NARROWBAND IOT the Game Changer for the Internet of Things
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NARROWBAND IOT The Game ChanGer for The InTerneT of ThInGs Whitepaper, October 2017 narrowband IOT TABle Of CONTeNTs TABle Of CONTeNTs Introduction .............................................................................................................................................3 LPWA: Different networks for different purposes ..........................................................................4 NB-IoT – The technology .......................................................................................................................5 Secure on all levels ................................................................................................................................7 NB-IoT is now ...........................................................................................................................................7 NB-IoT use cases ....................................................................................................................................8 Outlook .................................................................................................................................................. 10 Glossary ................................................................................................................................................ 11 Picture 1: NB-IoT’s core benefits Billions of devices Low data volume Low energy consumption Deep indoor penetration Up to 100x more devices per cell Bidirectional, infrequent trans- Up to 10 years of battery- +20 dB link budget (compared (compared to GSM) mission of low data volumes. powered operation2 to GSM) Data rates 600 b/s – 250 kbit/s1 1 Dependent on network utilization and signal strength 2 Assuming equivalent of 2 AA batteries and typical traffic pattern 2 narrowband IOT INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION The Internet of Things (IoT) is changing our world. Companies and Insufficient coverage inside buildings limits the possibilities to develop cities all over the world are equipping physical objects with software, new use cases. Sensors incapable of wide area communication sensors and connectivity to merge them into a global network, require the setup of local gateways and a permanent maintenance of the IoT. As things are becoming able to collect and exchange data, peripheral networks. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) – they emerge into new ecosystems across processes, industries and a worldwide alliance including Deutsche Telekom that focuses on countries, enabling new services or whole new business models. standardizing mobile communications – vowed to tackle these Well-known IoT use cases include smart metering, goods tracking and challenges. In mid-2016, as part of its Release 13, it published a equipment monitoring. series of innovative cellular technologies optimized for the IoT. NarrowBand IoT (or LTE Cat-NB1) is one of these 3GPP-defined standards. It is a genuine game changer for IoT solution providers, UNlIke ANy OTheRs as it expands the technical possibilities to make massive IoT deploy- ments economically feasible. But why use NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT)? It is ideal for Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) systems, which is where many other technologies fail. Although there are existing mobile communications networks, these The NB-IOT DNA are not optimized for applications sending and receiving very small quantities of data. But that is exactly what many IoT devices do: Which qualities does NB-IoT actually possess? Catering to the low infrequently exchange data with back-end systems. And while other bandwidth requirements of many IoT use cases in industrial, public technologies offer excellent outdoor coverage, their reception deep and consumer domains, its unique advantages include lower costs, within buildings is often limited. Furthermore, commercially available reduced power consumption and deeper indoor coverage. Based on wireless communication modules connecting to GSM, 3G or LTE a global industry standard and operated within licensed spectrum, mobile networks support a wide range of services. As many of them are NarrowBand IoT addresses users’ needs for international operations, not required for IoT use cases, they would just drive up the average stability, reliability, security, cost-effectiveness and high scalability. hardware cost. Finally, a battery life of several years is often not feasible To drive and be a part of this exciting development, Deutsche Telekom with such technologies, as neither the network nor the devices are is in the process of rolling out NB-IoT across numerous international designed to offer the necessary energy-saving mechanisms. markets and is involved