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Low cost m2m over LTE

Jul 29, 2015

July 23, 2015

3GPP has completed a study on optimizing LTE for machine-type communications (MTC), to provide devices that are cost competitive with existing 2G equipment.

With the publication of TR36.888 a "Study on the provision of low-cost MTC User Equipment based on LTE" 3GPP has set the minimum requirements that will:

  • Match 2G data rates.
  • Improve on 2G average spectrum efficiency for low data rate MTC traffic.
  • Ensure that service coverage footprint is as good as 2G.
  • Ensure good radio frequency coexistence with legacy LTE.
  • Target operation of low-cost MTC UEs and legacy LTE UEs on the same carrier.
  • Re-use the existing LTE/SAE network architecture.
  • Proceed in terms of changes to the 3GPP Rel-10 version of the specifications.
  • Consider optimizations for both FDD and TDD mode.
  • Use existing LTE base station hardware.
  • Support limited mobility and low power consumption modules.

As LTE networks start to be dominant, it is vital that they become suited to m2m requirements.

Technical Specifications will now pave the way for operators to migrate MTC traffic from 2G to LTE networks via a new UE category for low data rates and delay tolerant transmissions.

The new UE Category ‘0’ was introduced in Release 12 – setting the performance requirements to reduce complexity and power consumption. Further progress will also be achieved in Release 13, bringing in:

  • 75% modem complexity reduction compared to Cat-1 UE
  • Reduced UE receive bandwidth to 1.4 MHz
  • 10+ years battery life
  • 15-20 dB coverage enhancement

With the completion of work on low-cost MTC User Equipment - LTE is now set to be a major carrier for this type of data for the foreseeable future.

Contact for this article: Kevin FLYNN, Marketing and Communications Officer, 3GPP

Further Reading:

  • TR 36.888 - Study on Provision of low-cost MTC UEs based on LTE

3GPP Work items in the RAN working groups, will be split as follows:

  • RAN1 – To specify physical layer aspects, and initiate the design of the new UE category/type.
  • RAN2 - Specification of Layer 2/3 protocol aspects.
  • RAN4 – To specify any required modifications to UE and eNode B core requirements, including potential measurement requirement impacts.

Recent MTC and IoT Work Items

 

