Author: Alan Weissberger
AT&T to use LTE, Cat-M1 & M2 for IoT Applications
AT&T is moving forward with LTE future for its cellular Internet of Things (IoT) applications, despite earlier suggestions that the network operator could consider other low-power, wide-area (LPWAN) specifications. The LTE only decision is consistent with AT&T’s existing LTE based IoT platform, which we described in an earlier article:
AT&T claims to have the largest share of the connected device market with 19.8M IoT devices or 47% of the U.S. total IoT market in 2013. There are GSM location tracking capabilities in over 100 countries with roaming access in more than 200 countries.
AT&T is a founding member of the Industrial Internet Consortium where over 100 companies are now involved. As part of that effort:
- IBM and AT&T are collorating on IoT solutions for cities, institutions, and enterprises.
- GE and AT&T are working on remotely controlled industrial machines.
“I think the decision that we have made as a company is that AT&T is going to standardize on the LTE stack as opposed to unlicensed bands,” Mobeen Khan, AVP of AT&T IoT Solutions, at AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions, told Light Reading Wednesday, June 22nd. AT&T has “many reasons” for the decision: The specialized IoT LTE technologies uses AT&T’s existing spectrum; it’s more secure and can be managed using existing infrastructure. “It has a lot of benefits for our customers,” Khan said.
AT&T is going to standardize on Cat-M1 (a.k.a. LTE-M) for devices like smart meters and wearables. Cat-M1 is optimized to offer a 1Mbit/s connection but with superior battery life compared to the typical 4G smartphone radio chipset. The operator has just approved its first modules for this specification. There will be trials in the forth quarter.
For even lower-power applications, AT&T will use Cat-M2 modules in units like smoke detectors and networked monitors. Cat-M2 is “still being specced out” but is anticipated to go to kilobits-per-second connection rates to further extend battery life, Khan said. AT&T will test Cat-M2 devices on the network in 2017 and hopes to go commercial early in 2018.
This doesn’t mean that AT&T won’t support any other types of networking for IoT. WiFi, Bluetooth and mesh networking will all be part of the mix. “We’re living in a multi-network world,” Khan said.
References:
http://www.lightreading.com/iot/iot-strategies/atandt-settles-on-lte-for-cellular-iot/d/d-id/724289
http://www.lightreading.com/iot/m2m-platforms/atandt-readies-low-power-lte-for-iot/d/d-id/720150
Energy versus security–the IoT tradeoff:
AT&T and other leading telcos are highlighting the security advantages of using cellular networks in licensed spectrum to connect IoT devices. They point to the benefits of having a SIM card authenticate the device on the network, such as being able to remotely bar devices, where necessary. Without a secure link, IoT applications may be more vulnerable to attacks, such as spoofing, where a fraudulent end device injects false data into the network or a fraudulent access point hijacks the data captured by a device.
2013 Ethernet Tech Summit- Market Research Panel & Carrier Ethernet Comment
Introduction:
This session covered the prospects for Ethernet in the enterprise, among carriers (especially for cellular backhaul), and in the data center. The session was chaired by Crystal Black, Channel Marketing Manager, APTARE
Panelists:
-Michael Howard, Infonetics Research
-Casey Quillin, Dell’Oro Group
-Sergis Mushell, Gartner
-Jag Bolaria, Linley Group
-Vladimir Kozlov, LightCounting
The summary of this panel will be posted at viodi.com shortly
Comment: Surprisingly, there wasn’t any talk about the Carrier Ethernet market, which was the subject of an all day track at this conference. Carrier Ethernet lets carrier businesses use low cost Ethernet systems to offer data services with all the operation, administration and Maintenance (OAM) features and benefits, including QoS. Existing Carrier Ethernet Services include Private Line, Ethernet Tree (point to multi-point) and Ethernet LAN (multi-point to multi-point). In addition, the MEF is positioning Carrier Ethernet 2.0 for use in wire-line access to Private Cloud services.
The problem seemed to be that there weren’t any carriers willing to participate in those sessions, so it was just equipment and silicon vendors talking to one another.
A new report forecasts the Global Ethernet Access Device market to grow at a CAGR Of 13.62% from 2012-2016.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130411006525/en/Research-Markets-Global-Ethernet-Access-Device-Market
Another highlight of the Ethernet Technology Summit was a Wednesday evening award ceremony to the “Unsung hero’s of Ethernet,” chosen by the IEEE Santa Clara Valley (SCV) section. They were: Dave Boggs who worked with Bob Metcalfe on the original 3M b/sec Ethernet (and whose name appears on the Ethernet patent), Ron Crane who designed the first working 10 Mb/s coax based Ethernet adapter interface at Xerox (which later became standardized by IEEE 802.3 as Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) Access Method and Physical Layer Specifications or simply 10Base5) and also co-founded 3Com Corp, Tat Lam who worked on the original version of Ethernet and early 10 Mb/s transceivers and long time IEEE ComSoc contributor Geoff Thompson for his hard work, long term support and leadership of Ethernet standards work in IEEE 802 (he was chair/vice-chair of the 802.3 WG for many years), TIA and the ISO.
The Unsung Heroes of Ethernet etched crystal plaques were paid for by the IEEE SCV section (the largest IEEE section in the world). They include an image of Bob Metcalfe’s original sketch of the Ethernet system.
Editor’s Note: This author has been a member of the IEEE SCV Executive Committee for many years and decades. He nominated Ron Crane and Geoff Thompson for their Unsung Hero of Ethernet awards. More info at:
References:
A video of this session is available at: http://www.papitv.com/ethernet-technology-summit-market-research-marketsinvestors-track-the-panelist-video-by-kc-leung
2013 Ethernet Tech Summit Presentations can be downloaded from:
http://www.ethernetsummit.com/English/Conference/Proceedings_Chrono.html
