NB-IoT System Deployment for Smart Metering: Evaluation of Coverage and Capacity Performances

Internet of Things offers a wide spectrum of opportunities for innovative applications designed to improve our life quality. In the energy sector, the developing of smart metering networks allows operators and companies to improve the production efficiency and to offer an enhanced service to customers. 3GPP introduced in Release 13 Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) as a new cellular technology for providing wide-area coverage for Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine Type Communication (MTC). In this paper, we propose a system deployment of a NB-IoT system for smart metering. Estimated number of UE that this system can serve and on coverage enhancement considerations with respect to LTE technology are provided.