UID

Name

Acronym

Outline_Level

Release

Working Group

Percent_Complete

Document

Impacted_TSs_and_TRs
640001 Study on Cellular system support for ultra Low Complexity and low throughput Internet of Things FS_IoT_LC 1 Rel-13 G1,R2 100% GP-140421 45.8xy
670029 Study on architecture enhancements of cellular systems for ultra low complexity and low throughput Internet of Things FS_AE_CIoT 1 Rel-13 S2 65% SP-150167 New TR 23.8xx
690006 Extended Coverage GSM (EC-GSM) for support of Cellular Internet of Things CIoT_EC_GSM 1 Rel-13 GP 0% GP-151039  
670093 Study on EGPRS Access Security Enhancements with relation to cellular IoT FS_EASE_IoT 1 Rel-13 S3 25% SP-150145 New 33.860
620063 Service Requirements Maintenance for Machine-Type Communications (MTC) SRMMTC 1 Rel-13 S1 100% SP-130600 22.368
650033 Further LTE Physical Layer Enhancements for MTC LTE_MTCe2_L1 1 Rel-13 R1,R4,R2 19% RP-141660 LTE
650133 Core part: Further LTE Physical Layer Enhancements for MTC LTE_MTCe2_L1-Core 2 Rel-13 R1,R2,R4 45% RP-150492 36.101, 36.104, 36.133, 36.201, 36.211, 36.212, 36.213, 36.214, 36.300, 36.302, 36.306, 36.321, 36.331
650233 Perf. Part: Further LTE Physical Layer Enhancements for MTC LTE_MTCe2_L1-Perf 2 Rel-13 R4 0% RP-150492 36.101, 36.104, 36.133
670036 Study on Battery Efficient Security for very low Throughput Machine Type Communication Devices FS_BEST_MTC_Sec 1 Rel-13 S3 10% SP-150171 32.863
560022 Machine-Type and other mobile data applications Communications enhancements MTCe 1 Rel-12 S2,S1,S3,C1,C3,C4,C6,R2,R3,G1 100% SP-130327 Stage 1/2/3
560021 Stage 1 for Support for Interworking with M2M Service Enablement MTCe-SIMSE 2 Rel-12 S1 100% SP-120436 22.368
570030 Stage 1 for Machine-Type and other mobile data applications Communications – Service Requirement Maintenance MTCe-SRM 2 Rel-12 S1 100% SP-130105 22.101, 22.368
560722 TR on Security aspects of Machine-Type Communications MTCe-SA3TR 2 Rel-12 S3 100% SP-130327 New TR 33.868
560522 Security and Privacy aspects for Machine-Type and other mobile data applications Communications enhancements (Stage 2) MTCe-SA3 2 Rel-12 S3 100% SP-130327 New TS 33.187
560122 BB1: Small Data and Device Triggering Enhancements (SDDTE) MTCe-SDDTE 2 Rel-12 S2,C4,C3 100% SP-120450 -
560622 TR on Stage 2 BB1: Small Data and Device Triggering Enhancements MTCe-SDDTE 3 Rel-12 S2 100% SP-120450 New TR 23.887
562122 Stage 2 for BB1: Small Data and Device Triggering Enhancements MTCe-SDDTE 3 Rel-12 S2 100% SP-120450 23.682
630001 Stage 3 for BB1: Small Data and Device Triggering Enhancements MTCe-SDDTE-CT 3 Rel-12 C4,C3 100% CP-140489 Stage 3
630101 CT4 part of Stage 3 for BB1: Small Data and Device Triggering Enhancement MTCe-SDDTE-CT 4 Rel-12 C4 100% CP-140489 29.002, 29.336, 23.008, 29.337, 29.338, 29.230
630201 CT3 part of Stage 3 for BB1: Small Data and Device Triggering Enhancement MTCe-SDDTE-CT 4 Rel-12 C3 100% CP-140489 29.368
560322 BB3: UE Power Consumptions Optimizations (UEPCOP) MTCe-UEPCOP 2 Rel-12 S2,C1,C4,C6,G1 100% SP-120442 -
561622 TR on Stage 2 BB3: UE Power Consumptions Optimizations (UEPCOP) MTCe-UEPCOP 3 Rel-12 S2 100% SP-120442 New TR 23.887
562322 Stage 2 for BB3: UE Power Consumptions Optimizations (UEPCOP) MTCe-UEPCOP 3 Rel-12 S2 100% SP-120442 23.060, 23.401, 23.682
620007 Stage 3 for BB3: UE Power Consumptions Optimizations (UEPCOP) MTCe-UEPCOP-CT 3 Rel-12 C1,C4,C6 100% CP-130714 Stage 3
620107 CT1 part of Stage 3 for BB3: UE Power Consumptions Optimizations (UEPCOP) MTCe-UEPCOP-CT1 4 Rel-12 C1 100% CP-130714 24.008, 24.301
620307 CT6 part of Stage 3 for BB3: UE Power Consumptions Optimizations (UEPCOP) MTCe-UEPCOP-CT6 4 Rel-12 C6 100% CP-130714 31.101, 31.102, 31.111
