NB-IoT: Pros and Cons of the new LPWA Radio Technology

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NB-IoT (LTE Cat NB1): Pros and Cons of the new
LPWA Standard
Lyn Matten
Cologne, 11.10. 2017
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mm1 Technology – Your Development Partner for Connected Business Solutions
www.mm1-technology.de | office@mm1-technology.de
A Your Speaker
B An Introduction to LPWAN
C Comparison NB-IoT, LoRaWAN, Sigfox, LTE-M
E Status Quo NB-IoT
F Pros & Cons NB-IoT
Agenda

Your Speaker
3
§ CEO – mm1 Technology GmbH
§ Diploma Information Management (FH)
Magister Artium in German language and literature studies,
philosophy, political science
§ 15 years of experience in Consultancy and Management
§ Member of several DKE smart home and IT security
standardization boards
§ Setup and management of an international industrial alliance
for secure and wireless building automation
§ Setup and management of a start-up for the development of
secure radio technology for wireless building automation
Lyn Matten

mm1t - Specialist in hardware and software development
founded by leading consultancy for Connected Business
4
consulting technology
Experienced Consultants…
§ develop Connected
Business strategies and
business models
§ design converged
(product) offerings
§ manage realization and
go-to-market activities
§ lead transformation
initiatives (IT, organization,
processes, etc.)
Skilled developers & architects…
§ evaluate and design
Connected Business
technologies (radio, networks,
devices, cloud, etc.)
§ develop and implement IoT
solutions (connectivity,
hardware, software, apps)
§ test, validate, and integrate
(wireless) components
“WE MAKE
CONNECTED
BUSINESS
CHAMPIONS!“

The IoT concept has gained enormous momentum lately.
The number of connected devices is estimated to skyrocket
within the next decade.
6
Sources: 1) IHS 2) Gartner 3) Ericsson 4) Cisco 5) IDC
Gartner2 2015: 20
billion in 2020
IHS1 2016: 30
billion in 2020
Ericsson3 2010: 50
billion in 2020
Cisco4 2011: 50
billion in 2020
IDC5 2014: 28
billion in 2020
BI Intelligence2 2017:
17 billion in 2020
Machina Research1 2017:
27 billion in 2025

Why is LPWA needed? Current GSM and LTE solutions are
not fitting for most IoT use cases.
Several characteristics of current GSM and LTE solutions make them unfitting for IoT
appliances:
7
§ Insufficient range, necessitates thick
backbone (è NB-IoT coverage with
existing backbone much better)
§ Insufficient penetration of structures
§ High current consumption
§ Wider band than NB-IoT, more TX power
è high current consumption, lower
range
§ RF modules too expensive for
deployment in huge numbers
DESIGNED FOR IMPEDIMENTS FOR IOT USAGE
§ Basic data exchange
§ Today: Legacy devices (GSM first
introduced in 1991)
§ Designed for mobile devices with high
data rates and low latency needs
LPWA fills a gap in the landscape of wireless technologies:
Connecting huge amounts of sensors with need for long service periods,
long range and the ability to operate without local gateway infrastructure.

LPWAN technology is tailored for the use in the IoT
environment.
8
Low Power Wide Area Network
describes a class of network protocols
designed to establish connections
between low energy devices (e.g. a
battery driven sensor) and a network
server. They are designed to achieve
§ long range (5-15 km claimed) with
§ low energy consumption (claimed
battery life span > 10 years).
§ Low data rates (0.018-375 kbps)
§ small packet sizes and
§ potential high latencies
are consciously taken into account to
achieve those benefits.
Range
BandwidthRequired
RFID / NFC
Bluetooth BLE
WPAN
802.15.4
ZigBee
802.15.4
WBAN
802.15.6
2G
3G
4G
5G
802.11a
802.11b
802.11g
802.11ac
802.11ad
802.11n
LPWA

