Ericsson makes further efforts to evolve cellular IoT (New segments and solutions)

Ericsson is continuing on its efforts to transform cellular IoT with the launch of new segments, and new solutions for existing segments.
 
The company has already been working in two market segments of cellular IoT, which are Massive IoT and Critical IoT. In addition to these, it has unveiled two new segments— Broadband IoT and Industrial Automation IoT.
 
The Broadband IoT will embrace mobile broadband capabilities for IoT to support higher data rates and lower latencies as compared to Massive IoT. On the other hand, the Industrial Automation IoT will offer new advanced industrial automation capabilities along with required connectivity.
 
New functionalities are coming to Massive IoT, which will include NB-IoT Extended Cell range 100 km. This functionality will extend the standards-based limit from 40 km to 100 km. The changes will be available via software updates, so users wouldn’t need to change existing devices. The aim of this change is to better IoT connectivity in rural and remote areas.
 
Ericsson has unveiled new solutions for Broadband IoT. These solutions include drone detection and link control, radio access network (RAN) slicing, Advanced Subscriber Group Handling, and Multi-Gigabit LTE for 2Gbps data throughput and around 10 millisecond latency. The aim of these solutions is to enable a broad use cases in automotive, drone, advanced wearables, smart manufacturing, smart utilities, and augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR).
 
Cellular IoT is moving from early adoption with Massive IoT to global rollout. We are now describing ‘what’s next?’ for our customers and how they can make the most out of their 4G and 5G investments on the same network and address more advanced IoT use cases across industries,” said Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks, Ericsson.
 
The new solutions will take cellular IoT to a next level, from basic use cases of Massive IoT (like asset tracking and smart metering) to more sophisticated ones which will be enabled by Broadband IoT (like infotainment in cars, drones, and advanced wearables). These use cases will be further evolved by Critical IoT (like driverless cars) and Industrial Automation IoT (like collaborative robotics in manufacturing).
 
Ericsson is taking a step-wise approach so that service providers can keep themselves align with current and future cellular IoT capabilities, by improving LTE networks and preparing for the upcoming 5G technology. This will also enable service providers to meet the demands in IoT market for several use cases across automotive, manufacturing, and utilities industry verticals.
 
As 4G was the era of the smartphone so we expect 5G to be the era of IoT,” said Luke Ibbetson, Vodafone Group Head of Technology R&D.
 
“We have already seen extraordinary growth in Vodafone’s IoT technology capability in recent years with the introduction of network technologies like NB-IoT and C-V2X, and welcome Ericsson’s drive for further technology development to help meet the growing demands of consumers and businesses.”

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