NB-IoT

Connected World
Kashif Hussain
Solution Marketing
6/1/2017
Market Trends for Internet of Things (IoT)

Cellular LPWA Solution Requirements

NB-IoT Design Changes

NB-IoT Deployment Challenges

NB-IoT Measurements

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Market Trends for Internet of Things (IoT)

Cellular LPWA Solution Requirements

NB-IoT Design Changes

NB-IoT Deployment Challenges

NB-IoT Measurements

www.viavisolutions.com © 2017 Viavi Solutions Inc. 3

Market trends for Internet of Things (IoT)

•  27 billion connected devices will be deployed by 2025*

•  11% of connections will use Low-Power Wide-Area
(LPWA) networks*
•  Current cellular technology is not very well optimized for
this massive machine-type communication (MTC)
-  Poor reliability, poor security, and complex deployment,
as well as high operational and maintenance costs

*Source: Machina Research, Iot Global Forecast &

Analysis 2015-25, August 2016

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Service Provider Trends

•  Verizon launched the first nationwide commercial •  Deutsche Telekom to launch:

4G LTE Cat M1 network •  Germany, NB-IoT in the Q2 2017
•  AT&T is expected to launch its nationwide Cat M1 •  Netherlands, NB-IoT 2017
network in 2017 •  Austria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia to
follow.
•  Sprint to deploy LTE Cat 1 by end of July 2017,
•  Vodafone launching NB-IoT in major European
with Cat M coming in mid-2018
markets target Q1, 2017
•  451 Research: North American Mobile Carrier
Monitor showed
•  AT&T with 31.5 million active connections
•  Verizon with 29.2 million.
•  Sprint had an estimated 12.5 million
•  T-Mobile had 6.6 million,

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Market Trends for Internet of Things (IoT)

Cellular LPWA Solution Requirements

NB-IoT Design Changes

NB-IoT Deployment Challenges

NB-IoT Measurements

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Cellular LPWA Solution Requirements

Long battery life More than 10 years

Low device cost Sub 5 USD per module

Plug and play to reduce

Low deployment cost
OpEx

164dB max coupling loss

Extended coverage
(MCL), 20dB > GPRS

40 devices per household or

Massive no. of devices
50K per cell

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LPWA Solution Characteristics

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Cellular IoT Technology Requirements
•  Evolution of 3GPP Standard (source Nokia)
Release 8 Release 8 Release 12 Release 13 Release 13
Modem/device chip category 4 1 0 (eMTC or M1) NB1 (NB-IoT)
DL Peak Rate 150Mbps 10Mbps 1Mbps 1Mbps 250kbps
UL Peak Rate 50Mbps 5Mbps 1Mbps 1Mbps 144kbps
No. of Antennas 2 2 1 1 1
Duplex mode Full Full Half duplex Full /Half duplex Half duplex
UE RX BW 20MHz 20MHz 20MHz 1.4MHz 180KHz
UE TX Power 23dBm 23dBm 23dBm 20/23dBm 20/23dBm
Multiplexed within LTE Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes/No
Modem Complexity 100% 80% 20% 20% 15%

•  eMTC and NB-IoT transmission

•  Narrowband deployments require the data/control channels to be time multiplexed from 6 PRBs or a
single PRB
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NB-IoT vs Cat-M1
Attribute Cat M1 NB-IoT Applications
(1.4 MHz) (200KHz)
Throughput 375/300 10s •  CAT-M1à Health or fitness wearables
(kbps) •  NB-IoTà Temperature sensor, metering etc.
Mobility ü û •  CAT-M1à Connected cars, fleet tracking etc.
•  NB-IoTà Stationary meters
Power ü ü •  CAT-M1à Higher throughput means more power utilization
Consumption •  NB-IoTà Simple sensors and metering applications,
transmitting in short bursts
Latency Low High •  CAT-M1à Warning or alarm systems, connected cars etc.
(10-15 ms) (1.4-10s) •  NB-IoTà Metering applications NB-IoT
Cost ü ü •  NB-IoT expected to be 10% cheaper than CAT-M1
VoLTE ü û •  CAT-M1à Alarm panels and personal safety devices
Coverage <11km (156dB) <15km (164dB) •  Agriculture sensors, parking garages etc.