The rise of Sigfox started a rapid innovation cycle that has
seen the rise of standards like LoRaWAN, LTE-M, & NB-IOT.
9
Sources: 1) Harald Naumann
§ Lack of fitting IoT technology and standards
encourages development of specialized solutions
like Sigfox, Ingenu and LoRaWAN.
§ In 2016, carrier-driven 3GPP specifies the IoT focused
standards LTE-M and NB-IoT in response
§ Today, LPWA providers roll out their networks as
quickly as possible, in order to cover some ground
before LTE-M and NB-IoT are introduced to the
market.
2000 2010 2020
2000 : GPRS
introduces
voice
transmission
2008 : On-
Ramp
Wireless
(now
Ingenu)
founded
2009: Backed by Air
Liquide, Total and
Salesforce Ventures,
French startup
Sigfox starts to roll-
out their worldwide
LPWA network
2015: Non-
profit LoRa-
Alliance (over
400 industrial
members)
launches v 1.0
of the
LoRaWAN
standard.
3 GPP (a
collaboration
between groups of
telecommunicatio
n associations)
finalizes LTE Cat
M1 and LTE Cat
NB1 standards.
S
THE EVOLUTION OF 3 GPP IOT STANDARDS1
NB-IoT è LTE Cat M2 è
EC-GSM
NB-GSM
NB-CSS
C-UNB
NB-M2M
NB-CIoT
NB-OFDMA
LTE Cat M1
LTE Cat NB1
EC-GPRS
EC-GPRS è
LTE Cat 0 LTE Cat 00
eMTC Cat M è
3GPP Rel
13 Juni
2016

NB-IoT is one of the 3GPP LPWA standards finalized in
release 13.
10
§ LPWA standard made for IoT applications
§ Published in 2016 by 3GPP as part of release 13 (in addition to LTE
Cat M1, EC-GSM-IoT)
§ Telco driven
§ Internationally standardized
§ Licensed frequency bands (GSM / LTE)
§ Renounces LTE features (e.g. handover, measurements to monitor
channel quality, carrier aggregation, dual connectivity) in order to
reduce device costs and minimize battery consumption
§ Deployment Modes: Standalone, LTE Guardband, LTE In-Band
§ Other Features (exemplary selection):
– PSM (Power Saving Mode): When turning the radio module off, the user
equipment remains registered with the network for a set timeframe in order
to resign the power-consuming device-network reattach procedure
– eDRX (Extended Discontinuous Reception): Power saving by momentarily
switching off the receive section of the radio module (up to 175 min.)
NB-IoT
Cloud
Connected
Devices
Telco
Backbone

Other LPWA related standards and technologies worth
mentioning:
11
HaLow
Symphony
Link

Numerous use cases can be realized using LPWA
technology.
Predictive
Maintenance
Boilers
Monitoring
Critical Goods
Management
Water
metering
Industrial Dash
Button
Electricity, gas and fuel
metering
Structural Health
Monitoring
Smart Building
Management
Parking Slot
Availability
Monitoring
Water Level
Monitoring
Street Lighting
ManagementFire Hydrant
Monitoring
Air-Quality
Monitoring
Dumpster
Monitoring
Traffic
Management
Smart City
Package pick-up
Service
Dash Button
Retail
Outdoor Sports
GPS Tracker
Water Leak
Detection
Connected
Mailbox
Water Quality
Monitoring
Smoke
DetectorHome Alarm
System
Smart
Home
Livestock
Management
Smart
Irrigation
Silo Fleet
Monitoring
Crop
Management
Agriculture
Fleet
Management
Industry
Weather
Stations

Video
Security
NB-IoT is no „one size fits“ all IoT solution. Data-intensive
and time-critical applications cannot be realized with
todays standards.
13
Caption: Time-critical Data-intensive
Traffic Safety and
Control
Smart Grid
Augmented
Reality
Industrial /
Medical Robots
Automation
Fire Detection /
Intrusion
Detection
Autonomous
Driving
Access Control

Overview other forthcoming / relevant LPWA standards
15
§ LoRaWAN = MAC layer protocol specification; built on top of the LoRa modulation
scheme
§ LoRa = proprietary spread spectrum modulation scheme developed by Semtech,
derivative of chirp spread spectrum modulation (CSS)
§ Layer 2 means added flexibility but no market-ready solution
§ Market-ready solution based on proprietary Sigfox technology
§ First modern LPWA network
§ Sigfox radios from different companies available (e.g. TI)
§ Control over the infrastructure remains with Sigfox
§ Increment of LTE standard (like NB-IoT) specified in 2016 by 3GPP as part of release
13
§ Parts of the specification (e.g. PSM) are still being coordinated between infrastructure
providers, chipset manufacturers, and network operators
§ No additional hardware needed for infrastructure rollout (software update sufficient
for radio station support)
-M

