Coffee&Learn - all you need to know about LTE-M

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[Christian] hello welcome to  another episode of the IoT  Webinar series my name is christian henke and  I'm the director of product marketing at EMnify   we know building IoT products is complex and  this is why I'm inviting to every episode an IoT   industry expert. The expert will give you key tips  and tricks on how to solve technical challenges   and how to scale your product and operation if  you like the topic or have suggestions for a new   one subscribe to our EMnify youtube channel  and leave a comment now let's get started Hello from berlin thank you  for attending this webinar   today. We have a little bit of a different  webinar format than the usual ones   which we call "Coffee and learn". We just recently  had several announcements and wanted to give you   the chance just to interact with us and  ask specific questions about these topics.  So today i, therefore, invited a very  special guest and colleague of mine   to talk about our recent announcement of the  availability of LTE-M please welcome Nhu Ho.

[Nhu] thanks christian glad to be here today [Christian] Nhu has been in the low-power   IoT space for more than five years first  working at Fraunhofer that invented Mioty   a low power wide area network - and then  also went to Beartech who commercially   made my Mioty available. Since about seven  months, I'm really glad that she joined   EMnify and she has been a key driver behind  our LTE-M announcement. Today i will talk   with Nhu new about questions like the benefits of  LTE-M, frequency bands, where LTE-M is deployed   how does LTE-M stack up compared to narrowband  IoT and which service levels does EMnify provide. but actually, the reason why we do this is we  want you to provide questions that you have   around this technology so please ask questions in  the question panel and i will try to intermingle   these questions and will ask them Nhu directly. so to open up the stage and as an introduction  

and refresher for the audience Nhu can you please  talk a little bit about the benefits of LTE-M? [Nhu] yes sure so LTE-M is similar to NB-IoT  the new 3gpp standard that falls into the low   power wide area network technology so  as with many other LPWAN technologies   LTE-M provides two very attractive benefits  for IoT devices and applications which are   extended range and very high power efficiency.  So extended range here means much better indoor   and underground coverage so just looking at the  comparison with LTE or 4g LTE-M provides actually   14 db higher sensitivity which means it can  tolerate 14db higher signal loss compared to   4g and this allows the signal to better penetrate  through newer construction materials like concrete   walls or fire doors and enables successful message  delivery even though the device are located deep   inside the buildings or surrounded by a complex  infrastructure for example. And as for their power   consumption part LTE-M brings two new low power  features which are power-saving mode and extended   discontinuous reception so simply speaking these  two PSM and eDRX features they allow the devices   to basically fall into sleep mode or idle mode for an extended period of time   so to save power consumption and  enable a very long battery life.   Another very important benefit of LTE-M is that compared to LTE the module price is much  lower so basically the LTE-M module price   is around one-third of 4g model price which  also makes it very attractive alternative   to 2g and 3g technologies which are quickly  phased out worldwide at the moment so   just a simple example of in North America you  can see that the majority of network operators   in Canada and USA have already stopped their 2g  service so this is really an urgent matter and 4g   LTE-M is forward compatible with 5g so this means  that later on if the network operator decides to   turn off 4g networks to free up their spectrum for  5g use then your devices can still stay connected   and you don't have to replace the sim cards or go  through all the hassle of certifying their devices   so those are the key benefits of LTE-M for  IoT application [Christian] thank you for the   introduction hey one of the most asked questions  in the community is how does LTE-M stack up   against Narrowband IoT can you maybe share some  insights there? [Nhu] Yes definitely it's a very   common question given there are similarities  between the two technologies but i would say   both LTE-M and Nb-IoT have their own strengths  and it's all about mapping their network criteria   against your use case and wherein which criteria  is more important for your IoT applications   so let's start with ambition. So the main  advantage of Nb-IoT against LTE-M is the   relatively lower model cost  however if you consider that both LTE-M and Nb-IoT are  very new technologies and  in most cases you will want to use a dual-module  with both technologies and also 2g fall back   to ensure consistent network service in  multiple deployment regions and in that case   then the device cost is basically the same  because the module is then the same type of model.  

