After the read, you will learn about the NB-IoT Frequency Bands, the NB-IoT advantages, the NB-IoT features, and NB-IoT Frequently Asked Questions.
What is NB-IoT?
NB-IoT refers to Narrow Band-Internet of Things technology.
NB-IoT focuses on the Low Power Wide Coverage (LPWA) Internet of Things (IoT) market and is an emerging technology that can be widely used worldwide. NB-IoT uses the license frequency band and can adopt three deployment methods, in-band, guard band, or an independent carrier, to coexist with existing networks.
NB-IoT is an emerging Internet of Things technology that has attracted attention due to its low power consumption, stable connection, low cost, and excellent architecture optimization. Huawei, as a domestic leader in the research and development of NB-IoT technology, has also received considerable attention from the scientific and technological community.
Four characteristics of NB-IoT
The first is wide coverage, which will provide improved indoor coverage. In the same frequency band, NB-IoT has a gain of 20dB over the existing network, and the coverage area is expanded by nearly 100 times;
The second is the ability to support massive connections. One sector of NB-IoT can support tens of thousands of connections, supporting low latency sensitivity, ultra-low equipment cost, low equipment power consumption, and optimized network architecture;
The third is lower power consumption. The standby time of the NB-IoT terminal module can be as long as 10 years;
The fourth is lower module cost.
Advantages of NB-IOT
Mobile communication is moving from the connection between people and people to the connection between people and things and things and things. The interconnection of all things is an inevitable trend. However, the current 4G network lacks the ability to connect things with things.
In fact, compared to short-distance communication technologies such as Bluetooth and ZigBee, NB-IoT has the characteristics of wide coverage, mobility, and a large number of connections, which can bring richer application scenarios and should become the main connection technology of the Internet of Things.
As an evolutionary technology of LTE, in addition to having a peak rate of up to 1Gbps, 4.5G also means more connections based on the cellular Internet of Things, support for massive M2M connections, and lower latency, which will boost HD video, VoLTE and the Internet of Things And other applications quickly spread. The cellular Internet of Things is opening up an unprecedented broad market.
For telecom operators, IoT applications such as the Internet of Vehicles, smart medical care, and smart homes will generate massive connections, far exceeding the communication needs between people.
Features of NB-IoT
The first is wide coverage, which will provide improved indoor coverage. In the same frequency band, NB-IoT has a gain of 20dB over the existing network, and the coverage area is 100 times larger;
The second is the ability to support massive connections. One sector of NB-IoT can support 100,000 connections, supporting low latency sensitivity, ultra-low equipment cost, low equipment power consumption, and optimized network architecture;
The third is lower power consumption, and the standby time of the NB-IoT terminal module can be as long as 10 years; the fourth is lower module cost.
What are the main NB-IoT frequency bands?
NB-IoT follows the band number defined by the LTE system, and NB-IoT Rel-13 specifies 14 operating bands. An NB-IoT carrier, in the frequency domain, occupies 180 kHz transmission bandwidth. the operating bands supported by NB-IoT are shown in the table below.
| Band number | Uplink frequency range/MHz | Downlink frequency range/MHz |
| Band 1 | 1920-1980 | 2110-2170 |
| Band 2 | 1850-1910 | 1930-1990 |
| Band 3 | 1710-1785 | 1805-1880 |
| Band 5 | 824-849 | 869-894 |
| Band 8 | 880-915 | 925-960 |
| Band 12 | 699-716 | 729-746 |
| Band 13 | 777-787 | 746-756 |
| Band 17 | 704-716 | 734-746 |
| Band 18 | 815-830 | 860-875 |
| Band 19 | 830-845 | 875-890 |
| Band 20 | 832-862 | 791-821 |
| Band 26 | 814-849 | 859-894 |
| Band 28 | 703-748 | 758-803 |
| Band 66 | 1710-1780 | 2110-2200 |
Bank 3 in the table overlaps with the GSM DCS 1800 band, and Band 8 overlaps with the GSM 900 band, making it easy for GSM operators to upgrade to NB-IoT.
NB-IoT Frequently Asked Questions
1.1 How do domestic and foreign operators divide the frequency band of NB-IoT?
Most operators in the world use the 900MHz frequency band to deploy NB-IoT, and some operators deploy in the 800MHz frequency band.
China Unicom’s NB-IoT is deployed in the 900MHz and 1800MHz frequency bands, and currently, only 900MHz can be tested.
In order to build the NB-IoT, China Mobile will obtain an FDD license and allow the re-cultivation of the existing 900MHz and 1800MHz frequency bands.
China Telecom’s NB-IoT is deployed in the 800MHz frequency band with a frequency of only 5MHz.
