Satellite NB-IoT

- Overview

With the highly anticipated Release 17 release of 3GPP, Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is now fast becoming the first technology to connect the telecommunications and satellite communications worlds. The satellite industry is moving from traditional use cases to IoT-oriented solutions, and this trend will intensify as thousands of new satellites are launched into space. 

The next-generation satellite constellation based on the 5G architecture will not only bring steady growth to the satellite industry, but will also play a new and important role in the implementation of future 5G cellular networks.

These networks will effortlessly reach hard-to-reach user locations, such as aircraft, ocean liner and long-distance train routes, as well as remote, sparsely populated areas of the world where terrestrial networks have not yet been rolled out. Too expensive for the given business case.

Therefore, satellite technology is the most cost-effective extension of terrestrial networks, and the 3GPP organization is currently taking great strides towards the proper convergence of satellite and terrestrial networks based on 5G standards.

With 3GPP Release 17 extending NB-IoT connectivity into space, the mobile use case for remote coverage has become one of the main applications that can be deployed. NB-IoT is built on the 5G 3GPP standard and is a secure, low-power wide-area data network technology. It provides system and spectral efficiency and can support up to ten years of connected device battery life in many use cases.

Thorough integration of 5G NB IoT with 3GPP standards is crucial, as this guarantees availability of the technology in any country in the world. In fact, NB-IoT (and LTE-M) are the only standards that 3GPP plans to support for LPWA use cases.

- Satellite NB-IoT Use Cases

The power and flexibility of future NB-IoT networks will lead to the deployment of new and innovative solutions that were previously unsupportable or even unimaginable. With this in mind, let’s look at some NB-IoT use cases enabled by satellite technology.

For many years, commercial satellite communications were mainly limited to emergency service support in special scenarios. Previously, satellite communications required the use of expensive satellite phones, but now phone makers are working with the satellite industry to bring text messaging directly to consumer smartphones via satellite connections.

Currently, text messaging is a way to send emergency messages, such as when hiking in the mountains, sailing at sea, or in the event of an accident in other remote locations.

Another simple and effective way to communicate when every second counts is the emergency push-to-talk feature that satellite-based NB-IoT also offers. The feature enables people to take turns having conversations from different devices in situations where terrestrial network coverage isn't available, or even use a regular smartphone via satellite in remote areas.

Historically, push-to-talk has generally been the norm in areas such as public safety, security, construction, transportation, and manufacturing. It is a popular technology because it is easily activated, allowing the operator to focus on the job at hand.

The huge demand for digitization is expected to revolutionize a wide range of uses in rural, remote or inaccessible areas. Whether it is an emergency, a mission-critical situation or simple sensor monitoring, NB-IoT can create a new user experience by establishing an automatic or manual push-to-talk communication channel.

Software updates have become a critical part of our connected everyday lives. Keeping apps on your smartphone up to date is often just a push of a button away. But in other cases, updating is not so simple.

Modern cars are increasingly morphing into smartphones on wheels, and they are made up of many components that sometimes require software updates, a time-consuming task if performed manually in the workshop using data cables.

Not only is this a costly affair for manufacturers, but it is also time-consuming and frustrating for car owners. This problem extends far beyond the confines of the automotive industry. Just think of all the offshore wind farms in remote locations offshore. In these cases, manual updates are the least efficient. A simpler alternative is to transmit firmware updates over the air via NB-IoT.

[More to come ...]