the second advantage of NB-IoT against LTE-M  is that it provides a slightly better range   so if you look at their maximum coupling loss  which means the total tolerable signal loss   along the transmission path you can see that   the maximum coupling loss of NB-IoT is slightly better than LTE-M which means that   the signal can travel further and can also  handle better the obstacles during the   transmission path. however here you also need  to consider that to enable the maximum range   you will need the maximum transmission repetitions  which then come at the cost of power consumption   so that is NB-IoT. LTE-M definitely has its own  perks as well which makes it very suitable for   a wide range of use cases Where NB-IoT cannot  cater to first very straightforward the maximum   data rate of LTE-M is much higher than NB-IoT which then translates into much-reduced latency   and also making it more suitable  for medium bandwidth applications or   applications where millisecond  latency is kind of required   also a very strong benefit of LTE-M is that it  supports cell handover which makes the technology   more relevant for more mobile use cases So  cell handover basically means that a device   can travel from one cell to another seamlessly  without losing the connection so for NB-IoT because handovers are not supported this causes two problems. The first problems is that if the  

device moves to a new cell then you will have a  temporary disconnection period until the device   attaches to the new cell tower and the second  problem is that because without cell handover the   device doesn't recognize that it is now traveling  to a new cell area and is closer to the new cell   so it will still try to connect to the old  cell tower which is getting farther away   until the connection is completely lost and this  causes more power consumption because the farther   the distance between the device and the cell tower  the higher the power consumption it will raise the   transmission power and also increase the  repetitions and the last very important   benefit of LTE-M is that LTE-M roaming  can basically be enabled over legacy 4g.  this kind of provide much better global  and national roaming availability   with LTE-M. For NB-IoT because the technology  uses like the network operators they have a   separate new commercial model for Nb-IoT. And  this commercial model has yet to become mature in  

roaming scenarios and that's why still the roaming  is very limited for NB-IoT in roaming scenarios so those are basically the key differences i  would say between the two technologies [Christian]   one thing that I realized is that often our  customers are using the LTE-M and narrowband   IoT combined module because they want to roll out  in North America where LTE-M is most dominant and   also in Europe and Asia pacific where there's a  mix of narrowband and LTE-M so considering that   this these modules support both LTE-M and NB-Iot  is there then a difference in power consumption   when using a specific technology? [Nhu] yes so power usage is   a little bit of a special case here because  there is not an absolute winner or loser   when you look at the power equation, there  are a few factors you want to consider: so   first the usage during transmission  or active mode then the usage during idle and sleep mode - so basically psm and edrx  cycles and the last one is the data rate which   then decides the device transmission airtime. so  what we mean with the last factor here is that   the higher the data rate the faster a message  can be delivered and then the faster the device   can then switch off and fall into sleep mode  to save power consumption so just look at   a real-world example of one of the most common cellular LTE-M model which is the Quectel bg95   m3 module you can see here that according  to their specification of this module   the power or the current the  trans the current power current of   the device during the of the module during the PSM and eDRX cycles are almost the same between LTE-M   and NB-IoT so there is no significant difference  here for active mode NB-IoT definitely has a   higher advantage here but then if you look at  the maximum data rate you can see that LTE-M   provides a greater much greater advantage here  so the bottom line here is that if your device to   send smaller message size which is around  five-ten kilobytes then Nb-IoT is definitely   more power efficient however the more data  you send the more power efficient LTE-M gets   so in a simple example of if you want to um send  a firmware upgrade to your device um you then   and the firmware upgrade is around two megabytes  large then we end LTE-M it takes only 27 seconds   for the firmware upgrade to be delivered while  with NB-IoT it takes up to five and a half   minutes which is a significant period and a lot of  power will be consumed during this whole period um   so yeah so basically it all depends on your use  case and the amount of data you want to send [Christian] thanks Nhu I think this was  a good introduction to the technology   so if to the audience - if you have further  questions please use the question panel to ask   Nhu any question that you have around the  technology. But Nhu now let's come to what   the EMnify coverage looks like. So where can  EMnify provide LTE-M service currently? [Nhu]   yeah sure so with the EMnify IoT Sim besides  the existing 2g3 g4g access that is currently   already available now you can also have LTE-M access in 64 networks in 44 countries around the   world. These numbers are constantly changing  based on our latest internal tests and also   updating agreement with our network partners  as well - so you might want to regularly   visit our website to check  the changes in the numbers.  

