IoT operators at present have many choices for connecting their IoT gadgets with mobile know-how. Your subsequent IoT deployment may thrive on low-data, low-power requirements corresponding to NB-IoT or LTE-M. Or, possibly you’re trying ahead to New Radio requirements RedCap and eRedCap, which can supply stronger efficiency on 5G networks. For many IoT deployments, nevertheless, optimum connectivity comes from current and well-established 4G networks. In reality, IoT’s legacy 4G requirements, Cat 1 and Cat 1bis, stay supreme for quite a lot of IoT use instances. Here’s why, adopted by some examples of the commonest Cat 1 IoT use instances of at present.
Introducing the Cat 1 and Cat 1bis Standards
It’s vital to see that one mobile know-how isn’t essentially higher than one other, however slightly—from Cat 1 to RedCap—the vary of connectivity choices merely presents completely different capabilities. Choosing a module to attach your IoT machine could be like shopping for a car: Do you want a piece truck, a passenger van, or a compact commuter? The reply relies on what you need the car to do for you. Similarly, your alternative of mobile IoT know-how relies on the necessities of your explicit use case.
You’ll wish to think about the next options or capabilities when connecting your IoT machine:
- Bandwidth
- Range
- Power consumption
- Network availability
- Cost
The objective is to decide on the know-how that gives one of the best match in your wants throughout all these domains. That may be NB-IoT or LTE-M—however, extra typically than you may suppose, it’s Cat 1 or Cat 1bis.
What is Cat 1, and How Does it Differ from Cat 1bis?
Long-term evolution (LTE) Cat 1 is a mobile commonplace first outlined in 2008 underneath the cell networking authority 3GPP’s official Release 8. This commonplace helps a obtain price of 10 megabits per second (Mbps) and an add price of 5 Mbps, which is a perfect switch price for a lot of IoT functions, together with video and voice functions, that want throughput larger than the 1 Mbps price of LTE-M.
The modules that help Cat 1 connectivity have two antennae. Modules that use the up to date Cat 1bis commonplace—first outlined in 3GPP’s 2016 Release 13—want solely a single antenna. Elimination of one of many antennae simplifies type issue, reduces the variety of required parts, and due to this fact lowers cost.
More importantly, nevertheless, the Cat 1bis commonplace is an optimized model of the LTE Cat 1 commonplace. For instance, it provides a simpler Power Saving Mode together with different efficiencies—however works on the identical community infrastructure as any Cat 1 machine, so it might 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 bought its title. Bis will not be an acronym, neither is it an obscure know-how description. Luckily, there’s a easy rationalization. Bis is a Latin phrase meaning “twice” or “second.” The implication is that Cat 1bis is the second model of the Cat 1 commonplace. When 3GPP’s engineers developed the Cat 1bis commonplace, they wanted a designation that mirrored each the updates and a vital similarity to the unique Cat 1 commonplace. They settled on including this Latin modifier, ensuing within the time period Cat 1bis. |
5 IoT Use Cases for Cat 1 and Cat 1bis Connectivity
The key 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). Each of the next use case examples demonstrates a number of of those benefits.
1. Global Asset Tracking Systems
Mobile community operators should put money into know-how upgrades to help connections through LTE-M or NB-IoT. In some components of the world, MNOs selected to put money into LTE-M; in others, they invested in NB-IoT, with some areas supporting each. This has resulted in uneven availability.
Global asset monitoring programs require international protection to allow constant and continuous monitoring everywhere in the world. Since each mobile community already helps Cat 1, Cat 1 or Cat 1bis is usually the only option for uninterrupted connectivity.
2. Consumer IoT Products for a Global Market
Say you promote e-scooters in numerous cities around the globe. Some areas help LTE-M, whereas others don’t. (For now, we’ll put aside NB-IoT, which generally lacks the bandwidth you want for IoT functions—together with over-the-air upgrades.)
In this state of affairs, the standard strategy is to create two stock-keeping models (SKUs) for a similar product. One SKU represents e-scooters with LTE-M modules. Another SKU represents the identical mannequin e-scooter with a Cat 1 module. The higher resolution is to create a single Cat 1bis SKU, even when Cat 1bis modules find yourself costing a little bit extra on a per-part foundation than LTE-M modules, since you’ll save cost in the long term.
This single-SKU strategy is helpful as a result of SKU proliferation provides appreciable complexity and cost to your operation. As talked about, in contrast to LTE-M, Cat 1 protection is available on any mobile community. Using a Cat 1 module to attach all of your e-scooters, you possibly can situation a single SKU and enormously simplify your stockkeeping and logistical operations.
3. IoT Video
Both 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 variety of client IoT merchandise, from sprint cameras to safety programs the place video is required.
4. IoT Voice
Similarly, Cat 1 and Cat 1bis help voice functions. In the world of IoT, that unlocks a variety of gadgets, from medical alert and PERS gadgets to sensible home safety merchandise, or some other utility that has a voice management ingredient.
5. Low-Power and Long-Range Devices
As we talked about Cat 1bis presents an efficient Power Saving Mode, or PSM. This permits IoT gadgets to run on batteries for very lengthy durations—typically as much as a decade or extra. Some gadgets, corresponding to sensible meters or environmental or agricultural monitoring gadgets, should keep linked over lengthy distances.
While Cat 1 is probably not the only option for each IoT machine, these examples illustrate a number of the know-how’s strongest promoting factors. Cat 1bis is a superb different for mobile connectivity when LTE-M will not be available or when the appliance’s required knowledge price is above what LTE-M can ship. Perhaps the best benefit of Cat 1, nevertheless, is simply how lengthy it has been round. As a know-how 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. Manufacturers 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 beneficial and cost-effective connectivity applied sciences for IoT deployments like those listed above—and plenty of extra.
