LTE vs LTE-M | Difference between LTE and LTE-M
This page compares LTE vs LTE-M and describes difference between LTE and LTE-M technologies.
| Specifications | LTE | LTE-M |
| Specification | 3GPP Release 8/9 (Basic LTE), 3GPP Release 10 (Advanced LTE) |
3GPP Release 13 .. (Cat-M1) 3GPP Release 14 .. (Cat-M2) |
| Abbreviation | Long Term Evolution, General term for all 4G LTE | LTE for Machine Communication (LTE with category M1) , Such IoT devices connect directly with 4G LTE network without gateway |
| Device cost | Costlier | Cheaper |
| Bandwidth | Supports various ranges of BW ( i.e. 1.4MHz, 3.0MHz, 5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz, 20MHz) | Narrower BW (about 1.4 MHz) |
| Battery Life | Short | Long, due to use of PSM and eDRX modes battery life upto 10 years can be achieved. |
| Maximum Data rate | 300 Mbps Downlink(DL) with 4x4 MIMO and 20 MHz configurations , 75 Mbps Uplink (UL) | About 100 Kbps to 360 Kbps |
| Service costs or deployment costs | Higher | Lower |
| Coverage | About 2 to 10 miles | 4 times of LTE |
| Number of devices | Less than LTE-M | Supports massive number of devices |
| Frequency Bands | Bands include 1 to 12, 13 to 25, 33 to 43. Refer LTE Frequency Bands >>. | Release 13 provides the list of the supported bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 26, 27, 28, 31, 39, 41 and Release 14 added the bands viz. 25 and 40. |
| Module size | Not suitable as wearables | Suitable as wearables |
| Duplexing support | Support TDD and FDD (both full duplex or half duplex) | Half duplex and full duplex for FDD and TDD, however currently supported frequency bands are only operating in FDD. Full duplex operation, which means that the device supports simultaneous transmission and reception, or half-duplex operation, which means that the device alternates between transmission and reception. |
LTE and NB-IoT RELATED LINKS
This tutorial section on LTE basics covers following sub topics:
LTE tutorial
NB-IoT tutorial
LTE features
LTE terminologies
Frame
TDD FDD
Channel types
PHY
stack
throughput
CA
cell search
network entry
Timers
PSS vs SSS
Security
LTE Bands
EARFCN
Hotspot
router
What is VoLTE
VoLTE originating call flow
VoLTE UE attach and registration procedure
Difference between LTE Advanced vs LTE Advanced Pro vs 5G Links
Article on LTE Advanced>> LTE-a vs LTE-a Pro>> 5G vs LTE Advanced Pro>>
What is Difference between
difference between FDM and OFDM
Difference between SC-FDMA and OFDM
Difference between SISO and MIMO
Difference between TDD and FDD
Difference between 802.11 standards viz.11-a,11-b,11-g and 11-n
OFDM vs OFDMA
CDMA vs GSM