Comparison of LPWA standards and exemplary modules
16
NB-IoT LoRaWAN Sigfox LTE-M
Nationwide Coverage
Africa: 0, Asia: 0, EU: 0,
Americas: 0
Americas: 0
Americas: 0
Americas: 1
Frequency (Europe)
GSM band / LTE band
(licensed) (B3,B8,B20)
868 MHz
(unlicensed)
868 MHz
(unlicensed)
LTE band
(licensed)
VoLTE / Voice no no no yes
Duplex HDX HDX HDX (limited) HDX
Bandwidth (kHz) 180 125 192 1080
Subscription Cost on request on request on request
e.g. 1.7 EUR / month
(@200 kb / month)
Max. # Messages / Day unlimited unlimited 140 unlimited
Roaming no no (planned) yes5 yes
exemplarydatafor
Module(s) BC95-B20
SX1272, SX1273, SX1276,
SX1277, SX1278, SX1279
ATA8520E Quectel BG96
Link Budget (dB) 150-168 156
Transmission (TX) Power (dBm) 23 20 14 23
TX Current (max TX Power) (mA) 125 (@20 dBm) 32.7 (@14 dBm) 190 (@23 dBm)
Max Sensitivity (dBm) -129 -130 to -148 -121.5 -107
Supply Current (µA)
PSM: 5
Idle mode: 6000
PSM: 0.1
Idle mode: 1.5
PSM: 0.005
Idle mode: 50
PSM: 10.4
Idle mode: 1990
Max Data Rate (DL/UL) (kbps) 24 / 15.625 0.018 to 40 0.6 / 0.1 375 / 375
Module Costs
14.49 EUR1
(@1 unit)
from 5.61 EUR2
(SX1273, @1 unit)
from 2.09 EUR3
(@1 unit)
33.90 EUR4
(@1 unit)
Sources: 1) Tekmodul 2) Mouser 3) Microchip 4) Octopart 5) Sigfoxas of 09/2017

Caption: good coverage rollout in progress
OPERATORS & PARTNERS
NB-IoT
None of todays solutions offers global LPWA coverage.
Strong market dynamics, different stages of expansion
18
AVAILABILITY
STANDARD /
TECHNOLOGY
-M
as of 09/2017

OPERATORS &
PARTNERS
NB-IoT
As of today, there is no LPWA solution with nationwide
coverage in Germany.
19
AVAIL-
ABILITY*
*illustrative
STANDARD /
TECHNOLOGY
§ Actility and telenet expect nationwide Netzikon coverage in 20181
§ Digimondo predicts nationwide coverage at the end of 20172
§ The things network has 102 gateways connected around Germany3
§ Sigfox claims to cover nearly half of Germany,
including most big cities.
§ European Sigfox / Telefonica partnership announced5
§ DT promises nationwide coverage by the end of 2018
(first smart parking project realized in Hamburg)
§ Vodafone’s roll-out delayed (Open Lab in Düsseldorf)4
§ Telefonica with pilot project in Munich
ROLL-OUT
DETAILS
§ No LTE-M Deployments yet
-M
as of 09/2017

as of 09/2017
20
Test run /
Selected Cities covered
Nationwide roll-out
planned / in progress
Nationwide roll-
out planned / in
progress
Test run /
Selected Cities
covered
Caption:
Overview: Carrier NB-IoT Activities
in Europe

NB-IoT – Advantages and Considerations compared to
other LPWA technologies
22
Advantages Considerations
+ low power consumption
+ (expected) moderate module costs
+ better Link Power Budget than unl.*
+ better range / coverage than unl.*
+ better penetration of structures than unl.*
+ better data rates than unl.* (sufficient for FU-OTA)
+ more reliable bi-directional communication than unl.*
+ physical infrastructure already in place: Fast roll-out
and market readiness
+ Higher service level than unl.* due to licensed band
+ Telco provided (proved ability to provide mass mobile
networks with high service level)
+ international standard (roaming expected soon)
+ wider range of use cases than unl.*
- puzzling competition between NB-IoT and LTE Cat
M1, differences in battery performance are marginal**
- Sigfox still leading in coverage (Europe) and with
roaming support (2G sunset and available LTE
infrastructure may boost licensed standards though)
- early adoption phase, scarce coverage / fragmented
situation
- modules don’t have reliable maturity yet
- data rates inferior to LTE-M
- Pricing models in evolution, hard to calculate valid
business cases
- no roaming (yet)
- no Voice Transmission support
- Deployability could be problematic (deployment in
side band or in deprecated GSM spectrum)
**Even though some analysts say, there might be no use case where NB-IoT excels LTE Cat M1, NB-IoT is likely to be deployed in areas with a high number of GSM deployments and where LTE coverage is scarce
*) unl. = Standards using unlicensed bands (e.g. LoRaWAN, Sigfox)