1.2 Available NB-IoT frequency bands owned by domestic operators
Domestic operators already have NB-IoT frequency bands
1.3 NB-IoT network deployment schedule?
In 2016, China Unicom launched NB-IoT field-scale networking trials based on 900MHz and 1800MHz in 7 cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Fuzhou, Changsha, and Yinchuan), as well as more than 6 business application demonstrations. In 2018, the commercial deployment of NB-IoT across the country will be fully promoted.
China Mobile plans to start the commercialization process of NB-IoT in 2017.
China Telecom plans to deploy an NB-IoT network in the first half of 2017.
Huawei and six operators (China Unicom, China Mobile, Vodafone, Etisalat, Telefónica, Telecom Italia) established six NB-IoT open laboratories around the world, focusing on NB-IoT business innovation, industry development, and interoperability testing And product compatibility verification.
ZTE and China Mobile completed a technical verification demonstration of the NB-IoT protocol at the China Mobile 5G Joint Innovation Center Laboratory.
1.4 Can non-operators deploy NB-IoT networks?
the answer is negative.
1.5 Does NB-IoT require a real-name system?
All needs are traced to the responsible party.
1.6 Does NB-IoT all use eSIM?
The product feature of NB-IoT is that it does not need to be installed and configured, it can work when it is connected to the network directly, and it supports functions such as automatic device registration and air upgrade.
The SIM card and eSIM will coexist for a long time, and operators reject the soft SIM model.
1.7 What are the operators’ plans to withdraw from the 2G/3G network?
China Unicom may gradually shut down the 2G network in 2018, and in some places, it may shut down the 3G network.
Japan’s mobile operators have all shut down 2G networks, and AT&T in the US, Telstra, and Optus in Australia have announced plans to shut down their 2G networks.
Telenor plans to shut down its 3G network in Norway in 2020 and then shut down its 2G network in 2025.
Some operators consider that there is more than 100 million GPRS Internet of Things terminals and the long-term existence of low-end GSM mobile phones, and because of the low complexity of GSM and no patent fees, the cost is lower than LTE for a long time, so for a longer period of time Within, most operators will maintain the GSM frequency band to continue operations.
1.8 Do operators support NB-IoT roaming?
The answer is negative
1.9 How do operators ensure the stability of the NB-IoT network?
NB-IoT is directly deployed in GSM, UMTS, or LTE networks, and can be reused with existing network base stations to reduce deployment costs and achieve smooth upgrades. However, it uses a separate 180KHz frequency band and does not occupy the voice and data bandwidth of the existing network, ensuring Traditional business and future IoT business can be carried out stably and reliably at the same time.
The control and bearer of NB-IoT are separated, signaling goes to the control plane, and data goes to the bearing plane. If it is a low-rate service, go directly to the control plane and no longer establish a dedicated bearer, omit the signaling process of establishing a link between the NAS and the core network, and shorten the wake-up recovery delay.
NB-IoT is an operable telecommunication network. This is the key to distinguishing NB-IoT from GPRS, LoRa, SigFox, and other technologies.
1.10 How do operators use the NB-IoT network to make money?
Operators’ existing QoS service quality assurance, network security, carrier-level billing, big data services, and other fields continue to maintain industry advantages. NB-IoT networks can allow operators to strengthen their business service capabilities in the Internet of Things, including cloud service provision, Mass customer management, real-name authentication of the Internet of Things, system total package integration, high-end customized services for major customers, etc.
1.11 What are the price issues related to NB-IoT?
Operator tariffs: one is billing based on traffic, and the other is billing based on messages, the trend will be lower than GPRS charges
Antenna price: reasonable antenna price
Chip price: lower than 2G main chip
Module price: lower than GPRS module price
Terminal price: pricing based on actual functions
Maintenance cost: much lower than the existing network maintenance cost
Subsidy policy: The operator will provide larger operating subsidies in the early stage
2.1 Will the NB-IoT standard support TDD LTE?
Currently, the FDD LTE system supports NB-IoT technology, and the current TDD LTE system does not support NB-IoT technology.
Most of the physical layer design of NB-IoT follows the LTE system technology, such as SC-FDMA for uplink and OFDM for downlink. The high-level protocol design continues to use the LTE protocol, with functional enhancements for its small data packets, low power consumption, and large connection features. The core network part is based on the S1 interface connection and supports independent deployment and upgrade deployment.
2.3 Does NB-IoT support base station positioning?
R13 does not support base station positioning, but the operator’s network can make private solutions, such as cell ID-based positioning, which will not affect the terminal. It only requires the network to add a positioning server and contact the base station.
R14 plans to do positioning enhancements to support E-CID, UTDOA, or OTDOA. The positioning accuracy target that operators hope is within 50 meters.
From the perspective of terminal complexity, UTDOA is better because it has almost no impact on the terminal, and in the case of coverage enhancement (164dB in the basement), UTDOA (uplink) power consumption is lower; if coverage enhancement is not required in most scenarios, from the network From a capacity point of view, OTDOA (downstream) will be better.
