Preface

  With the gradual withdrawal of the 2G/3G network, the IoT technology based on the 4G/5G (NB-IoT+4G+5GNR) network will assume the responsibility of opening the Internet of Everything. The LTE network has become the main communication network in the IoT industry. Cat 1, with its low cost and low power consumption, attracts a large number of customers with low-speed requirements.

What are Cat 1 and Cat 4?

Comparison of Cat 1 modem and Cat 4 modem

  In terms of delay and mobility, they have the same advantages, which have the same millisecond-level transmission delay as LTE Cat.4, and support the mobile speed above 100KM/H. Besides, both Cat 1 and Cat 4 support voice and SMS.

  In terms of rate, the upstream rate of Cat 1 is 5M/S and the downstream rate is 10M/S, which is lower than that of Cat 4. Please refer to the following figure:

  In terms of network construction, LTE Cat. 1 can now be seamlessly connected to the existing LTE network without upgrading the software and hardware for the base station, and the network coverage cost is very low.

  In terms of chip cost, after system optimization, the integration level is higher, the hardware architecture of the module is simpler, and the peripheral hardware cost is lower.

  In terms of application, Cat 1 is applicable to scenarios that do not require high broadband rate but have certain requirements for power consumption and data transmission stability, such as wearable devices, shared payment, campus water control, charging pile, intelligent security, intelligent agriculture, intelligent household appliances, industrial sensors, and port logistics tracking.

  Cat 4 is applicable to scenarios that require higher broadband rate and stability but are relatively insensitive to cost and power consumption, such as live media, IoV, smart grid, video security, and commercial display devices.

  The original Cat 4 users can switch to Cat 1 for public network intercoms, toy robots, shared bikes, mobile POS machines, and code scanning payment and scenarios that require voice support, good mobility or certain requirements for upstream and downstream rate/data processing instantaneity but does not have high requirements for mobile broadband communication.

  The comparison of Cat 1 and Cat 4 application scenarios is as follows:

  From the above figure, the application scenarios with mid-low rate still account for a large share of the market. Compared with the use of Cat 4, the use of Cat 1 modem can greatly reduce the cost of products while meeting the requirements of customers.