Cellular device technology
LTE-M or LTE-MTC ("Long-Term Evolution Machine Type Communication ") is a type of low-power wide-area network radio communication technology standard developed by 3GPP for machine-to-machine and Internet of Things (IoT) applications.[ 1] [ 2] LTE-M includes eMTC ("enhanced Machine Type Communication"), also known as LTE Cat-M1 , whose specification was frozen in 3GPP Release 13 (LTE Advanced Pro ), in June 2016.[ 3]
Competing 3GPP IoT technologies include NB-IoT and EC-GSM-IoT .[ 4]
The advantage of LTE-M over NB-IoT is its comparatively higher data rate, mobility, and voice over the network , but it requires more bandwidth, is more costly, and cannot be put into guard band portion of the frequency band for now.[ 5] Compared to LTE Release 12 Cat-0 modem, an LTE-M model is claimed to be 80% less expensive (in terms of the bill of materials), support up to 18 dB better coverage, and a battery lifetime that can last up to several years.[ 6] In March 2019, the Global Mobile Suppliers Association reported that over 100 operators had deployed/launched either NB-IoT or LTE-M networks.[ 7]
3GPP Narrowband Cellular Standards
[ 8] [ 9]
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
23 dBm
23 dBm
23 dBm
20 / 23 dBm
20 / 23 dBm
20 / 23 dBm
20 / 23 dBm
14 / 20 / 23 dBm
23 / 33 dBm
Deployments
As of March 2019 the Global Mobile Suppliers Association had identified:[ 7]
60 operators in 35 countries investing in LTE-M networks
34 of those operators in 24 countries had deployed/launched their networks
As of February 2022, GSMA had listed LTE-M as being launched on 60 commercial networks.[ 10]
See also
References
^ "LTE-M – the new GSM" .
^ "eMTC (LTE Cat-M1)" .
^ "Standards for the IoT" .
^ "Extended Coverage - GSM - Internet of Things (EC-GSM-IoT)" . gsma.com . GSMA . May 11, 2016. p. 1. Retrieved October 17, 2016 .
^ "Differences between NB-IOT and LTE-M" . 3 May 2018.
^ Saxena, Vidit; Bergman, Johan; Blankenship, Yufei; Wallen, Anders; Razaghi, Hazhir Shokri (2016). "Reducing the Modem Complexity and Achieving Deep Coverage in LTE for Machine-Type Communications". 2016 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) . pp. 1–7. doi :10.1109/GLOCOM.2016.7842206 . ISBN 978-1-5090-1328-9 . S2CID 5206557 .
^ a b "Global Narrowband IoT – LTE-M networks" . GSA . March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019 .
^ "Preliminary specification". 3GPP.
^ Luo, Chao (March 20, 2017). "3GGP TS45.001: GSM/EDGE Physical layer on the radio path" (ZIPped DOC) . 3gpp.org . 14.1.0. 3GPP TSG RAN WG6. p. 58. Retrieved May 27, 2017 .
^ "Mobile IoT Network Launches" . Internet of Things . Retrieved 2023-03-19 .
External links