2.4 What are the deployment methods of NB-IoT?
NB-IoT supports 3 different deployment methods, namely independent deployment, guardband deployment, and in-band deployment.
Independent deployment: A separate frequency band can be used, suitable for re-cultivation of the GSM frequency band.
Guard band deployment: You can use the marginal unused frequency bands in the LTE system.
In-band deployment: Any resource block in the middle of the LTE carrier can be used.
2.5 What modulation and demodulation technology does NB-IoT use?
The downlink adopts OFDMA, and the subcarrier spacing is 15kHz.
The uplink adopts SC-FDMA, Single-tone: 3.75kHz/15kHz, and Multi-tone: 15kHz.
Only need to support half-duplex, with a separate synchronization signal.
The terminal supports instructions for Single-tone and Multi-tone capabilities.
The MAC/RLC/PDCP/RRC layer processing is based on the existing LTE procedures and protocols, and the physical layer is optimized.
2.6 What is the number of connected users and active users of the NB-IoT base station?
NB-IoT has 50 to 100 times the uplink capacity increase compared to 2G/3G/4G. In the case of the same base station, NB-IoT can provide 50 to 100 times the number of accesses than existing wireless technologies.
Below the frequency of 200KHz, according to simulation test data, a single base station cell can support 50,000 NB-IoT terminal access.
2.7 What is the coverage area of the NB-IoT base station?
NB-IoT has a gain of 20dB higher than LTE and GPRS base stations, and it is expected to cover underground garages, basements, underground pipelines, and other places where signals are difficult to reach.
According to the simulation test data, in the independent deployment mode, the coverage of NB-IoT can reach 164dB, and the in-band deployment and guardband deployment still need to be simulated and tested.
2.8 What is the uplink and downlink transmission rate of NB-IoT?
The NB-IoT radio frequency bandwidth is 200kHz.
Downlink rate: greater than 160kbps, less than 250kbps.
Uplink rate: greater than 160kbps, less than 250kbps (Multi-tone)/200kbps (Single-tone).
2.9 Does NB-IoT support a retransmission mechanism?
NB-IoT uses mechanisms such as retransmission (up to 200 times) and low-order modulation to achieve coverage enhancement.
2.10 Does NB-IoT support voice?
In the case of NB-IoT without coverage enhancement, the supported voice is Push to Talk.
In scenarios with 20dB coverage enhancement, it can only support similar Voice Mail.
NB-IoT does not support VoLTE, which requires too much delay, and the high-level protocol stack requires a QoS guarantee, which will increase the cost.
2.11 Why does the NB-IoT chip have low power consumption?
The energy consumed by the device is related to the amount of data or rate, and the size of the data packet sent per unit of time determines the size of the power consumption.
NB-IoT introduces eDRX power-saving technology and PSM power-saving mode, which further reduces power consumption and extends battery life.
NB-IoT can keep the device online at all times, but it saves power by reducing unnecessary signaling and not accepting paging messages in the PSM state.
In the PSM mode, the terminal is still registered on the network, but the signaling is unreachable so the terminal stays in deep sleep for a longer time to save power.
The eDRX power-saving technology further extends the sleep period of the terminal in idle mode, reduces unnecessary startup of the receiving unit, and greatly improves the downlink reachability compared to PSM.
2.12 Does NB-IoT sleep and wake mode affect battery life?
At present, the working time given by NB-IoT is provided based on simulation data and does not consider battery factors and environmental factors, such as battery self-discharge and aging problems, high and low-temperature environmental impacts, etc. In actual use, it is necessary to comprehensively evaluate the battery power supply time according to the actual situation.
NB-IoT adopts the power-saving scheme of wake-up from sleep. When the battery is awakened during sleep, it will receive an instantaneous strong current, which will greatly affect the battery life.
Meter reading applications usually use lithium thionyl chloride (Li/SOCl2) batteries with supercapacitors. Consumer electronics and other applications usually use polymer lithium batteries for power.
2.13 Why are NB-IoT antennas cheap?
Low speed, low power consumption, and low bandwidth bring low-cost advantages.
A low rate means that no large cache is needed, so the cache can be small and the DSP configuration is low;
Low power consumption means that RF design requirements are low, and a small PA can be realized;
Low bandwidth means no need for complex equalization algorithms
These factors reduce the cost of NB-IoT antennas.
2.14 What is the range of NB-IoT to the device’s mobile speed?
NB-IoT is suitable for application scenarios with weak mobility support (such as smart meter reading, smart parking, etc.) while simplifying the complexity of the terminal and reducing the power consumption of the terminal.
NB-IoT does not support mobility management in the connected state, including related measurements, measurement reports, handovers, etc.
The problem with NB-IoT
2.15 What is the network delay of NB-IoT?
NB-IoT allows a delay of about 10s, but it can support a lower delay, such as about 6s, in the maximum coupling loss environment.
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