NB-IoT

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. The specification was frozen in 3GPP Release 13 ( LTE Advanced Pro), in June 2016. Other 3GPP IoT technologies include eMTC (enhanced Machine-Type Communication) and EC-GSM-IoT.

NB-IoT focuses specifically on indoor coverage, 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. 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. This number had risen to 142 deployed/launched networks by September 2019.

3GPP LPWAN standards

Deployments

As of March 2019 GSA identified:

* 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-MGSA: NB-IoT and LTE-M: Global Ecosystem and Market Status, April 2019
(retrieved 24 April 2019)
* 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
* 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. 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.

In 2018 first NB-IoT data loggers and 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. They then went on to partner with module manufacturer u-blox to create maker boards with NB-IoT and LTE-M integrated.

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.

At the beginning of 2023 the Belgian company DPTechnics released th
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

* 6LoWPAN
* DASH7
* LTE User Equipment Categories
* LoRa/ LoRaWAN
* LPWAN
* Multefire
* NB-Fi
* SCHC
* Sigfox
* Weightless
* Internet of Things (IoT)

References

External links

3GPP NB-IOT

RP-151621

{{Mobile phones

Internet of things
LTE (telecommunication)
Mobile technology