Addressing coverage concerns for Direct-to-Cloud wearables

Small wearable devices measuring vital-signs and connecting Direct-to-Cloud through the cellular network are a game changer for healthcare, enabling better outcomes for patients, better patient experience, better staff experience, and lower cost of care. These devices leverage mMTC technologies such as LTE-M to provide hassle-free, out-of-the-box, and ubiquitous connectivity. However, a lack of cellular coverage may inhibit the uptake of this new class of devices. This paper presents results of preliminary tests indicating that “100%” LTE-M coverage cannot be achieved in hospitals, but that MNO-approved solutions may help alleviate this cost-effectively. Furthermore, experiments on a live commercial network show that the combination of NB-IoT, as alternate RAT, with a very lean-and-mean, yet non-cloud-native, protocol gains 10.5 dB in link-budget of which 6.5 dB can be attributed to the RAT itself.