Evaluation of LTE-M towards 5G IoT requirements

LTE-M provides low-cost LTE devices suitable for massive Machine-Type Communications (MTC) and the Internet of Things (IoT) with substantially enhanced coverage compared to normal LTE devices. 3GPP has only published LTE-M coverage targets and since coverage is a key pillar to all LPWA technologies, it is very important to understand how much coverage LTE-M can actually provide. To this end, a group of supporting companies conducted a thorough link layer simulation analysis to evaluate the actual coverage performance of 3GPP’s LPWA LTE-M technology.

This analysis shows that LTE-M supports a very similar coverage gain compared to other LPWA technologies and thus confirms LTE-M to be a very versatile LPWA technology. For IoT applications requiring higher data rates, low latency, full mobility, and voice in typical coverage situations, LTE-M is the best LPWA technology choice. And for IoT applications requiring deep coverage where latency, mobility and data speed requirements are less stringent, LTE-M is a strong LPWA contender as well. Overall, this versatility allows LTE-M to support an extremely wide array of IoT applications which helps to increase volume and drive economies of scale.

Download this white paper to read the full analysis.