Narrowband-IoT network for asset tracking system

Narrowband-IoT is one of the emerging LPWAN technologies in the market. Traditionally asset tracking employs Global Positioning System (GPS) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) connections to send telemetry data to database servers. Compared to GPRS, NB-IoT has a smaller power usage, given proper implementation. This paper discusses NB-IoT implementation in asset tracking applications. Our test includes these parameters: latency, throughput, packet loss, and power usage for both technologies. The result obtained showed that NB-IoT was underperformed in HTTP but in UDP test, NB-IoT showed better power consumption compared to GPRS (0.352 W vs. 0.542 W) even though both have similar uplink throughput (around 350 B/s). From these findings, this new cellular standard is deemed appropriate in the Asset Tracking application, given the correct protocol and architecture.