Cellular IoT is a way of connecting physical devices (e.g. sensors) to the Internet by connecting them to the same mobile network as a smartphone. Its simple infrastructure,lte cat 4 coupled with the advent of 5G, makes cellular IoT a powerful player in the connectivity space.

What you may not realize is how the same cellular technology behind smartphones is driving the next wave of innovation in the upcoming Internet of Things (IoT).

What is cellular IoT?

It's a way to connect physical things (such as sensors) to the Internet using essentially the same thing behind your smartphone.lte cat1 Without having to create a new dedicated network to accommodate IoT devices, they can piggyback on the same mobile network as a smartphone. Cellular IoT offers alternatives to low-power, wide-area networks (abbreviated " LPWAN") such as non-cellular " LoRaWAN" and " Sigfox" technologies which operate in unlicensed frequency bands.

Why are cellular networks for IoT growing so fast?

Cellular networks that facilitate the flow of massive amounts of data are already available worldwide, so we don't need to build any new physical infrastructure to support cellular IoT. However, cellular-enabled IoT devices have long consumed large amounts of power, which has limited their utility in applications. Now, however, new cellular sensors can transmit reasonable amounts of data over long distances without consuming batteries. With the arrival of 5G, the future of cellular IoT is looking bright.

The two main forms of cellular IoT: LTE-M and NB-IOT

Virtually all cellular IoT applications today use one of two technologies:LTE-M or NB-IoT.While there are important application-specific differences between the two types of cellular IoT, you'll typically choose one based on whether LTE or GSM cellular infrastructure is the standard in your region. Only the U.S., the Netherlands, Ireland, and Australia have national LTE coverage, while GSM is standard in many non-Western regions such as Eastern Europe and Africa.

LTE-M.

As mentioned above, LTE has a national coverage in the US, Netherlands and Ireland, and there are ongoing research deployments and regional economic trials in most of the countries/regions where businesses primarily pass through. It may surpass GSM in cellular IoT technology applications.Long Term Evolution for Machines, is a social network security standard that allows IoT devices to piggyback on existing cellular networks. With just a management software system update, LTE-M enabled devices we can communicate information with the cloud. In general, LTE-M devices are best suited for "mission-critical" applications where real-time processing of data plays a very important role in the transmission process, for example, self-driving cars or emergency equipment in smart development cities.

NB-IoT.

NB-IoT stands for "Narrowband Internet of Things" and is used in areas where there is no good LTE coverage or when you only need to transmit a small amount of information, for example, when using soil sensors in smart agriculture or energy consumption monitors in smart cities.Nb-iot takes up a small portion of the total bandwidth of the cell tower. If you are deploying in areas where GSM is the standard cellular technology, especially in developing regions of Europe, Africa and Asia, or, on the other hand, if you want to send a small amount of data over the Internet on a regular basis, nb-iot may be for you.

5G and the future of cellular IoT

Despite the hype around 5G, it is essentially the same as all other Generations of cellular internet; 5G is better, faster, and stronger. 5G is poised to change the landscape of the IoT, although it will likely work in concert with LTE and GSM cellular networks in the 2020s.

In the industrial IoT, ultra-secure, dedicated 5G networks will be able to facilitate thousands of devices in manufacturing or logistics environments, operating up to 10 times faster than existing networks.

On the consumer demand side, 5G could make self-driving cars or immersive virtual social reality with AR environmental issues a reality by unlocking the necessary data gates.

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