IoT operators at the moment have many choices for connecting their IoT gadgets with mobile expertise. Your subsequent IoT deployment may thrive on low-data, low-power requirements akin to NB-IoT or LTE-M. Or, perhaps you’re wanting ahead to New Radio requirements RedCap and eRedCap, which can supply stronger efficiency on 5G networks. For a lot of IoT deployments, nevertheless, optimum connectivity comes from present and well-established 4G networks. Actually, IoT’s legacy 4G requirements, Cat 1 and Cat 1bis, stay supreme for a wide range of IoT use circumstances. Right here’s why, adopted by some examples of the commonest Cat 1 IoT use circumstances of at the moment.
Introducing the Cat 1 and Cat 1bis Requirements
It’s necessary to see that one mobile expertise isn’t essentially higher than one other, however moderately—from Cat 1 to RedCap—the vary of connectivity choices merely provides totally different capabilities. Selecting a module to attach your IoT gadget might be like shopping for a automobile: Do you want a piece truck, a passenger van, or a compact commuter? The reply is determined by what you need the automobile to do for you. Equally, your alternative of mobile IoT expertise is determined by the necessities of your explicit use case.
You’ll wish to contemplate the next options or capabilities when connecting your IoT gadget:
- Bandwidth
- Vary
- Energy consumption
- Community availability
- Value
The purpose is to decide on the expertise that gives one of the best match to your wants throughout all these domains. That is perhaps NB-IoT or LTE-M—however, extra usually than you may assume, it’s Cat 1 or Cat 1bis.
What’s Cat 1, and How Does it Differ from Cat 1bis?
Lengthy-term evolution (LTE) Cat 1 is a mobile normal first outlined in 2008 underneath the cellular networking authority 3GPP’s official Launch 8. This normal helps a obtain charge of 10 megabits per second (Mbps) and an add charge of 5 Mbps, which is a perfect switch charge for a lot of IoT purposes, together with video and voice purposes, that want throughput greater than the 1 Mbps charge of LTE-M.
The modules that help Cat 1 connectivity have two antennae. Modules that use the up to date Cat 1bis normal—first outlined in 3GPP’s 2016 Launch 13—want solely a single antenna. Elimination of one of many antennae simplifies kind issue, reduces the variety of required parts, and subsequently lowers value.
Extra importantly, nevertheless, the Cat 1bis normal is an optimized model of the LTE Cat 1 normal. For instance, it provides a more practical Energy Saving Mode together with different efficiencies—however works on the identical community infrastructure as any Cat 1 gadget, so it could function wherever, on any LTE community worldwide.
| What does the bis in “Cat 1bis” imply? Most mobile engineers can clarify what Cat 1bis is, however few know the place it obtained its title. Bis isn’t an acronym, neither is it an obscure expertise description. Fortunately, there’s a easy rationalization. Bis is a Latin phrase which means “twice” or “second.” The implication is that Cat 1bis is the second model of the Cat 1 normal. When 3GPP’s engineers developed the Cat 1bis normal, they wanted a designation that mirrored each the updates and a vital similarity to the unique Cat 1 normal. They settled on including this Latin modifier, ensuing within the time period Cat 1bis. |
5 IoT Use Circumstances for Cat 1 and Cat 1bis Connectivity
The important thing advantages of Cat 1 and Cat 1bis are international availability, connection pace, and similarity to 3G connections (thereby simplifying migrations as 2G and 3G networks sundown). Every of the next use case examples demonstrates a number of of those benefits.
1. World Asset Monitoring Methods
Cell community operators should spend money on expertise upgrades to help connections through LTE-M or NB-IoT. In some elements of the world, MNOs selected to spend money on LTE-M; in others, they invested in NB-IoT, with some areas supporting each. This has resulted in uneven availability.
World asset monitoring programs require international protection to allow constant and continuous monitoring all around the world. Since each mobile community already helps Cat 1, Cat 1 or Cat 1bis is usually your best option for uninterrupted connectivity.
2. Client IoT Merchandise for a World Market
Say you promote e-scooters in varied cities all over the world. Some areas help LTE-M, whereas others don’t. (For now, we’ll put aside NB-IoT, which usually lacks the bandwidth you want for IoT purposes—together with over-the-air upgrades.)
On this situation, the standard strategy is to create two stock-keeping models (SKUs) for a similar product. One SKU represents e-scooters with LTE-M modules. One other SKU represents the identical mannequin e-scooter with a Cat 1 module. The higher answer is to create a single Cat 1bis SKU, even when Cat 1bis modules find yourself costing somewhat extra on a per-part foundation than LTE-M modules, since you’ll save value in the long term.
This single-SKU strategy is helpful as a result of SKU proliferation provides appreciable complexity and price to your operation. As talked about, in contrast to LTE-M, Cat 1 protection is offered on any mobile community. Utilizing a Cat 1 module to attach all of your e-scooters, you may subject a single SKU and drastically simplify your stockkeeping and logistical operations.
3. IoT Video
Each Cat 1 and Cat 1bis have sufficient pace and bandwidth to switch video recordsdata whereas LTE-M might not. That makes them supreme selections for a spread of shopper IoT merchandise, from sprint cameras to safety programs the place video is required.
4. IoT Voice
Equally, Cat 1 and Cat 1bis help voice purposes. On this planet of IoT, that unlocks a spread of gadgets, from medical alert and PERS gadgets to sensible dwelling safety merchandise, or every other utility that has a voice management ingredient.
5. Low-Energy and Lengthy-Vary Gadgets
As we talked about Cat 1bis provides an efficient Energy Saving Mode, or PSM. This enables IoT gadgets to run on batteries for terribly lengthy intervals—generally as much as a decade or extra. Some gadgets, akin to sensible meters or environmental or agricultural monitoring gadgets, should keep related over lengthy distances.
Whereas Cat 1 will not be your best option for each IoT gadget, these examples illustrate among the expertise’s strongest promoting factors. Cat 1bis is a superb various for mobile connectivity when LTE-M isn’t accessible or when the applying’s required information charge is above what LTE-M can ship. Maybe the best benefit of Cat 1, nevertheless, is simply how lengthy it has been round. As a expertise that’s been in use since 2008 or so, Cat 1 is confirmed to be extremely dependable.
That’s additionally true for the {hardware} that makes use of Cat 1 and Cat 1bis. Producers of IoT chips and modules have perfected the options of those requirements and optimized them for IoT. To sum up, Cat 1 and Cat 1bis requirements stay useful and cost-effective connectivity applied sciences for IoT deployments like those listed above—and plenty of extra.