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Market Trends for Internet of Things (IoT)

Cellular LPWA Solution Requirements

NB-IoT Design Changes

NB-IoT Deployment Challenges

NB-IoT Measurements

www.viavisolutions.com © 2017 Viavi Solutions Inc. 11

NB-IoT Three Deployment Modes
•  Modes of Operation Stand-Alone Guard-band In-band

6dB 6dB

200KHz LTE LTE

•  By reframing one or more of the GSM carriers to carry NB-IoT traffic a

smooth transition to LTE for massive MTC in the future

•  Guard-band option applies to both WCDMA or LTE

•  Allows NB-IoT to operate without causing interference

•  In in-band operation, certain resource blocks are allowed for NB-IoT

System BW 3MHz 5 MHz 10MHz 15 MHz 20 MHz
LTE PRB indices for NB-IoT 2, 12 2, 7,17, 4,9,14,19,30, 2,7,12 17,22 27, 4, 9,14,19,24,29,34,39,
synchronization 22 35, 40, 45 32,42, 47, 52, 57, 62, 44,55, 60,65,70,75,80,85,
67, 72 90, 95

PS: There is no support for in-band operation of an LTE band with 1.4 MHz bandwidth

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NB-IoT Frame structure
•  Although NB-IoT is integrated into the LTE standard, it can be considered as a new air interface and
thus not fully backward compatible with existing 3GPP devices
Even numbered frame (10ms) Odd numbered frame (10ms)
12 subcarriers
(180 kHz)

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH

NPDS(C)CH
NPBCH

NPBCH
NPSS

NSSS

NPSS
SF#0

SF#1

SF#2

SF#3

SF#4

SF#5

SF#6

SF#7

SF#8

SF#9

SF#0

SF#1

SF#2

SF#3

SF#4

SF#5

SF#6

SF#7

SF#8

SF#9
•  NB-IoT physical channels and signals are primarily multiplexed in time.
•  NB-IoT subframe spans over one PRB (i.e. 12 subcarriers) in the frequency domain and 1 ms in the
time domain.
DL Channels/Signals
•  Narrowband Primary Synchronization Signal (NPSS)
•  Narrowband Secondary Synchronization Signal (NSSS)
•  Narrowband Physical Broadcast Channel (NPBCH)
•  Narrowband Reference Signal (NRS)
•  Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel (NPDCCH)
•  Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared Channel (NPDSCH)
Uplink
•  Narrowband Physical Random Access Channel (NPRACH)
•  Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared Channel (NPUSCH)

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NB-IoT Enhancements
•  Extended coverage, device affordability and long battery life are the
key to successful deployment of massive MTC.

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Coverage and Capacity
•  Coverage extension is achieved by trading off data rate
through increasing the number of repetitions
•  By introducing single subcarrier NPUSCH transmission and
π/2-BPSK modulation to maintain close to 0 dB Peak to
Average Power Ratio
•  Power spectral density (PSD) boosting is also used
•  One PRB in both uplink and downlink. Sub-PRB UE
scheduled bandwidth is introduced in the uplink, including
single subcarrier NPUSCH

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Battery lifetime

•  Extended discontinuous reception (eDRX)

-  Delay-tolerant, device-terminated applications (long sleep cycle)
•  PSM (Power Saving Mode)
-  UE tells the network it is going to go dormant.
-  Efficient for device-originated or scheduled applications
•  Less frequent Tracking Area Updates (TAUs) and measurements
-  Configurable for low- to zero-mobility M2M applications
•  UE transmitting 200-byte data a day on average aims to support long battery life.
•  Applications like meters, and monitors are ideal

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Device complexity Improvements

•  Reduced peak physical layer data rates.

•  Single-stream transmissions in both downlink and uplink
•  Half-duplex frequency-division duplexing (FDD) operation
•  UE only requires single antenna
•  Support only single HARQ process in both DL/UL
•  Integrating PA directly onto the chip.
•  Physical layer procedures occur in sequential manner
•  No Connected mode mobility measurement is required.
•  Convolutional codes for downlink transmissions

Simplifies RF hardware , reduces baseband complexity and Cost

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Market Trends for Internet of Things (IoT)

Cellular LPWA Solution Requirements

NB-IoT Design Changes

NB-IoT Deployment Challenges

NB-IoT Measurements

www.viavisolutions.com © 2017 Viavi Solutions Inc. 18

Testing Scenarios
2 co-located cells
Scenario description: NB-IoT (N-eNB) cell adjacent to a standard LTE eNB

NB-IoT
device
N-eNB eNB
NPRB

Key:

PRB coverage
within N-eNB cell

NPRB
Coverage
within N-eNB cell

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Testing Scenarios
Downlink: victim UE in the same cell
Downlink: Effect of Power spectral density NPRB on same cell adjacent PRB

NB-IoT
device
N-eNB

Aggressor NPRB power leaking into adjacent PRB allocated to a victim UE

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Testing Scenarios
Downlink: victim UE in adjacent cell, adjacent PRB
Downlink: Effect of PSB NPRB on a neighbouring UE, same/adjacent PRB

NB-IoT
device
N-eNB eNB

Aggressor NPRB power leading to excessive coverage into adjacent cell

Could produce co-channel interference on victim UE.