mm1 Technology GmbH
Schiffbauerdamm 19, 10117 Berlin
www.mm1-technology.de
Telefon: +49 30 97 00 43 50
Fax: +49 30 97 00 43 52
E-Mail: office@mm1-technology.de
Amtsgericht Charlottenburg
HRB 173672 B
Ust-Id Nr.: DE304870479
Sprechen Sie uns an!
Lyn Matten
Managing Director
+49 151 50674715
l.matten@mm1-technology.de
mm1 technology, a specialist in wireless technology, provides hardware and software
solutions for an increasingly networked world. Experienced developers and architects
support the technical implementation of Connected Business solutions. The range of services
includes the evaluation and selection of the best technology, the functional and technical
specification, the implementation of prototypes and software deliverables, as well as the
integration of radio protocols in products and components. If necessary, mm1 Technology
also develops complete, proprietary radio protocols and systems. The focus is on Wireless
Sensor Networks (WSN), as used in the application areas of Smart Home, Connected Building
or generally in the local Internet of Things. mm1 technology was founded in Berlin in 2015
and is a subsidiary of mm1 Consulting & Management PartG.

www.mm1-technology.de | office@mm1-technology.de 25
BACKUP

mentioning – Detail View (1/3)
26
DESCRIPTION
ADDITIONAL
SOURCES
§ Set (Weightless-P, -N, -W available) of open LPWAN standards
§ LoRaWAN based
§ Maintained by non-profit Weightless SIG (prominent members:
Accenture, ARM, Sony, Telensa)
§ LPWA based on UNB modulation technology, covering 10 cities all over
the world (London, Dallas, …), offices in the UK and USA
§ Focus on common IoT use cases (Smart Parking, Smart Irrigation, …)
§ Featured Partners: ParkHub, Cisco, Appyparking
§ Wikipedia
§ Weightless.org
§ Nwave.io
§ Appyparking
§ ParkHub
§ Based in San Diego, until 2015 know as “On-Ramp Wireless”
§ Owns and uses RPMA (Random phase multiple access, LPWA channel
access method)
§ Focus on utility, oil and gas based use cases
§ Wikipedia
§ ingenu.com
§ Industrial consortium; prominent members: Cisco, Toshiba, Fujitsu,
GlobalSign, Huawei, TI
§ Mission: Promote certified standards that coordinate wireless systems,
ensure vendor interoperability
§ Wi-sun.org

27
DESCRIPTION
ADDITIONAL
SOURCES
§ US based, founded 2014, IoT networks focus
§ Sells “Symphony Link” a LoRaWAN based LPWA technology with FOTA,
QoS and Roaming support.
§ Founded 2011, focus on turn-key solutions, Networks
all over the world
§ LPWA Technology based on proprietary NB-Fi protocol,
full duplex (!) gateways, >50 km coverage claimed
§ Wikipedia
§ LinkLabs.com
§ Waviot.com
§ Focus on Smart City use cases / products, e.g. Smart Lighting („worlds
most deployed smart streetlight solution“) and Smart Parking
§ Powered by proprietary “Telensa UNB”
§ App-to-device solution
§ Telensa.com
§ Founded 2002, Based in Cambridge, UK
§ Develops Narrowband mesh (!) network for utility-, gas-, and water
metering solutions and Smart Street Lighting
§ Cyanconnode.com

28
DESCRIPTION
ADDITIONAL
SOURCES
§ Wi-Fi HaLow = IEEE 802.11ah, which is an amendment of the IEEE
802.11-2007 wireless networking standard
§ Designed for IoT applications
§ ISM band; data rate of 100 kbps, 1km coverage (claimed)
§ Founded in 2002, based in San Jose
§ Focus on Smart Grid use cases, sells IPv6-based smart
grid communications networks
§ Wikipedia
§ Wikipedia
§ Silverspringnet
HaLow