650009 Support of Power Saving Mode in GERAN MTCe-UEPCOP-GERAN 3 Rel-12 G1 100% GP-140628 43.022
620043 RAN enhancements for Machine-Type and other mobile data applications Communications MTCe-RAN 2 Rel-12 R2,R3 100% RP-140752 UTRA, LTE
620143 Core part: RAN enhancements for Machine-Type and other mobile data applications Communications MTCe-RAN-Core 3 Rel-12 R2,R3 100% RP-140752 25.300, 25.304, 25.413, 36.300, 36.304, 36.413, 36.423
600012 Low cost & enhanced coverage MTC UE for LTE LC_MTC_LTE 1 Rel-12 R1,R2,R4 81% RP-130848 LTE
600112 Core part: Low cost & enhanced coverage MTC UE for LTE LC_MTC_LTE-Core 2 Rel-12 R1,R2,R4 100% RP-140522 36.101, 36.104, 36.133, 36.201, 36.211, 36.212, 36.213, 36.300, 36.302, 36.306, 36.321, 36.331
600212 Perf. part: Low cost & enhanced coverage MTC UE for LTE LC_MTC_LTE-Perf 2 Rel-12 R4 100% RP-150940 36.101, 36.104, 36.133
670048 UE Conformance Test Aspects - Low cost & enhanced coverage MTC UE for LTE LC_MTC_LTE-UEConTest 2 Rel-12 R5 13% RP-150838  
470020 Study on Alternatives to E.164 for Machine-Type Communications FS_AMTC 1 Rel-12 S1 100% SP-100198 22.988
480032 Study on enhancements for Machine-Type Communications (MTC) FS_MTCe 1 Rel-12 S1 100% SP-100448 22.888
460001 Study on GERAN improvements for Machine-Type Communications FS_NIMTC_GERAN 1 Rel-12 G1,G2 100% GP-092418 43.868
530052 Study on Provision of low-cost MTC UEs based on LTE FS_LC_MTC_LTE 1 Rel-12 R1,R2,R4 100% RP-121441 LTE 36.888
590032 Study on RAN aspects of Machine Type and other mobile data applications Communications enhancements FS_MTCe_RAN 1 Rel-12 R2 100% RP-130396 UTRA, LTE 37.869
480030 System Improvements to Machine-Type Communications SIMTC 1 Rel-11 S1,S2,S5,C1,C3,C4,C6,R2,R3,R5 100% SP-120848 -
480130 Stage 1 for SIMTC SIMTC 2 Rel-11 S1 100% SP-120848 22.368, 21.905 (MTC definitions)
480230 TR on Stage 2 for SIMTC SIMTC 2 Rel-11 S2 100% SP-120848 New TR 23.888
520021 BB1: Stage 2 Reachability Aspects of SIMTC SIMTC-Reach 2 Rel-11 S2 100% SP-120848 23.221, New 23.368
520221 On-line device trigger SIMTC-Reach 3 Rel-11 S2 100% SP-120848 New 23.682
520321 MTC Addressing SIMTC-Reach 3 Rel-11 S2 100% SP-120848 23.221, New 23.682
520421 Identifiers – especially removal of MSISDN dependencies in the architecture SIMTC-Reach 3 Rel-11 S2 100% SP-120848 New 23.682
520521 MSISDN-less / PS-Only SIMTC-Reach 3 Rel-11 S2 100% SP-120848 23.060, 23.272, New 23.682
540014 MTC related interfaces and functional entities to support above features (MTCsp, etc.) SIMTC-Reach 3 Rel-11 S2 100% SP-120848 New 23.682
530006 BB1: Stage 3 (CS+PS) Reachability Aspects of SIMTC SIMTC-ReachCSPS 2 Rel-11 C1,C3,C4,C6 100% CP-120617 Stage 3
530106 CT1 part of Stage 3 BB1: Reachability Aspects of SIMTC SIMTC-ReachCSPS 3 Rel-11 C1 100% CP-120617 23.040, 24.008, 24.301, 24.341, 24.368
530206 CT3 part of Stage 3 BB1: Reachability Aspects of SIMTC SIMTC-ReachCSPS 3 Rel-11 C3 100% CP-120617 29.061, New TS 29.368
530306 CT4 part of Stage 3 BB1: Reachability Aspects of SIMTC SIMTC-ReachCSPS 3 Rel-11 C4 100% CP-120617 23.003, 23.008, 29.002, 29.060, 29.230, New TS (29.336, 29.337)
530406 CT6 part of Stage 3 BB1: Reachability Aspects of SIMTC SIMTC-ReachCSPS 3 Rel-11 C6 100% CP-120617 31.102
530005 Stage 2/3 for CS aspects for SIMTC  SIMTC-CS 2 Rel-11 C4,C1,C6 100% CP-120617 Stage 2/3
530205 Stage 3 CS aspects for SIMTC  SIMTC-CS 3 Rel-11 C1,C6 100% CP-120617 Stage 3
530305 CT1 part of Stage 3 CS aspects for SIMTC  SIMTC-CS 4 Rel-11 C1 100% CP-120617 24.008, 24.301
560002 Stage 2/3 for SMS in MME architecture option and related PS-only service subscription SIMTC-PS_Only 2 Rel-11 C1,C4 100% CP-120617 Stage 2/3
