Ericsson, Qualcomm complete China's first data call on the eMTC/Cat-M1 standard

Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., have completed China's first end-to-end data call using new cellular Internet of Things (IoT) eMTC/Cat-M1 technology.

The test was achieved in the lab of the research division of China Mobile - China Mobile Research Institute (CMRI) - on November 11, 2016, during a data call using Qualcomm Technologies MDM9206 LTE modem, and communicating live over the air to Ericsson's radio access network.

The call focused on the evaluation of eMTC/Cat-M1, a new cellular IoT technology that was standardized in 3GPP Release 13 for low-power wide-area (LPWA) applications and services.

The technology is suited to support many LPWA use cases requiring higher mobility support, including vehicle telematics, consumer wearables, and more. It achieves better performance than the existing 4G technology in terminal cost, standby time and coverage.

Ericsson is working closely with leading companies to accelerate the pace of development and commercialization of the ecosystem for cellular IoT solutions. The commercial software product for eMTC/Cat-M1 will be available at the end of 2016, together with support from the Ericsson Radio System.

Vieri Vanghi, Vice President, Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., says: "We are very pleased with China Mobile's successful end-to-end data call utilizing cellular IoT eMTC/Cat-M1 technology based on our MDM9206 modem. This is an important milestone that supports the delivery of a new range of IoT services, including smart energy, asset tracking, industrial control and automation, and building security. We look forward to further working with China Mobile and Ericsson to bring these types of services to users in China."

The MDM9206 modem represents Qualcomm Technologies' latest innovation, supporting low-power, low-bandwidth and cost efficient IoT applications and services. It is designed to support LTE category M1, upgradeable to LTE M1+ NB-1 dual mode with an anticipated upcoming software update.

The dual-mode approach combines the best of both technologies and provides a global, scalable solution for IoT products, well suited for a diverse set of operator deployments. The category M1 and NB-1 LTE modes designed in the MDM9206 modem bring many enhancements and optimizations to LTE that will help reduce IoT device complexity. The new technologies can also coexist with today's LTE infrastructure and spectrum, which offers a superior solution to proprietary technologies for LPWA networks.

Ericsson is present today in all high-traffic LTE markets including the US, Japan and South Korea, and is ranked first for handling the most global LTE traffic. In addition, 40 percent of the world's total mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson networks. More than 270 LTE RAN and Evolved Packet Core networks have been delivered by Ericsson worldwide, of which 200 are live commercially.