SKT to use high-capacity data transmission as an IoT network
Published2017.11.13 10:47SK Telecom announced that it has completed the development of 'LTE Cat.M1' technology, the latest LTE-based IoT network technology.
'LTE Cat.M1' is a technology standardized by the international standardization organization 3GPP last March that provides speeds of up to 1 Mbps. It is a technology that is significantly advanced compared to the existing high-capacity IoT network technology, LTE-M, in terms of battery life and data transmission efficiency. By utilizing this, services requiring the transmission of medium to high-capacity data, such as voice and photos, become possible, which is expected to greatly expand the scope of customers' use of IoT networks.
SK Telecom developed 'LTE Cat.M1' technology last December and completed technical verification at its Bundang R&D Center test network early this year. In particular, since August of this year, it has been advancing the technology through application and field testing at commercial LTE base stations for the first time in Korea, in collaboration with Ericsson and Qualcomm.
'LTE Cat.M1' can significantly reduce the manufacturing cost of IoT devices due to the lower price of communication modules compared to existing LTE-M. As a result, various companies are expected to be able to participate in the IoT ecosystem. In addition, as production costs decrease, the burden of usage fees for customers purchasing products will also be reduced, which is expected to revitalize the IoT ecosystem.
SK Telecom provides IoT services using LoRa networks for services requiring low-power, low-capacity data transmission, and LTE-M networks for services requiring high-capacity data transmission. With the acquisition of 'LTE Cat.M1' technology, the evolution of LTE-M can now be anticipated.
SK Telecom has also successfully integrated its 'LTE Cat.M1' with a commercial LoRa network. Relatively large data, such as voice collected from IoT devices, can be transmitted via 'LTE Cat.M1', while low-volume data, such as device location or numerical information, can be transmitted via the LoRa network and analyzed and managed on a single server.
For example, in a theft and fire monitoring system, sensor information such as intrusion detection, smoke, and temperature is collected through a LoRa network, and the transmission of photos from the scene, alarms, and device control can be done through an LTE Cat.M1 network.
Park Jin-hyo, Head of the Network Technology Institute at SK Telecom, stated, “The development of ‘LTE Cat.M1’ technology is highly significant in that it secures an important foundation for the evolution of IoT networks,” adding, “In particular, the competitiveness of hybrid IoT networks has been strengthened by securing optimal network technologies tailored to different types of IoT services.”
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