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Testing Scenarios
Uplink: victim eNB adjacent located cell
Effect on the uplink NPRB on adjacent eNB cell

No Tx
beamforming

N-eNB eNB

Aggressor NB-IoT device potentially desensitising victim eNB (similar to near-far phenomenon).

Assumption that NB-IoT device performs PSD boosting to ensure uplink coverage; even if signal repetition is utilised
this could lead to eNB desensitisation.

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Market Trends for Internet of Things (IoT)

Cellular LPWA Solution Requirements

NB-IoT Design Changes

NB-IoT Deployment Challenges

NB-IoT Measurements

www.viavisolutions.com © 2017 Viavi Solutions Inc. 23

 • 

12 subcarriers
Subframe: #0

(180 kHz)

SF#0
NPBCH

SF#1
NPDS(C)CH

SF#2
Measure Type: Subframe

NPDS(C)CH

SF#3
NPDS(C)CH

SF#4
NPDS(C)CH

SF#5
NPSS
Layer 1 Measurements

SF#6
NPDS(C)CH
Even numbered frame (10ms)

SF#7
NPDS(C)CH

SF#8
NPDS(C)CH

SF#9
NSSS
• 

SF#0
www.viavisolutions.com NPBCH

SF#1
NPDS(C)CH

SF#2
NPDS(C)CH

SF#3
NPDS(C)CH

SF#4
NPDS(C)CH

SF#5
NPSS

SF#6
NPDS(C)CH
Odd numbered frame (10ms)

SF#7
NPDS(C)CH

SF#8
NPDS(C)CH

SF#9
NPDS(C)CH
Subframe: #1/2/3/4 (NPDSC(S)CH)

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 • 
12 subcarriers
(180 kHz)

SF#0
NPBCH

SF#1
NPDS(C)CH

SF#2
NPDS(C)CH

SF#3
Subframe: #5 (NPSS)

NPDS(C)CH
Measure Type: Subframe

SF#4
NPDS(C)CH

SF#5
NPSS

SF#6
NPDS(C)CH
Layer 1 Measurements

Even numbered frame (10ms)

SF#7
NPDS(C)CH

SF#8
NPDS(C)CH

SF#9
NSSS
• 

SF#0
NPBCH
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SF#1
NPDS(C)CH

SF#2
NPDS(C)CH

SF#3
NPDS(C)CH

SF#4
NPDS(C)CH

SF#5
NPSS

SF#6
NPDS(C)CH
Odd numbered frame (10ms)

SF#7
NPDS(C)CH

SF#8
Subframe: #9 (w/ or w/o NSSS)

NPDS(C)CH

SF#9
NPDS(C)CH
© 2017 Viavi Solutions Inc.
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NB-IoT Use case
Customer unmet need Our solution

Acceptance Test NB-IoT Signal Analyzer can support acceptance test in compliance with 3GPP recommendation.
•  Max output power of PRB(Physical Resource Block) carrying NB-IoT Channels
Operators need a cost-effective solution to verify their network
•  Total Power dynamic range of NB-IoT PRB
•  EVM for NPDSCH
•  (DL) NRS power, EVM
•  Frequency Error

Network Performance Optimization CellAdvisor can measure the EVM of individual PRB carrying PDSCH so that customer can pinpointed the
impacted PRBs and measure the signal quality degradation quantitatively.
For NB-IoT service launching, Inter-PRB interference is one of key
concern. Customer need a solution to verify inter PRB interference with In conjunction with CellAdvisor’s LTE signal analysis capability, NB-IoT Signal Analyzer can provide the
EVM measurement. detailed information about NB-IoT channels per frame or per Subframe. It allows analytical approach to the
As shown with the screenshot, some spurious emission to the neighboring root cause on the customer’s network.
PRB is monitored. This should be a interference that worsen the signal
quality of neighboring channel.
Vice versa, PRBs for LTE transmission can also impact on NB-IoT channel
quality.

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Summary

NB-IoT
Deployment In-band, Guard-band, Standalone
Coverage (MCL) 164 dB
Downlink OFDMA, 15 KHz tone spacing, 1 Rx
Uplink Single tone: 15 KHz and 3.75 KHz spacing, SC-FDMA: 15 KHz tone spacing, Turbocode
Bandwidth 180 KHz
Highest modulation QPSK
Link peak rate (DL/UL) DL: ~30 kbps UL: ~60 kbps
Duplexing HD FDD
Power saving PSM, extended Idle mode DRX with up to 3hrs cycle, Connected mode DRX with up
to 10.24 s cycle
UE Power class 23 dBm or 20 dBm

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Questions

•  More about NB-IoT

•  viavisolutions.com/nbiot

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