Machine 2 Machine (M2M) Type Communication (eMTC and NB-IoT) has specific radio features to achieve better coverage and flexible deployment over the LTE network.
To extend radio coverage two mechanisms are implemented packet repetition and Higher power in the control channel.
Repeating up to 2048 downlink packets and up to 128 in uplink gives an advantage of:
- 10dB over GPRS and 15dB over LTE in signal power requirements for eMTC
- 20dB over GPRS and 25dB over LTE in signal power requirements for NB-IoT.
Higher power in the control channel for both of the above makes the connection even more robust.
To use NB-IoT and eMTC on top of the LTE network, the following deployment options have been introduced:
- In-Band deployment where some of the spectrum is reserved for NB-IoT or eMTC communication
- Guard-Band deployment where there are some guard bands in spectrum to achieve fewer interferences for NB-IoT
- Standalone deployment where only NB-IoT is seen in a specific part of the spectrum.
Either way, we can see that both of these technologies can seamlessly be added to an existing LTE network.
To know more about M2M Type Communication, read my posts M2M Type Communication and M2M Type Communication P3