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]
[12][13] |
LTE Cat 1 | LTE Cat 1 bis | LTE-M | NB-IoT | EC-GSM-IoT | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LC-LTE/MTCe | eMTC | ||||||||
| LTE Cat 0 | LTE Cat M1 | LTE Cat M2 | non-BL | LTE Cat NB1 | LTE Cat NB2 | ||||
| 3GPP release | Release 8 | Release 13 | Release 12 | Release 13 | Release 14 | Release 14 | Release 13 | Release 14 | Release 13 |
| Downlink peak rate | 10 Mbit/s | 10 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s | ~4 Mbit/s | ~4 Mbit/s | 26 kbit/s | 127 kbit/s | 474 kbit/s (EDGE)
2 Mbit/s (EGPRS2B) |
| Uplink peak rate | 5 Mbit/s | 5 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s | ~7 Mbit/s | ~7 Mbit/s | 66 kbit/s (multi-tone)
16.9 kbit/s (single-tone) |
159 kbit/s | 474 kbit/s (EDGE)
2 Mbit/s (EGPRS2B) |
| Latency | 50–100 ms | not deployed | 10–15 ms | 1.6–10 s | 700 ms – 2 s | ||||
| Number of antennas | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1–2 |
| Duplex mode | Full duplex | Full or half duplex | Full or half duplex | Full or half duplex | Full or half duplex | Half duplex | Half duplex | Half duplex | |
| Device receive bandwidth | 1.4–20 MHz | 1.4–20 MHz | 1.4 MHz | 5 MHz | 5 MHz | 180 kHz | 180 kHz | 200 kHz | |
| Receiver chains | 2 (MIMO) | 1 (SISO) | 1 (SISO) | 1 (SISO) | 1 (SISO) | 1 (SISO) | 1 (SISO) | 1–2 | |
| Device transmit power | 23dBm | 23dBm | 23 dBm | 20 / 23 dBm | 20 / 23 dBm | 20 / 23 dBm | 20 / 23 dBm | 14 / 20 / 23 dBm | 23 / 33 dBm |
As of March 2019 GSA identified:[14]
The 3GPP-compliant LPWA device ecosystem continues to grow. In April 2019, GSA identified 210 devices supporting either Cat-NB1/NB-2 or Cat-M1 – more than double the number in its GAMBoD database at the end of March 2018.[16] This figure had risen a further 50% by September 2019, with a total of 303 devices identified as supporting either Cat-M1, Cat-NB1 (NB-IoT) or Cat-NB2. Of these, 230 devices support Cat-NB1 (including known variants) and 198 devices support Cat-M1 (including known variants). The split of devices (as of September 2019) was 60.4% modules, 25.4% asset trackers, and 5.6% routers, with data loggers, femtocells, smart-home devices, and smart watches, USB modems, and vehicle on-board units (OBUs), making up the balance.[17]
In 2018 first NB-IoT data loggers are other certified devices started to appear. For example ThingsLog released their first CE certified single channel NB-IoT data logger on Tindie in late 2018.
To integrate NB-IoT into a maker board for IoT developments, SODAQ, a Dutch IoT hardware and software engineering company, crowdfunded an NB-IoT shield on Kickstarter.[18] They then went on to partner with module manufacturer u-blox to create maker boards with NB-IoT and LTE-M integrated.[19]
Since 2021, there also is a cheap all-in-one NB-IoT solution available to the general public developed by the Chinese manufacturer Ai-Thinker.[20]
At the beginning of 2023 the Belgian company DPTechnics released the Walter IoT board which combines an ESP32-S3 together with a Sequans Monarch 2 NB-IoT/LTE-M platform. The board is focused on long-term availability and includes a GNSS receiver.
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Cellular network standards
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| 0G radio telephones (1946) |
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| 1G (1979) |
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| 2G (1991) |
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| 2G transitional (2.5G, 2.75G, 2.9G) |
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| 3G (1998) IMT-2000 (2001) |
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| 3G transitional (3.5G, 3.75G, 3.9G) |
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| 4G (2009) IMT Advanced (2013) |
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| 5G (2018) IMT-2020 (2021) |
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| General operation |
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