RFNB-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); QPSK, 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 Equipment | Company with features (if any) |
|---|---|
| R&S ® ROMES4 | Analysis and network optimization software from R&S |
| R&S ® TSMA scanner with above software | Available from R&S |
| NB-IoT Signal Generator | Used to test the receiver part of UE/eNB. Keysight and R&S are popular vendors. |
| NB-IoT Signal Analyzer | Used 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