560102 CT1 part of Stage 2/3 for SMS in MME architecture option and related PS-only service subscription SIMTC-PS_Only 3 Rel-11 C1 100% CP-120617 23.040, 24.008, 24.011, 24.301, 29.018, 29.118
560202 CT4 part of Stage 2/3 for SMS in MME architecture option and related PS-only service subscription SIMTC-PS_Only 3 Rel-11 C4 100% CP-120617 23.003, 23.008, 23.012, 29.002, 29.272, 29.305, New TS 29.338 
530009 RAN overload control for Machine-Type Communications SIMTC-RAN_OC 2 Rel-11 R2,R3,C1,C6 100% RP-111373 UTRA, LTE
530109 Core part: RAN overload control for Machine-Type Communications SIMTC-RAN_OC-Core 3 Rel-11 R2,R3 100% RP-111373 25.304, 25.331, 25.413, 36.304, 36.331, 36.413
530209 Stage 3 (CS+PS) Extended Access Barring for UTRAN and E-UTRAN SIMTC-RAN_OC 3 Rel-11 C1,C6 100% CP-120617 Stage 3
530309 CT1 part of Stage 3 Extended Access Barring for UTRAN and E-UTRAN SIMTC-RAN_OC 4 Rel-11 C1 100% CP-120617 23.122, 24.008, 24.301
530409 CT6 part of Stage 3 Extended Access Barring for UTRAN and E-UTRAN SIMTC-RAN_OC 4 Rel-11 C6 100% CP-120617 31.102
610014 Test part: System Improvements for Machine-Type Communications SIMTC-UEConTest 2 Rel-11 R5 100% RP-140077 34.123-1, 34.123-2, 34.123-3, 36.508, 36.523-1, 36.523-2, 36.523-3
540019 BB5: Charging of SIMTC (Stage 2/3) SIMTC-CH 2 Rel-11 S5 100% SP-120848 32.240, 32.251, 32.298, 32.299
450015 Study on RAN improvements for Machine-Type Communications FS_NIMTC_RAN 1 Rel-11 R2,R1,R3,R4 100% RP-100330 UTRA, LTE 37.868
410030 Network Improvements for Machine-Type Communications NIMTC 1 Rel-10 S1,S2,S5,C1,C4,C6,G2,R2,R3,R5,G3new 100% SP-100863 -
410031 Stage 1 for Network Improvements for Machine-Type Communications NIMTC 2 Rel-10 S1 100% SP-100863 22.011, New 22.368
490037 Stage 2 for Network Improvements for Machine-Type Communications NIMTC 2 Rel-10 S2 100% SP-100863 23.060, 23.236, 23.401
510040 Charging for Network Improvements for Machine-Type Communication NIMTC-CH 2 Rel-10 S5 100% SP-110136 32.251, 32.298, 32.299
480005 CN part of Stage 3 for Network Improvements for Machine-Type Communications NIMTC-CN 2 Rel-10 C1,C4,C6 100% CP-110442 Stage 3
480105 CT1 part of Stage 3 for Network Improvements for Machine-Type Communications NIMTC-CN 3 Rel-10 C1 100% CP-110442 23.122, 24.008, 24.301, New 24.368
480305 CT4 part of Stage 3 for Network Improvements for Machine-Type Communications NIMTC-CN 3 Rel-10 C4 100% CP-110442 23.003, 23.008, 29.002, 29.060, 29.230, 29.272, 29.274, 29.275, 29.282
510005 CT6 part of Stage 3 for Network Improvements for Machine-Type Communications NIMTC-CN 3 Rel-10 C6 100% - 31.102
490003 GERAN part of Network Improvements for Machine-Type Communications (Stage 3) NIMTC 2 Rel-10 G2 100% GP-101647 44.018, 44.060
570003 MS Conformance Test Aspects for GERAN - Network Improvements for Machine-Type Communications NIMTC_GERAN-MSTest 2 Rel-10 G3new 100% GP-121141 51.010-1, 51.010-2
490024 RAN mechanisms to avoid CN overload due to Machine-Type Communications NIMTC-RAN_overload 2 Rel-10 R2,R3 100% RP-101026 UTRA, LTE 25.331, 25.413, 36.331, 36.413
570004 UE Conformance Test Aspects - Network Improvements for Machine-Type Communications NIMTC-UEConTest 2 Rel-10 R5 100% RP-121124 34.123-1, 34.123-2, 34.123-3, 36.523-1, 36.523-2, 36.523-3 
380044 Maintenance of TISPAN release 2 common IMS IMS_Comm_Mtce8 2 Rel-8 S2 100% SP-070916 23.506, 23.507,23.517, 23.521
380072 SA1,SA2 part of Maintenance of TISPAN release 1 common IMS IMS_Comm_Mtce7 2 Rel-7 S2,S1 100% SP-080501 22.173, 22.273, 22.401, 23.406, 23.417, 23.508, 23.509, 23.511

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