The withdrawal of 2G and 3G networks has been a foregone conclusion. 5G, NB-iot and other new generation wireless communication technologies are in the forefront, but there are also many objective problems. As the next long-term coexistence with 5G, 4G May undertake significant tasks in the connection of the Internet of things. Among them, LTE Cat 1 is the most concerned by the industry.
From the perspective of the development of wireless communication technology, the special year 2020 May be a very landmark year.
The robust growth of the Internet of Things industry is inseparable from the rapid development and iteration of wireless communication, which is one of the most basic underlying capabilities supporting the "Internet of Everything", and presents diverse market demands with the fragmentation of the Internet of Things scene. From GSM to NB-iot and LoRa, and from 4G to 5G in the future, wireless communication technology not only develops with the prosperity of applications, but also feeds applications due to its intergenerational upgrading.
Under the current situation of the development of the cellular Internet of Things, the old network system is coming to an end, and the new network system is coming to the fore, and opportunities are naturally born between the old and the new.
2G, 3G network withdrawal has been a foregone conclusion, 5G, NB-iot and other new generation of wireless communication technology has emerged in the forefront, as the next long-term coexistence with 5G 4G will also undertake a significant task in the Internet of things connection. In particular, LTE Cat 1 has attracted the most attention of the industry. Recently, chip and module manufacturers including Unigron, FIBOcom, CTEK, Cinke communications, Magg Intelligence, CTEK Communications, etc., have also released related products, making the industry more enthusiastic.
4G lives on, making up the main scenario for the Internet of Things
GSMA future Networks experts have pointed out at several industry summits that 5G, despite the buzz, will still have the largest share of 4G until 2025.
In other words, in the next few years, 4G will not only bear more cellular iot connections under the background of 2G and 3G disconnection, but also become one of the main sources of cellular IOT income for telecom operators. According to the obvious structural characteristics of 4G Internet of Things connection, LTE Cat 1 is its important branch, and its opportunity to assume the main force of 4G Internet of Things connection has come.
In a set of research data, 60% of the cellular iot connection distribution requires narrowband network to provide services, while medium and low rate iot devices need Cat 1 or eMTC network to provide services, and only about 10% of high-speed services require more than 4G Cat 4 or 5G eMBB.
As we all know, the industry has a mature network and industrial ecology in narrow-band and high-speed services.
In narrowband business, the three major domestic operators have built more than 900,000 NB-iot base stations, and the connection number has exceeded 100 million. The connection number of the three operators has exceeded 10 million. In terms of application, ten million level NB-iot connection has been achieved in smart water meter, gas meter, smart smoke sensor and electric bicycle anti-theft industry, and ten typical NB-iot industry applications, such as smart manhole cover, smart door lock, tracking and positioning, smart street lamp and Niulian.com, have also achieved one million level connection.
In terms of high-speed services, 4G/5G network, with its characteristics of high speed, low latency, high reliability and large capacity, can fully meet the demand for the interconnection of everything in high speed scenarios such as ultra-high-definition video, cloud games and intelligent manufacturing.
However, the medium and low rate Internet of Things network and related industry ecology, which accounts for 30%, are still relatively blank.
Unlike previous mobile communications technologies, 4G LTE does not provide users with identical and homogeneous services. Instead, it tiers users in various ways and offers different and differentiated network services.
According to the 3GPP standard specification, the UE Category (User terminal Category) is a set of wireless performance parameters that are variable in uplink and downlink. It contains a number of wireless characteristics, the most important of which is the rate supported by the user device.
Although Cat 4 and above schemes have high support rates, they are generally expensive for the iot industry. As the user terminal level of the lowest version parameter configuration in the set, Cat 1 enables the industry to design "low version" 4G terminals at a low cost. Based on Cat 1, these terminals can meet the voice call and medium rate data service scenarios.
Therefore, the development of Cat 1 network and related industries is of great significance to meet the needs of the main scenarios of the Internet of Things.
Cat 1 has a huge future
On October 22 last year, Wen Ku, spokesman of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and director of the Department of Information and Communication Development, made it clear that 2G and 3G network withdrawal is inevitable, but the prerequisite should be planned in advance, so that users and operators have sufficient time and psychological preparation to promote the process of network withdrawal.
"Clear" the meaning of the two words is quite deep, but also on behalf of the industry issued the most clear notice. It is reported that 2G currently carries about 70% of Internet of Things connections. The old network will inevitably be taken up by NB-iot and 4G networks. But is Cat 1s share limited to 30%?
According to the Research data of Counterpoint Research, the number of cellular iot connections in the world continues to grow rapidly and is expected to exceed 5 billion by 2025, among which the number of 2G/3G iot connections has been almost ignored. As the leader of the global iot market, China will account for nearly two-thirds of the worlds IOT connections.
