Telit Introduces First LTE Cat NB1 Modules within the xE866 Form Factor
Telit NE866B1-E1 LTE Cat NB1 Module for Europe
The NE866B1 is the first Category NB1 – aka Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) – product in the Telit portfolio. Specified in the approved Release 13 of the 3GPP standard, Cat NB1 devices are specifically tailored for IoT applications, offering optimized power consumption and enhanced coverage.
In addition, with its ultra compact 15 x 19 mm LGA footprint, the NE866B1 is designed for size sensitive applications.
This next generation of products supports the new features specified by 3GPP to boost IoT applications, such as the Power Saving Mode (PSM) and the extended Discontinuous Reception (eDRX), which allow the devices to wake up periodically to deliver only very small amounts of data to the network and then go back to sleep for most of the time, thus allowing longer battery operation. Enhanced coverage, with up to +20dB in maximum coupling loss (MCL) compared to the other cellular technologies, is also one of the key benefits of this new LTE flavour. LTE Cat NB1 devices are therefore optimized in cost, size and power consumption compared to higher UE categories. These advantages make the NE866B1 the perfect platform to enable a quick implementation of LTE technology in IoT/M2M where low cost and low power are more relevant than high speed.
The NE866B1 helps increase the addressable market for LTE technology to include a broad range of new applications and use cases best served with lower maximum data rate, ultra-low power, reduced complexity and cost. Some examples are smart metering, smart parking, smart agriculture, waste collection, industrial sensors, healthcare monitors, home automation, and many more low data rate IoT devices. The NE866B1 is offered in a dual-band configuration for deployment in the European and Chinese NB-IoT networks, either in in-band, guard-band or standalone mode; additional regional variants will follow. It is highly recommended for new designs, but also in particular as a migration path for existing GPRS devices, both new and updated designs benefit from a significant extension in lifecycle with LTE Cat NB1.
The NE866B1 supports embedded SIM chip as a mounting option, making it the ideal solution for durable and rugged designs, and reducing BOM cost and size on the customer’s application.
Product Features
Supported bands:
- NE866B1-E1
- Dual band LTE B8/B20
- Single Rx
- Half Duplex FDD
- LTE UE Category NB1
- 3GPP Rel. 13 compliant
- 3GPP Rel. 12 Power Saving Mode (PSM)
- 3GPP Rel. 13 Extended Discontinuous Reception (eDRX)
- 3GPP Rel. 13 Extended coverage
- OMA Lightweight M2M (LWM2M)
- Control via AT commands according to 3GPP TS27.005, 27.007 and customized AT commands
- Embedded UDP/IP stack
Data
LTE Category NB1
- Uplink up to 20 kbps (single-tone)
- Downlink up to 250 kbps
Physical & Environmental
- Miniaturized dimensions 15 x 19 x 2.2 mm
- Extended temperature range: -40 to +85 °C
Interfaces
- UART
- SPI – for future release
- I2C (SW emulated) – for future release
- GPIO
- ADC
- DAC
- 1.8 V SIM interface
- Optional embedded SIM chip
Approvals
- RED (Europe)
- CCC (China)
- GCF
Electrical
- Supply voltage
– Nominal: 3.8 VDC
