Narrowband 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.[1][2] The specification was frozen in 3GPP Release 13 (LTE Advanced Pro), in June 2016.[3] Other 3GPP IoT technologies include eMTC (enhanced Machine-Type Communication) and EC-GSM-IoT.[4]

NB-IoT focuses specifically on indoor coverage, low cost, 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.[5][6][7][8][9] 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.[10] This number had risen to 142 deployed/launched networks by September 2019.[11]

  1. ^ "NarrowBand – Internet of Things (NB-IoT)".
  2. ^ Grant, Svetlana (September 1, 2016). "3GPP Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) Technologies - GSMA White Paper" (PDF). gsma.com. GSMA. p. 49. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  3. ^ "Standardization of NB-IOT completed". 3gpp.org. 3GPP. June 22, 2016. p. 1. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  4. ^ "Extended Coverage - GSM - Internet of Things (EC-GSM-IoT)". gsma.com. GSMA. May 11, 2016. p. 1. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  5. ^ Ryu, Jaeku. "NB-IoT Handbook".
  6. ^ Lawson, Stephen (September 21, 2015). "NarrowBand IoT standard for machines moves forward". computerworld.com. Computerworld / IDG. p. 1. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  7. ^ Jones, Dan (September 11, 2015). "Ericsson, Intel, Nokia Back New Narrowband LTE IoT Spec". lightreading.com. LightReading. p. 1. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  8. ^ Scales, Ian (September 18, 2015). "3GPP agrees 'harmonized' proposal for narrowband IoT radio technology". telecomtv.com. TelecomTV. p. 1. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  9. ^ Lawson, Stephen (September 22, 2015). "LTE standard for Internet of Things machines gets the green light". PCWorld / IDG. p. 1. Retrieved September 24, 2015 – via pcworld.com.
  10. ^ GSA: Global Narrowband IoT – LTE-M networks – March 2019 (retrieved 27 March 2019)
  11. ^ GSA: NB-IoT and LTE-MTC Global Ecosystem and Market Status (retrieved 15 October 2019)