Nokia has released a white paper LTE M2M Optimizing LTE for the Internet of Things detailing how Rel-12 and Rel-13 of the 3GPP’s LTE standards will cater for the specific requirements of IoT and M2M: large numbers of devices, increased coverage, low cost devices, long battery life and high reliability.
It looks at the changes that will be needed in the radio access network, the core, network, the registers and subscriber repository and the embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) and it says that IoT “is expected to be the next big thing in the mobile ecosystem, with IoT services being a key driver for further growth in cellular.”
It summarises these changes as
– Lower complexity devices category: A new device category needs to be defined without MIMO support, low RF bandwidth support (for example 1.4 MHz), even low data rates (eg 200kbps) and a lower device power class (for example 20dBm)
– Coverage enhancements: New coding, repetition and power spectral density boosts are required to provide a maximum coupling loss (MCL) of 160dB.
– Dedicated core networks (DECOR): Select core network nodes based on subscription information – for example, special MME for M2M users.
– Service Capability Exposure (AESE): To define an architectural framework to expose 3GPP services to third parties via APls. (Which are outside the scope of 3GPP).
– Monitoring: Define monitoring as a value added service (service enabler) for mobile network operators.
– Group: Group based policies and group based addressing.
The report is available from the GSA web site (registration required).