Nb-iot has always been the orthodoxy of low power wide area networks. It has great demand in the static Internet of Things market, but it is not very suitable for real-time business scenarios. The proportion of such scenarios in the overall iot market is actually limited.
As public interphone, sharing economy, financial payment, wearable/tracking devices, intelligent energy, the rise of the industrial control and so on scene, in addition to the low power consumption, wide coverage, large connection, low cost, the higher requirements of the communication rate has become a necessary factor, and Cat 1 is more outstanding, not only in the first several aspects as well as superior to 2 g higher speeds.
For operators, Cat 1 can also avoid independent network construction and reduce network construction costs. As a result, some experts say Cat 1s market share in iot connectivity may be higher than 30 percent, and possibly more than half.
Cat 1 market winds up
Technical service demand, demand is also spurring technological development. Since late last year, a Cat 1 storm seems to have picked up again, intensifying and even continuing. The following is a summary of the recent development of Cat 1 in modules and chip manufacturers.
Purple light show sharp
In mid-November 2019, Unigroup released the worlds first LTE CAT. 1 BIS +GSM dual-mode chip platform -- Springvine 8910DM, which supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and VoLTE with high integration.
qualcomm
The MDM9207-1 provides LTE CAT.1 connectivity with power and throughput optimizations and other customizable features, and is specifically designed for iot applications such as smart meters, security, asset tracking, wearables, point-of-sale, and industrial automation.
Optate Technologies (ASR)
The Opogate ASR6301 supports LTE Cat 1 and GSM dual mode, providing low power consumption for smart phone and wearable applications.
Wide and
Last year, FIBOcom also released fiboCOM L610 series module equipped with Springvine 8910DM. This series of products support bluetooth, Wi-Fi SCAN and other configurations; Support all mainstream interfaces of Internet of Things industry technology; The minimum size of the product is only 25*27nm.
Meg smart
The SMART energy SLM320 series module is also equipped with unigarichunteng 8910DM Cat 1 chip platform, supporting LTE Cat.1 BIS and GSM dual-mode products. It has an uplink speed of 5Mbps and a downlink speed of 10Mbps. It is highly integrated with Bluetooth communication and Wi-Fi indoor positioning, supports VoLTE and adopts 28nm process.
Letter to communication
The new LTE Cat 1 series module MC20, jointly developed by SIMco communication and ASR, is specially designed for small data volume transmission, supporting LTE FDD/TDD and GSM dual mode, with an uplink speed of 5Mbps and a downlink speed of 10Mbps, which can be widely used in public intercom, sharing economy, remote monitoring and other fields.
Move far communication
At present, CTC has launched Cat 1 modules of EX2x and EG9x series, which has shipped more than 5 million units in the global LTE Cat 1 module market. On March 18th, EC200S and EC100Y launched two new Cat 1 communication modules, with uplink speed up to 5Mbps and downlink speed up to 10Mbps, covering 2G/4G multi-network standard, and compatible with multiple 4G, 3G and LPWA modules.
Move the ke communication
In early 2020, CMT launched the first product in its "New Decade" product series -- THE L501 LTE Cat 1 module. Powered by an ASR 1601 chip platform, the product supports LTE Cat 1 and GPRS Class 12 dual modes, and is compatible with chirks WCDMA module L306 and LTE Cat 4 module L506, extending its 30*30*2.9 (mm) size.
The summary is not detailed, but it shows that Cat 1 is once again gaining popularity and the market is on the rise again.
A few years ago, the scale of 4G Internet of Things was still small, but a few years later, with more and more investment in the industry, its hardware cost and production quantity have been greatly improved. The advantage of Cat 1 is that it belongs to 4G series and can completely copy existing RESOURCES of 4G. Therefore, it seems not impossible to quickly introduce Cat 1 to the market and meet industry expectations with the help of the development of 4G industry chain.
References:
1. Who will undertake the 30% Internet of Things connection that neither NB-iot nor 5G can carry? Internet of Things think tank
2. CAT 1 May Enter a period of rapid development, BOcom launches L610 series module, Internet of Things think tank
3. "Cat 1 product Team welcomes new members and Detonates Medium Speed Connection Market", China Mobile
4. "Meager Intelligence Launches Cat1 Solution to Help Rapid Development of Sharing Economy", Meager Intelligence
5. "Science and Technology War" Xunke Communication Release Ultra-small series CAT1 module -- MC20 ", Shenzhen Xunke Communication Technology Co., LTD
6. "CTEK releases LTE Cat1 module L501", CTEK
