Evaluation methodologies for the NB-IoT system: issues and ongoing efforts

The recently standardized Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is expected to become a disruptive technology in the IoT market. The low cost, manageability, and reliability offered by a Mobile Network Operator (MNO) can be the enabler for the widespread acceptance and deployment of IoT devices. In this market phase, network planning plays a crucial role in the possible services forecast, with obvious consequences on the market analysis by the MNO. Moreover, there are many possible improvements in the NB-IoT device management, which are intentionally left as implementation dependent elements. As a consequence, it is necessary to know the different methods to evaluate the performances of an NB-IoT system. In this paper we will outline the various evaluation systems and we will outline the ongoing efforts to build a new and efficient NB-IoT simulation platform.