If you take a look at the map here you can already  realize that the majority of LTE-M coverage   is in North America and Europe with also some  countries in South America Asia Africa and Oceania   Very noticeable here also as well is that  there are actually different level of coverage   which then indicates a different level  of insurance of the LTE-M service with   the EMnify SIM. So you have the expected  observed validated and guaranteed coverage.  [Christian] Thanks i would like to ask that  question because we want to be very transparent   when we launch the LTE-M service: Nhu can you  maybe give a little bit more insights about   what does these different service  levels mean? [Nhu] Yes definitely so  as i shortly mentioned before LTE-M roaming can  basically piggyback on 4g roaming because their   technology is viewed as 4g technology and that's  we as EMnify we expect that with our IoT sim our   customers can actually connect their LTE-M devices  in regions where we have 4g roaming agreements   with our network partners and then the respective  network partners they also already deploy   LTE-M in their infrastructure and that's where  this expected coverage comes from however as you can already somehow guess the expected  coverage doesn't give an absolute guarantee that   their service will be available there and  that's why EMnify takes multiple approaches   to basically give our customers a little bit more  confidence and in the reliability of the LTE-M service so one of that is that we observe LTE-M  devices managed on our platform to see whether   there is LTE-M traffic for the respective network  and that's where you have observed coverage here   and then the next level of insurance is  to really conduct internal tests for their   expected and observed coverage to validate  really the LTE-M service for the respective  networks and finally the ultimate goal is   to deliver really sustainable and reliable  roaming agreements with our network partners   so we basically already proposed them LTE-M  roaming agreement with our network partners   but some of them haven't yet dedicated roaming agreements yet. so everything is still under in   progress but in the future we expect that  we will continuously expand our coverage   for our customers. [Christian] Thanks Nhu. so  there's a question around this coverage map.

there are some more networks on this  map than there is actually available   on the GSMAwebsite and where LTE-M is proposed. how does that come in place? [Nhu]   yes  so basically network operators they are not  obliged to inform gsma regarding their deployment   or either is LTE-M deployment or the similar cases  also with 2g and 3g phase out so most operators   will inform GSMA regarding their deployment  but not all of them actually do and that's why on gsma you will see you will find little less  fewer networks compared to our coverage map and   here we are at EMnify we work very closely with  our network partners and that's why we get updated   information directly from our network partners  [Christian] thanks - now let's consider Nhu if we   have a IoT device and you want to deploy globally  what are the things that you should be aware of   when you deploy the solution globally [Nhu]  So when it comes to global deployment their   first definitely their network availability which  means then global and national programming so   global running for to ensure that your devices can  work in multiple countries where you want them to   and natural programming here means then access  to multiple network within one country to provide   fare over and kind of more reliability in their  LTE-M service for your device within one country   the second very important  factor is feature availability   for example like PSM and eDRX especially if low  power is one of the key driver in your LTE-M   adoption um the third one then is the frequency  band so what are the different bands currently   used by their network the respective network  operator in their respective countries and regions   where you want to deploy your devices [Christian]  Nhu based on your last slide there was one   one question from the audience in North America  does EMnify have LTE-M coverage on Verizon? [Nhu] on Verizon? so I don't have the information  at the back of my head but we have the full list   of LTE-M availability on our LTE-M page. So you  can already see here in the slide that there is   the link here where you can access the page to  really find out what are the available networks   that we have with LTE-M and also the specific  coverage level for the specific network [Christian] If I recall correctly we  do not have Verizon in North America we   provide T-Mobile US and ATT - so you  can even use two carriers in the US. [Nhu] So yeah I am checking in real-time,  so in the USA we have ATT and T-Mobile   as validated coverage and in Canada we have already roaming agreements with Bell   for LTE-M coverage and also we have Roger Wireless  as validated and Videotron as observed coverage For more information please visit the  Website. Like all the information is in there [Christian] Cool I think that  answered the question so let's go   back to the previous slide because I  had there a specific question around feature availability. PSM and eDRX you  have pointed out how relevant these are   if you want to deploy low power solutions PSM and eDRX are kind of mandatory   from the GSMA deployment guide - so operators  are supposed to make these features available Can you give a little bit of background how does  this look in the real world if you use EMnify? [Nhu] Yes so if you are familiar with the  GSMA deployment guide then you already know that PSM and eDRX are listed as minimum  deployment requirements by GSMA however the reality is those network  operators -because these are   relatively new features -  network operators have not really supported these two features and if they do they do not make these features  available in roaming scenarios yet At EMnify we try to be as transparent as possible with our customers regarding  the PSM and eDRX availability and we basically take two approaches similar  to our coverage. So one is to validate

