Low-power wide-area network technology for IoT devices with long battery life.
Description
Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) is a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technology designed for IoT applications requiring low data rates, extended coverage, and extremely long battery life (up to 10 years).
NB-IoT uses only 180 kHz bandwidth and can be deployed in-band (within LTE carrier), guard-band (in LTE guard bands), or standalone (in refarmed GSM spectrum). It supports massive numbers of devices with simplified protocol stack.
Purpose & Motivation
NB-IoT was introduced to:
- Enable massive IoT deployments (smart meters, sensors, trackers) - Provide 20+ dB coverage improvement over GPRS - Support 10+ year battery life with PSM and eDRX - Reduce device complexity and cost
Key Features
- ✓180 kHz bandwidth
- ✓20 dB coverage enhancement
- ✓PSM and eDRX for power saving
- ✓In-band, guard-band, standalone deployment
- ✓Simplified protocol stack
- ✓10+ year battery life