With the withdrawal of 2G/3G, LTE network has become the current mainstream communication network. In addition to NB-IoT, which carries the banner of the medium- and low-speed IoT market, Cat.1 may become the main communication standard for cellular IoT, which also means that Cat.1 will face a market worth tens of millions or even billions. . Cat.1 has advantages in network coverage, speed and delay. Compared with traditional LTE Cat.4 modules, it has the advantages of low cost and low power consumption. At the same time, Cat.1 is adapted to the current domestic 4G network and is very suitable for use in scenarios that require cost-effectiveness, latency, coverage, and communication speed.
So what is the difference between Cat.1 and Cat.4?
technical level
Cat.1 and Cat.4 are both standards for user terminal categories under 4G communication LTE networks. The full name of Cat is LTE UE-Category. The Cat.X value is used to measure the wireless performance of user terminal equipment and is mainly used to classify terminal speeds (levels).
Although Cat.4 can meet the communication needs of mobile broadband, it still cannot meet the communication needs of some IoT devices in some small-sized, battery-powered application products or application scenarios with poor network coverage. Therefore, in order to realize the connection of IoT devices, 3GPP added several enhanced standards to LTE technology, including:
1. LTE Cat.1 has a rate of 10Mbps and lower power consumption than Cat.4. It has the same millisecond-level transmission delay as LTE Cat.4 and supports mobile speeds of more than 100KM/H.
2. The LTE Cat.M2 (NB-IoT) rate is only a few hundred Kbps and has strong power consumption advantages, but it cannot meet voice and mobility needs.
Application level
Cat.1 is suitable for scenarios that do not have high requirements for broadband speed, but have certain requirements for power consumption and data transmission stability, such as wearable devices, shared payment, campus water control, charging piles, smart security, smart agriculture, and smart home appliances , industrial sensors, port logistics tracking, etc.
Cat.4 is suitable for scenarios that require higher broadband speed and stability, but are relatively insensitive to cost and power consumption, such as live broadcast media, Internet of Vehicles, smart grids, video security, commercial display equipment, etc.
cost
1. In terms of network construction, Cat.1 can be seamlessly integrated into the existing LTE network, without the need for software and hardware upgrades for base stations, and the network coverage cost is low;
2. In terms of chip cost, after system optimization, the module’s hardware architecture is simpler, the integration level is higher, and the peripheral hardware cost is lower;
3. In terms of modules, there are many players in the market and fierce competition, and the price of Cat.1 modules has been continuously driven down.
The Internet of Things has a wide range of application scenarios and complex usage environments. Users should choose the most suitable product based on their actual needs and site conditions. Things like public network intercoms, toy robots, shared bicycles, mobile POS machines, scan-code payment, etc. that require voice support, good mobility, or certain requirements for uplink and downlink speeds/immediacy of data processing, but do not have high mobile broadband communication requirements. scenario, original Cat.4 users can switch to Cat.1.
Keywords: Internet of Things cat1 module
