LTE Cat 1 bis is a single antenna variant of Cat 1 that offers reduced complexity and an attractive cost base in comparison to Cat 1, explains Tomaž Petaros, the Global Product and Portfolio Manager at Wireless Mobility. Sharing the near-ubiquitous global coverage of LTE, Cat 1 bis networks are expected to be available until at least the end of this decade and the technology is projected to replace nearly 70% of the Cat 1 market by 2029, according to ABI Research. The blend of low cost and reduced complexity thanks to the single antenna is making LTE Cat 1 bis a go-to technology for Industrial IoT use cases, tracking and tracing in logistics, smart meters, remote monitoring, edge devices and digital signage.
Offering data rates of up to 10Mbps downlink and 5Mbps uplink with latency of less than 100ms, the technology further benefits from its large global footprint and is supported in regions such as Africa which do not have Cat-M or NB-IoT available.
In addition, LTE Cat 1 bis supports power saving capabilities, such as power saving mode (PSM) and extended discontinuous reception (eDRX), that enable it to achieve similar power consumption to Cat-M or NB-IoT in sleep mode and standby while offering a higher data rate so it can transmit more data with less power. The shorter time in transmit mode enabled by the greater speed of Cat 1 bis means that the period in which a module consumes maximum power is reduced, lessening its overall power consumption.
Mature tech with a long-life expectation
Cat 1 bis itself is not a new technology. It was originally defined as part of GSMA Release 13 back in 2016, but it didn’t come to prominence until about two years ago when its cost advantages for IoT applications became better understood. This has seen substantial uptake, with IoT Analytics predicting double-digit growth and Berg Insight projecting that LTE Cat 1 bis modules are set to account for more than 100 million units of the 786 million annual volume of cellular IoT modules it predicts for 2028.
Growing volumes further reduce module costs and Berg Insight says highly competitive costs for LTE Cat 1 bis modules are driving adoption for use cases such as asset trackers, smart meters and vehicle telematics devices. Fixed wireless access devices and IoT routers for both private and public networks are also expected to utilize LTE Cat 1 bis.
Cat 1 bis is particularly well-suited to vehicle telematics and tracking products and services because coverage is near-total, devices can roam from country-to-country, and its throughput is adequate for in-vehicle applications. This market is also cost-sensitive so being able to access globally adopted LTE networks with good performance at optimized cost are reasons to adopt Cat 1 bis.
Tracking assets accurately depends on reliable connectivity so positions can be reported, and status and usage monitored as required. Cat 1 bis offers the performance needed to reassure asset owners that their devices can be tracked. Although cost constraints are less important for higher value assets, the cost efficiency of LTE Cat 1 bis is also an attraction in this market.
While LTE Cat 1 bis is set to be operational into the 2030s, it is likely to be replaced in the end by 5G enhanced RedCap (eRedCap). This technology remains immature and is several years away from mass-market adoption. In the meantime, the combination of performance, cost and coverage that Cat 1 bis delivers means the technology can be chosen with confidence by developers of a wide array of industrial, IoT, in-vehicle and track and trace devices.
To find out how LTE Cat 1 bis can meet your performance needs, contact Wireless Mobility for a free consultation: info@wirelessmobility.com
