of more than ten years can be provided.

Extended coverage, rural and deep indoors, and ultra-low system sophistication are key requirements for new physical layer signals and channels. The Narrowband IoT modules are supposed to be comparable in price to GSM/GPRS modules at first. However, the core structure is much simpler than GSM/GPRS today, and its cost is expected to drop steadily as demand grows.

Narrowband IoT will coexist with 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile networks but is only supported by all major mobile equipment, modem, and module manufacturers. It also takes advantage of many mobile networks' protection and privacy features, including support for user identity, privacy, user authentication, secrecy, data integrity, and mobile equipment recognition. The first commercial narrowband LTE IoT launches had taken place, with a global rollout planned in 2017/18.

Roll of NB-IoT/LTE-IoT for smart future

IoT application use cases will determine which connectivity enabler is best based on a variety of factors, including existing telecom networks (with Narrowband IoT and LTE IoT), standalone networks (SigFox and LoRa), static or mobility requirements, data transmission rate, latency, power usage, battery life, components like controllers and gateways, and eventually, the IoT application use cases.

The majority of IoT projects will use NB-IoT LPWAN because it will speed up deployments and be more cost-effective in capital expenditures and operating costs. Many telecommunication operators worldwide have deployed Narrowband IoT and LTE IoT due to their flexibility and the ability to incorporate OTA (over-the-air) firmware updates. 

Mobility, real-time data communication, and mission-critical applications are the use case scenarios for LTE-M. Smart Asset Tracking, Smart Transportation, Home Security, Wearable, patient monitoring, and other use cases are just a few examples. LTE-M has a latency of 50 to 100 milliseconds and a maximum data rate of 384 kbps. The maximum uplink/downlink bandwidth is 1 Mbps. When you need to fulfill user interface requirements for static and mobility situations, LTE-M is inactive. In comparison to Narrowband IoT, it also allows for higher data throughput.

We at Fibocom assist customers in identifying and exploiting global IoT opportunities. Thousands of industries have benefited from their 5G and narrowband IoT modules, as well as their unique Mobile computing and automotive LTE IoT solutions.