or to test and confirm the feature  availability for the specific network the other is to ensure is  that you have sustainable   feature availability via roaming agreements so you can see here this is the full  list of networks and countries and region  where we have already validated and  guaranteed PSM and eDRX available. SO maybe you also realized that this is not  extensive yet but we are constantly working on with our network partners to  ensure that you have increasing   availability of these features in the future [Christian]: One question - about this  global deployment if you look into how challenging it is to deploy global solutions  with LTE because of the different frequency bands How does that look like for LTE-M? [Nhu] Yes - so for sure. The challenge with  multiple frequency bands is still there with LTE-M because if you just take a simple example  of the u-blox SARA-R400 series there are   11 different modules with similar functionality and service  but support different frequency bands   and therefore are relevant for  different deployment regions the challenge here is that the modules do not  support all the different frequency bands - so you want to look into the   frequency bands that are really used in  your deployment countries and regions and then choose the module accordingly Now here there is a tip from us. So as I said there are multiple   frequency band generally available for LTE-M but actually in real world there is only a subset  of bands widely adopted by the network operators and you can see here that on the  left hand side this graphic shows the   commonly used frequency bands per region this information you can   doublecheck with the countries where  you want to deploy - so you can minimize the device certification costs  for the used frequency bands. [Christian]: Cool great session i  think we we shared a lot of insights   around LTE-M. I still want to give the audience  the time to ask questions so if you have any  

please please go ahead. Maybe one questions from  my side - narrowband iot support how does that   look like for EMnify? what's the story? [Nhu] yeah so i have also quickly   mentioned before that Narrowband IoT use a  different commercial model and that's why   where the roaming challenge comes  from so here at EMnify we are working   on their basically their building and  charging evolution process so this is   the type a new type of building model for new  technologies like NB-IoT and LTE-M as well and   with that then we can enable roaming agreement  with our network partners and provide um also in   the future more more availability for our NB-IoT service so currently we have um in total around 13   networks where we have actually tested or  validated uh or guaranteed coverage with NB-IoT   but we expect that this will increase in the  future as well. [Nhu] okay Nhu thanks a lot for   these great insights, i think we are going to come  to an end of this session and I just wanted to   thank the audience for joining and Nhu for  being such a great expert in this field just adjusting the camera here a little bit :-) yeah thank you for joining i hope this answered   a lot of questions that you had around LTE-M  you we are always available for other questions   that you have if you want to get an answer also  after this webinar you can just reach out to our   support team or reach new and myself directly  and we will be able to answer your question   now i want to come to already the next webinar that we planned for that next week at the same time in the same position i  will be here talking with our developer advocate   Shruti Kuber around our announcement of the Cloud  Connect which we have now made available in 20 AWS   regions so basically worldwide you can directly  peer with your AWS deployment because this is   quite a technical topic i'm really happy that  Shruti will be joining me and will also do a   short demo around this and will be able to explain  the benefits and how this is deployed in your   solution so if you're interested to learn more  you can basically go to our website and register   for the webinar and of course as always you  will get the recording of this webinar and   some further information afterwards. one more  thing before before we'll close this webinar  

when you close the webinar there will be a short  survey around what future topics you would be   interested in or which partners you want to have  invited you know that we had for example AWS   STmicro or Saft batteries here and i would  like to know who are your partners you're   working with and who would you like to talk  about their solution in this webinar series   and with that i would say goodbye thanks  for thanks for joining and see you later bye you

2021-05-23

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