Sources by Topic (1/2)
29
NB-IoT roll-out in Europe (as of 09/2017)
§ Roll-Out Übersicht von Pycom
§ Roll-Out Übersicht von Telegeography.com
§ Karte mit auf 3GPP Standards basierenden IoT Stationen von GSMA
§ (List of Mobile Network Operators in Europe)
§ Altice (& Huawei) mit Labor in Portugal
§ Cosmote mit Smart City Pilotprojekt in Griechenland
§ DNA mit „Indoor Air Quality“ Testlauf in Finnland
§ DT mit roll-out in Deutschland, Niederlangen, Griechenland, Polen, Ungarn,
Österreich, Slowakei, Kroatien
§ Elisa hat in Finnland getestet
§ NOS mit „Water Monitoring“ Pilotprojekt in Portugal
§ O2 testet im UK
§ Orange Belgium kündigt NB-IoT roll-out an
§ Proximus testet in Belgien
§ SFR experimentiert mit NB-IoT (und LTE Cat M1) in Frankreich
§ Swisscom kündigt roll-out an
§ Tele2 Live Demo in Estland
§ Telefonica mit Pilotprojekt in Spanien
§ Telekom Austria testet
§ Telenor testet in Norwegen
§ Telia testet mit Schafen in Norwegen
§ Telia plant NB-IoT roll-out für 2017
§ TIM mit „Water Monitoring“ in Italien
§ Vodafone kündigt roll-out in Deutschland, Irland, Spanien, Niederlanden an
§ Vodafone testet in Tschechien
# IoT Connected Devices
§ Übersicht by Spectrum mit verschiedenen Quellen zur # of
Connected Devices im IoT
§ Übersicht by Forbes mit verschiedenen Quellen zur # of
Connected Devices im IoT
§ # Connected Devices nach IHS
§ # Connected Devices nach Gartner
§ Ericsson CEO sagt 50 Milliarden Connected Devices voraus
(Prognose wurde revidiert) Ericsson
§ Cisco Internet of Things report

Sources by Topic (2/2)
30
History of LPWA
§ „Past, present and future of LPWAN“ by Brian Ray
§ Evolutoion of 3GPP Standards Harald Naumann
Chips and Modules
§ BC95 / BC20 on Tekmodul
§ SX1273 on Mouser
§ ATA8520E on Microchip
§ Quectel BG96 on Octopart
§ Sigfox SoC Solutions by Atmel
Technology
§ 3GPP adopts release 13 by 3GPP
§ “3GPP Standards for the Internet of Things” by 3GPP
§ Use cases for the “Tactile Internet” by ITU
§ IEEE 802.11ah / WiFi HaLow by Elektronik Kompendium
§ „ISM-Band and Short Range Device Regulatory Compliance Overview” by TI
§ “ERC Recommendation” by ECC
Comparison of Standards
§ A survey on LPWA technology: LoRa and NB-IoT by Korean Institute of Communications
Information Sciences
§ LoRa vs LTE-M vs Sigfox by Nick Hunn
§ „NB-IOT vs. LoRa vs. Sigfox“ by LinkLabs
§ Differences between LTE Cat M1 and NB-IoT by Sequans
§ A survey on LPWA technology: LoRa and NB-IoT by Sciencedirect
§ „NB-IoT, NB-LTE oder LTE Cat NB1?“ by Elektroniknet.de
Sigfox
§ Roaming with Sigfox
§ „Sigfox Technology Overview“ by Sigfox
§ „Sigfox Basics“ by Sigfox
LoRa / LoRaWAN
§ Roaming with LoRaWAN Businesswire
§ „LoRA Alliance Technology“ by LoRa Alliance
§ „What is LoRaWAN“ by LinkLabs
§ „What is LoRa“ by Semtech
§ LoRaWAN by The Things Network
§ LoRaWAN limitations by The Things Network
§ „A Study of LoRa: Long Range & Low Power Networks for the Internet of Things” by NCBI
NB-IoT
§ „NB-IoT Deployment Guide“ by GSMA
§ „NB-IoT“ by ietf.org
§ „NB-IoT is Dead. Long Live NB-IoT” by Nick Hunn
§ “3 Reasons You Should Forget about NB-IOT” by LinkLabs
§ „3GPP Narrowband IoT standardization (…) complete” by Qualcomm
§ “NARROWBAND IOT: FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW” by Deutsche Telekom
LTE-M
§ “The State of LTE-M” by Pycom.io
Business and Use Cases
§ Machine to Machine Plans by Verizon
§ “SigFox Vs. LoRa: A Comparison Between Technologies & Business
Models” by LinkLabs
§ “Why IoT Startups Need To Consider The Business Model First” by
LinkLabs
§ „LPWA Applications: Smart Cities“ by Sierra Wireless
§ „NB-IoT Case Studies“ by LinkLabs

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