Narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) for industrial automation

Abstract

This chapter presents an insight into the narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), a cellular technology for enabling massive machine type communications such as automation in Industry. It provides an overview of NB-IoT with respect to industrial automation. The chapter highlights the design of NB-IoT to fulfil the intended objective, namely flexible deployment, extended coverage, long battery life, low device complexity, ultra-low device cost, small data transmission, and massive device connectivity. The chapter provides a detailed overview of both downlink and uplink radio frames and transmission schemes along with the physical control channels. It includes the specific requirements of industrial automation use cases to highlight the feasibility of NB-IoT for such scenarios. The chapter concludes the key features of NB-IoT that can act as a key enabler for industrial automation. Mapping IoT applications in industrial automation with the recent development in communication technologies is essential for exploring future research directions and challenges.