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The Interview



       Non-Terrestrial  Networks   (NTN)    handsets  that  are  costly  by  regular   legacy satellite access technologies that
       provide  wireless  communications    smartphone  standards.  The  objective   are  proprietary  to  different  vendors
       using  satellites  in  geostationary  or   now  is  being  able  to  address  mass     with a single 3GPP-defined technology.
       low earth orbit (LEO), or High Altitude   market smartphones.
       Platforms  (HAPS).  This  network                                         What’s the goal with NTN?
       component has been added to 5G since   The second segment is broadcast TV
       3GPP  Release 17,  and  is  considered   services,  delivered  to  hundreds  of   The  idea  behind  NTN  is  to  achieve
       an  intrinsic  part  of  the  6G  system.   millions of homes around the world   technological commonalities between
       NTN  are  intended  to  offer  seamless   by  satellites  in  geostationary  orbit   all  satellite  market  segments  and
       global coverage and support a wide   to terminals connected to a familiar   mobile  systems.  This  will  allow  a
       range of communication applications   rooftop dish or parabolic antenna.   reduction  in  costs  through  a  bigger
       demanding high availability.                                              market and consequent economies of
                                            The   third   segment   addresses    scale.  5G  is  already  a  great  basis  for
       Nicolas Chuberre, Vice Chair of ETSI’s   broadband  Internet  connectivity  to   this,  with  its  flexible  radio  interface
       Technical  Committee  on  Satellite   terminals  with  a  directive  antenna,   that’s  adaptable  to  any  band  from  1
       Earth  Stations  and  Systems  and   typically with speeds of a few tens of   GHz to tens of GHz. Hence in 3GPP we
       Solution  Line  Manager  at  Thales   megabits per second on the downlink   started the standardization process to
       Alenia  Space,  explains  how  satellite   and a few megabits per second on the   primarily  address  the  mobile  satellite
       network technology can complement    uplink. While most of these systems   market,  spanning  connectivity  to
       terrestrial mobile  networks for     employ geostationary satellites, there   handsets  as  well  as  to  IoT  devices.
       the  benefit  of  end  users  as  well  as   have  also  been  initiatives  to  create   And  now  we’ve  just  completed
       network operators.                   LEO-based  broadband  systems  such   the  specifications  for  broadband
                                            as Starlink that have been enabled by   satellite networks operating in the Ka
       Let’s start with some definitions.   phased array antenna technology at   band. The definition of the Ku band
       When we talk about ‘satellite        the terminal side.                   has just started.
       communications’, what does
       this mean from a market              What is the commercial               And why is satellite a big part
                                            rationale behind closer
       perspective?                                                              of the conversation about 6G?
                                            integration of satellite networks
       Here  we  are  referring  to  any    into the mobile ecosystem?           There’s  increasing  recognition  of
       communication via satellite, which can                                    the  benefits  of  closer  integration
       be geostationary or non-geostationary.   Users  are  calling  for  standardized   between   satellite   and   mobile
       The  latter  includes  both  low  and   access because they don’t want to be   services.  Improving  the  resiliency
       medium earth orbiting satellites.    tied to a specific service provider. In   of  the  network  is  at  stake.  Adding
                                                                                 redundancy communication paths in
                                            addition, they see a benefit in being
       “     The objective                  able to connect anywhere. Given that   the  network  will  certainly  reinforce
                                                                                 its robustness to node failures.
                                            the service area of a mobile system
                                            may be limited in certain countries,
        now is being able
                                                                                 Seamless
                                                                                              service
                                                                                                         continuity
                                            satellite  allows  global  coverage
        to address mass
                                                                                 instance  the  maritime  industry,
        market smartphones.                 to  be  achieved,  provided  that  it’s   is  another  challenge.  Take  for
                                            integrated with mobile systems.
                                                                                 where  you  have  different  terminal
                                            Lastly  if  we  want  to  drive  down  the   devices,  all  connecting  to  different
       There  are  three  broad  market     cost  to  end-users,  then  clearly  we   satellite  systems.  Then  when  you’re
       segments for satellite communications.   want  to  move  away  from  having  so   approaching the coastline you need
       The first addresses direct connectivity   many  different  proprietary  satellite   to  be  able  to  roam  to  terrestrial
       to  handheld  devices.  These  typically   communication  systems  that  aren’t   networks. From a user’s perspective,
       operate  at  frequencies  below  3   interoperable, as is currently the case.   it’s obviously better if they don’t have
       GHz,  requiring  quite  specialized   So there’s a rationale in replacing these   to keep switching between networks
                                                                                 while using their handset.



                                                                          Enjoy! The ETSI Mag – August 2024     5
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