Test-and-Measurement » NB-IoT Test Equipment and Measurements for UE and eNB

NB-IoT Test Equipment and Measurements for UE and eNB

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This page describes NB-IoT test equipment used to perform NB-IoT measurements on both User Equipment (UE) and Base Stations (BS), also known as eNBs. These measurements encompass both transmitter and receiver test cases for both the UE and BS.

Introduction to NB-IoT

NB-IoT, recently released as part of LTE Release-13 and Release-14 standard revisions, has gained significant traction for various IoT applications, including:

  • Smart waste management
  • Smart metering
  • Smart parking
  • Smart asset tracking

Here are some key features of NB-IoT (LTE-NB) technology:

  • Deployment Modes: Standalone, In-band LTE, Guard band LTE
  • Channel Bandwidth: 200 KHz
  • Data Rate: 250 Kbps (Downlink), 20 Kbps (Single tone Uplink)
  • Multiple Access: OFDMA in Downlink (15 KHz), SC-FDMA in Uplink (15 KHz), single tone in uplink (15 KHz/3.75 KHz)
  • Modulation Schemes: QPSK (Downlink); π/4\pi/4 QPSK, π/2\pi/2 BPSK for uplink single tone; QPSK (uplink multitone)
  • MIMO: Spatial multiplexing MIMO is not supported; Tx diversity with up to 2 Tx antenna ports supported (single Rx chain)
  • Duplex Mode: HD FDD (Half-Duplex Frequency Division Duplexing)
  • UE Transmit Power: 20 dBm or 23 dBm
  • Voice Support: No
  • Frequency Bands: 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz.

NB-IoT Measurements on UE | Transmitter Part

The following table outlines NB-IoT measurements for the UE’s transmitter:

Test Case
UE Maximum Output power for UE category NB1
Maximum Power Reduction (MPR) for category NB1
Configured UE transmitted output power for UE category NB1
Output power dynamics
Maximum output power for category NB1
ON/OFF time mask for category NB1
General ON/OFF time mask for category NB1
NPRACH time mask for category NB1
Power control for category NB1
Power control absolute power tolerance for category NB1
Power control relative power tolerance for category NB1
Aggregate power control tolerance for category NB1
Transmit signal quality
Frequency Error for cat-NB1
Transmit modulation EVM for cat-NB1
Carrier leakage for cat-NB1
In-band emissions for non allocated RB for cat-NB1
Output RF spectrum emissions
Occupied BW for cat-NB1
Out of band emission
Spectrum emission mask for cat-NB1
ACLR for cat-NB1
Spurious emission for cat-NB1
Transmitter spurious emissions for cat-NB1
Spurious emission band UE co-existence for cat-NB1
Transmit intermodulation for cat-NB1

NB-IoT Measurements on UE | Receiver Part

The following table lists NB-IoT measurements for the UE’s receiver:

Test Case
Reference sensitivity level for UE cat-NB1
Reference sensitivity level without repetitions for cat-NB1
Reference sensitivity level with repetitions for cat-NB1
Maximum input level for UE cat-NB1
ACS (Adjacent Channel Selectivity) for UE cat-NB1
Blocking characteristics
In-band blocking for cat-NB1
Out of band blocking for cat-NB1
Spurious response for UE cat-NB1
Intermodulation characteristics
Wide band intermodulation for UE cat-NB1

NB-IoT Measurements on Base Station (BS) | Transmitter Part

The following table outlines NB-IoT measurements for the Base Station’s (BS or eNB) transmitter:

Test Case
Stand-alone, In-band and Guard band tests
Time alignment error for Tx diversity
EVM and frequency error
ACLR (Adjacent Channel Power)
SEM (Spectrum Emission Mask)

NB-IoT Measurements on Base Station (BS) | Receiver Part

The following table lists NB-IoT measurements for the Base Station’s (BS or eNB) receiver:

Test Case
Transmit diversity testing
UE signal generation testing with channel environment

NB-IoT Test Equipment

The following table lists NB-IoT test equipment used for these measurements:

Test EquipmentCompany with features (if any)
R&S ® ROMES4Analysis and network optimization software from R&S
R&S ® TSMA scanner with above softwareAvailable from R&S
NB-IoT Signal GeneratorUsed to test the receiver part of UE/eNB. Keysight and R&S are popular vendors.
NB-IoT Signal AnalyzerUsed to test the transmitter part of UE/eNB. Keysight and R&S are popular vendors.

Other tests include:

  • IP Data Transfer Test for Category NB1

References

  • 3GPP Measurement Specification, 3GPP TS 36.521-1 V14.2.0