Cellular technologies for IoT: What they offer (& not yet) · Cellular technologies for IoT: What...
Transcript of Cellular technologies for IoT: What they offer (& not yet) · Cellular technologies for IoT: What...
Cellular technologies for IoT:
What they offer (& not yet)
Liesbet Van der Perre, Guus Leenders, Gilles Callebaut
VLAIO-SMIOT User group meeting, November 12th 2018
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The Things, which
are embedded with
sensors and/or
actuators
The network
that connects
them
The systems that
process data
to/from the Things
source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/internet-things-iot-dummies-rajat-kochhar
Connecting things: Variety of applications in diverse sectors!
© Qualcomm
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Traditional cellular technologies:
not well fit for IoT
New cellular technologies (try)
to address IoT requirements
Selecting an appropriate connectivity solution: what matters?
• Range: home – local area – wide area?
• Data rate – up and/or downlink
• Mobility
• Latency (~response time): maybe crucial for safety-critical control operations
• Interference:
o Has become non-negligible: number of wirelessly connected devices large and
expected to grow steadily over the next years!
o Especially in unlicensed bands and in open environments
o Feature = difficult to predict and control
• Reliability: %’s or 0.000x%’s?
Selecting an appropriate IoT connectivity technology:
Power and size strictly constraint in many use cases
• Power options vs. autonomy requirements:
o Grid power or battery?
o Chargeable (e.g. outdoor solar cell – basement - …)?
o How accessible (for battery replacement)?
• Integration and environmental aspects:
o Size/weight
o Outdoor/indoor – humidity – radiation - …
o Design - esthetics?
Selecting an appropriate connectivity solution:
Non-Technical considerations
• Costs involved:
o Devices
o Development
o License?
• HW/SW solutions availability (maybe from different vendors)
• Maturity
• Standard compliance – interoperability - roaming
• Expertise - support available?
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Cellular technologies for IoT:
3GPP standards are key
Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) –
3GPP (members) propose ‘central RAN’
3rd Generation Partnership Project:
o Global initiative for broadband mobile
o Succeeded in globally harmonizing cellular standards.
Vision: one central all-encompassing Radio Access Network (RAN) (for technical &
commercial reasons)
http://www.3gpp.org
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nsEAw_SirQ
Key 3GPP jargon:
• Releases – numbered: each release adds new agreed transmission schemes/protocols
• User equipment (UE) categories
3GPP-LTE not longer only about higher speed
Cellular standards: how to make them better fit for IoT
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1. Reducing complexity,
2. Improving battery life,
3. Enhancing coverage, (adverse environments e.g. underground parkings)
4. Enabling higher node density deployments.
3GPP-LTE is considering
different UE (User Equipment) categories
target
3GPP-LTE included
3 options for IoT
in Release 13
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-> New air interface
-> ‘retro fits’
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NB-IoT: the maximum service offer as specified
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Note: the name suggests ‘Narrowband’ = relative for cellular technologies
Offered rate > unlicensed LPWAN (Lora, Sigfox)
NarrowBand-IoT (NB-IoT): a promising name/technology?
• A cellular system, hence:
o Network provided by operator
o Licensed bands, more control on Quality of Service (QoS)
• Extended coverage (announcement: 20dB better than GSM – indoor – still 160bps)
• Long battery life (up to 10 years - guaranteed? – To be investigated)
• Low complexity devices
• Conceived to support for large numbers of devices (tens/household – (50K/cell)
• Backed up/promoted by key big industrial players (manufacturers and operators) – e.g.
Huawei ‘NB-IoT, Enabling New Business Opportunities, building a better connected
world’
NB-IoT: actual operation in Belgium? Status November 2018
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• Only Orange provides NB-IoT in Belgium.
• Standard offer (Orange) for industrial projects with varying prices depending on
data usage from €10/device per year (to be negotiated)
• Proximus announced it is ‘launching’ NB-IoT network to support digital meters
(which should operate by the end of 2022)
• Hardware cost NB-IoT chipsets: €10 - €30.
Mobile standards for IoT?
Transmission options:
• GPRS
• EDGE
• WCDMA/HSPA
• Extended Coverage GSM (EC-GSM)
• Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT)
• To follow: 5G IoT
UE categories:
• LTE Category 4
• LTE Category 1
• LTE Category 0
• LTE-M (or Release 13)
Incorporating NB-IoT in cellular networks:
several options in the spectrum
Note:
‘Just a Software Update’
has not proven realistic
in actual 4G networks
M2M use cases: the 3GPP-LTE perspective
Not confirmed by our study and experiments!
Creative use cases are proposed
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© Huawei
23© Huawei
Reuse of sites
(access): attractive
offer for operators -
services
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Expert contributions by Guus Leenders
What study and experiments learn us
on power and coverage
Coverage extension: in theory NB-IoT should do better
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© Huawei, a main promotor of cellular IoT technologies,
As many companies with big stake in cellular world
Higher Power Spectral Density (PSD),
more robust modulation
NB-IoT can hence operate in lower SNIR
Signal-to-Noise and Interference regime
Basic experiment confirms solid coverage NB-IoT
Reception in underground parking garages campus Gent
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! This is a preliminary result.
More experiments (test conditions, technology benchmarking) and analysis coming up.
Power consumption: a price to pay
Consider power profile and traffic scenarios
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To be noted: significantly higher
than LORA - Sigfox
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Conclusion- for now, and outlook
Cellular technologies for IoT:
Lessons learned so far
Cost Service
Energy Coverage
Licensed spectrum -> subscription
Low chip cost, low data volume/cost
Cellular network ‘coverage guaranteed’
International standard: global scale – in progress
Relatively low data rate for cellular,
Higher than unlicensed LPWAN (LORA, SIGFOX)
Better service guarantees – licensed spectrum,
centrally controlled, interference can be avoided
Considerably higher than LPWAN
alternatives
Reduce radio on time
NB-IoT: Best fit current cellular technology for IoT
5G to support IoT: good intentions
30 © ITU: vision and requirements for 5G
What happened recently and is planned on the near term?
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• Most recent 3GPP release 15: ‘New Radio’ (NR)
o Considered the first 5G
o Focus is on Enhanced Mobile Broadband
o ‘Classic’ operating frequencies (<6GHz)
• Operators have started deploying (e.g. Verizon in US in 28GHz band)
• Upcoming 3GPP release(s):
o 5G/NR technologies at mmwave frequencies (TBC:28GHz, 38GHz)
o NB-IoT upgrade: Increased location accuracy
o ‘5G IoT’ technology better suited to support mMTC and/or URLLC?
NB-IoT devices and networks gaining momentum as we speak
32Announced November 2018, Module by Murata, modem IC from Hisilicon (a Huawei company)
Murata's LBAD0ZZ1RX: 15.6x14.0x2.2mm
claimed to be the world’s smallest
NB-IoT cellular wireless module.