The NB-IoT is becoming a standard in wireless communication of IoT devices, for standalone solutions and complex installations with thousands of units, coordinated with gateways. Will NarrowBand-IoT replace other wireless technologies in industrial automation?
What exactly is NarrowBand?
NarrowBand-IoT (NB-IoT) is a radio technology in the field of LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) dedicated for IoT devices, operating on the licensed frequency band used by telecommunications operators.
The biggest advantages of NB-IoT include:
- long battery life (up to 10 years),
- efficiency in the amount of data transferred,
- intra-building penetration,
- the ability to connect even tens of thousands of devices in one system,
- a global standard,
- a high level of security and low cost
You can build mass solutions and those that until now were considered unprofitable. NB-IoT technology works in the licensed band, so there is no risk of interference and blocking communication by competing networks.
The service life of devices powered by two AA batteries is up to 10 years. However, the devices themselves are constructed in such a way that they can work for many years without the need for technical supervision and recharging the battery.
NB-IoT used in industrial solutions
One of many uses of NarrowBand-IoT wireless modems can be communication of edge devices, dedicated to data management, process control (e.g. with MQTT protocol) and monitoring. Latest ESP32-based eModGATE controller from TECHBASE company is a series utilizing MicroPython environment to provide data management solutions for end-points applications. The eModGATE has built-in Wi-Fi/BT modem and can be equipped with additional NarrowBand-IoT modems
eModGATE eqipped with wireless NB-IoT modem are perfect for industrial automation solutions, e.g. data logging, metering, telemetrics, remote monitoring, security and data management through all Industrial IoT applications.
Supported bandwidths:
- Global-Band LTE CAT-M1: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B12/B13/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B39;
- Global-Band LTE CAT NB-IoT1: B1/B2/B3/B5/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28;
- GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900Mhz Control Via AT Commands
Supported data transfer:
- LTE CAT-M1(eMTC) – Uplink up to 375kbps, Downlink up to 300kbps
- NB-IoT – Uplink up to 66kbps, Downlink up to 34kbps
- EDGE Class – Uplink up to 236.8Kbps, Downlink up to 236.8Kbps
- GPRS – Uplink up to 85.6Kbps, Downlink up to 85.6Kbps