in the development of related applications. So, companies regularly deal with a myriad of challenges during their IoT deployments: high power consumption leads to frequent and costly maintenance routines for battery exchange or recharging. Low cost Plug & Play Worldwide standard High security Radio module < 5 $ (industry Direct connectivity of the sensor Worldwide 3GPP industry Proven LTE-like SIM-based target), lower total cost of (no installation and maintenance standard on operator-managed security mechanisms ownership of local networks /gateways networks in licensed spectrum required) 3 narrowband IOT lPWA: DIffeReNT NeTWORks fOR DIffeReNT PURPOses lPWA: DIffeReNT NeTWORks fOR DIffeReNT PURPOses NB-IoT is not the only 3GPP-defined LPWA standard. Another example Which technologies can enable a massive deployment of IoT applica- is Long Term Evolution for Machines (LTE-M), also referred to as tions? This is the question most users ask when choosing a network. LTE Cat-M1 or eMTC. Just like NB-IoT it serves as an extension of the current LTE standard and can transmit higher data rates than NB-IoT, but requires significantly more spectrum bandwidth and more complex sCAlABIlITy Is key hence more costly radio modules. The two technologies complement each other by meeting the needs of different IoT use cases. Scalability is one of the notable features of cellular networks, in which mobile network operators (MNOs) can manage their own capacities Some other LPWA technologies have specifications that differ from alongside existing LTE networks. In contrast, proprietary technologies NarrowBand IoT in a variety of ways, most notably standardization, like e.g. LoRa and Sigfox need dedicated gateways and networks, required infrastructure and spectrum use. NB-IoT is using existing operated by different companies across countries and urban regions. assets of LTE network operators such as sites, base stations, antennas, Arguably, MNOs are better suited to operate reliable and secure net- backhaul and their licensed spectrum. These licensed bands can works and platforms for IoT applications fulfilling the need for data handle a massive number of devices while remaining stable and security and high capacities. As an industry standard currently being avoiding interferences. They have high capacities and are thus highly rolled out all over the world including the US and the Chinese market, reliable in their data transmission, hence contributing substantially to where all three mobile operators are rapidly expanding their networks, the attractiveness of NB-IoT. In contrast, if the number of connected NB-IoT benefits from decreasing module costs thanks to increasing devices increases, data transmission on unlicensed bands is likely to production scale. deteriorate (e.g. by interference). Moreover, as a global industry standard, NB-IoT benefits from a large ecosystem of chipset and device manufacturers, which ultimately reduces the risk of vendor lock-in, a problem which can occur with proprietary technologies. Table 1: Overview of IoT transmission technologies LTE Cat-1 LTE-M NB-IoT LoRa Sigfox Spectrum Licensed Licensed Licensed Unlicensed Unlicensed Bandwidth 20 MHz 1.4 MHz 180 kHz 125 – 500 kHz 200 kHz Bidirectional Data Transfer Full duplex Half duplex Half duplex Half duplex Half duplex & full duplex Peak Data Rate 10 Mbps (DL) 1 Mbps (DL) 250 kbps (DL) 50 kbps (DL) 0,6 kbps (DL) 5 Mbps (UL) 1 Mbps (UL) 230 kbps (UL) 50 kbps (UL) 0,1 kbps (UL) Typical Downlink Daily Throughput Limited only by battery power, radio signaling condition and commercial terms ~ 200 B ~ 24 B Typical Uplink Daily Throughput (e.g. monthly data volume, amount of messages / size per period) ~ 200 kB ~ 1,64 kB Max. Coupling Loss (vs. GSM) 144 dB 156 dB 164 dB 157 dB 153 dB (0 dB) (+ 12 dB) (+ 20 dB) (+ 13 dB) (+ 9 dB) Expected Module Cost > 10 $ < 10 $ < 5 $ < 7 $ < 3 $ Expected Max. Battery Lifetime1 3 – 5 years 5 –10 years 10 + years 10 + years 10 + years 1 Assuming typical traffic pattern and battery size 4 narrowband IOT NB-IOT – The TeChNOlOgy NB-IOT – The TeChNOlOgy Apart from the bandwidth it uses, there is nothing narrow about A cost of less than 5 US dollars per NB-IoT module is the specified NarrowBand IoT. In fact, this new Low Power Wide Area technology industry target and expected to be reached within the next years. To enables a very broad range of new IoT applications. But which of ensure this, a range of unnecessary LTE features has been eliminated to its technical capabilities make this possible? its bill of materials (BoM). By waiving carrier aggregation, voice support, multi-stream transmissions for both downlink and uplink, parallel pro- cessing, connected mode mobility measurements, turbo decoders PeRfORmANCe BeNefITs and inter- and intra-RAT handovers, the modules can be produced more cost-effectively than regular LTE, 3G or GSM modules.