Narrowband IoT: Principles, Potentials, and Applications

Narrowband Internet of things (NBIoT) is a low energy and low resource consuming version of IoT. As its name suggests, it needs a narrow bandwidth for its operations. Its energy consumption is also very low, and thus it is suitable for low energy applications. It is compatible with all types of cellular communication infrastructure such as 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G. It is also possible to deploy NBIoT in the standalone mode where cellular networks are not available. It can cover a large area with a very small amount of power. So, it is a popular low power wide area (LPWA) technology. Due to its LPWA features, it is popular for the connected living applications at home and workplace surroundings. Its LPWA features make it a popular green technology for digital transformation. In this article, the authors provide the main characteristics of NBIoT, its standards, its potentials, and applications in different domains.