NB1 vs. NB2 complete comparison table and overview

The 3GPP Release 14 specification enhances the NB-IoT protocol and introduces a new device category, NB2. Here is a complete NB1 vs. NB2 comparison table and a brief overview of the new NB-IoT protocol features in R14.

What are LTE CAT NB1 and NB2?

LTE Cat NB1 refers to IoT devices based on the NB-IoT protocol standardized in the 3GPP Release 13 specification. It is a wireless cellular low-power wide-area connectivity protocol for IoT massive machine-type communications.

LTE Cat NB2 refers to devices which are based on the enhanced NB-IoT protocol as standardized in the 3GPP Release 14.

NB1 vs. NB2 comparison table 

Here is a comprehensive comparison table to see the differences between the NB-IoT 3GPP R13 and R14 specifications, and NB1 vs. NB2 devices.

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Main enhancements in LTE CAT NB2

Here is a short introduction on how the 3GPP R14 specification enhances the NB-IoT protocol for NB2:

• NB2 positioning
  • The 3GPP Release 14 introduces OTDOA and E-CID positioning methods into NB2 for higher location accuracy.
• Multicast in NB2
  • The NB2 devices contain Multicast transmission mode, which the NB1 device does not have.
• Enhanced NB2 mobility
  • NB2 devices provide better mobility – Reconnection is now supported also in the device connected mode, as opposed to idle mode only in NB1.
• LTE CAT NB2 peak data rates
  • The NB-IoT 3GPP Release 14 specification introduces higher data rates – NB2 devices can maximum data speeds of ~127 kbps uplink and ~159 kbps uplink.
• NB-IOT multi-carrier operation
  • NB2 supports a multi-carrier mode with up to 15 non-anchor carriers, which can support up to 1,000,000 connected NB-IoT devices per square kilometer.
• NB2 frequency bands
  • Five new FDD frequency bands are introduced for NB-IoT: 11, 21, 25, 31, and 70.
• New NB2 device power class
  • 3GPP R14 enhances NB2 devices with a new 14 dBm power class to allow the use of smaller batteries and small form factors.