The curiosity in mobile non-terrestrial community expertise and the enterprise alternative is mirrored within the quantity of exercise within the house in recent times, as 3GPP 5G requirements work has constructed momentum towards convergence of satellite tv for pc and mobile networks and raised the potential of true, ubiquitous (and possibly finally, high-speed) connectivity.
NTN was one of many main subjects at this 12 months’s Cellular World Congress Barcelona, and dominated discussions on the Satellite tv for pc Present 2024 in Washington, D.C. just some weeks later. Cellular community operators, handset makers and chipset firms are hanging partnerships, creating merchandise and in some circumstances have already begun to offer providers, with extra anticipated to emerge this 12 months.
Nevertheless, house continues to be costly and technically difficult, and whereas there are many incumbents on either side, lots of the gamers pushing on NTN are start-ups or comparatively younger or small firms—and even amongst established company denizens, there have already been NTN missteps.
Right here is the second a part of a run-down of main publicly identified partnerships and providers, offers and up to date growth progress—plus a couple of duds which have come alongside the way in which. (Learn Half 1 right here.)
-On the regulatory entrance, the Federal Communications Fee final month unanimously permitted a brand new guidelines framework for satellite-based, mobile communications on to end-user gadgets—or “supplemental protection from house” (SCS), utilizing terrestrial spectrum. The SCS framework permits satellite tv for pc operators who’re working with terrestrial service suppliers to ask for FCC authorization to function house stations in spectrum that’s presently allotted for wi-fi providers—so long as they meet situations like having a spectrum lease in place. As soon as they get authorization, the satellite tv for pc operator can then serve that MNO’s clients throughout the particular geographic space, if they’re out of terrestrial community protection. Nevertheless, there are some points round 911 emergency calling that have to be addressed. For now, the FCC established that terrestrial MNOs must route all 911 calls made by means of SCS to a public security answering level (PSAP) utilizing both location-based routing or an emergency name heart, and the company put out an extra rulemaking asking for enter on ensuring that SCS calls get routed accurately.
-Lynk International, which in February finalized a merger with a special-purpose acquisition firm (SPAC) that’s anticipated to assist the corporate elevate extra funds. As of January third, the corporate had industrial cell towers in house together with the world’s first 5G enabled payload, based on Congressional testimony from Margo Deckard, a co-founder and COO of Lynk. Deckard informed a U.S. Home subcommittee that Lynk has signed 26 industrial contracts thus far, valued at over $2.5 billion, to offer protection in 41 nations and that the corporate plan to start worldwide industrial service this month.
“Our preliminary service shall be textual content messaging, however as we construct out our constellation, we are going to assist broadband providers in all places instantly to straightforward telephones,” she mentioned.
Lynk expects the merger with the SPAC to shut within the second half of 2024.
-Omnispace has struck a cope with MTN, which supplies service in 19 African nations, below which Omnispace will develop a “next-generation standards-based cellular and IoT community designed to serve MTN markets.” Within the meantime, MTN will take a look at and show out capabilities and use circumstances utilizing Omnispace’s present Within the interim, the businesses will companion to check current expertise, show capabilities, and use circumstances utilizing Omnispace’s on-orbit satellites. Omnispace mentioned in February that it now has market entry to succeed in greater than 735 million folks throughout Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Center East. “Along with companions which have spectrum entry in 3GPP 5G NTN bands, Omnispace is poised to ship entry in all main worldwide markets as a part of a subsequent technology international 5G NGSO system,” the corporate mentioned.
-Along with the Satellite tv for pc 2024 present, Gatehouse Satcom and mobile non-public community expertise supplier Druid Software program signed a memorandum of understanding aimed toward collectively creating a “totally built-in, out-of-the-box” NTN resolution for satellite tv for pc suppliers by combining Gatehouse Satcom’s satellite tv for pc Radio Entry Community with Druid’s core community platform, with the 2 “tailor-made to allow strong NTN providers consistent with the newest 3GPP Launch 17 requirements.”
Druid additionally just lately joined the Cellular Satellite tv for pc Companies Affiliation, or MSSA, launched in February 2024; the group, consisting largely of Cellular Satellite tv for pc Service (MSS) spectrum holders, needs to facilitate growth of direct-to-device connectivity by way of that L- and S-band spectrum, which is already allotted and licensed for MSS.
-There was no scarcity of NTN demonstration at this 12 months’s Cellular World Congress Barcelona. At numerous cubicles on the present flooring, Qualcomm and MediaTek chipsets had been on show, enabling 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks demonstrations of each the NB-IoT, 5G and 5G-Superior selection, with extra information on 5G NTN chip growth acceleration from the likes of Ceva and Arm. In the meantime, the European House Company and GSMA Foundry introduced a partnership that features as much as 15 million euros in funding for tech challenges associated to NTN, lab entry and a GSMA coaching course to familiarize folks with each terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks and work round “ecosystem unification.” The present’s Satellite tv for pc and NTN Summit was standing-room solely (you possibly can re-watch the published right here and skim RCR’s protection right here.)
-In a barely tangential latest growth, the federal government of Canada final week introduced that it was rising its funding in a beforehand introduced cope with Telesat to assist Telesat’s LightSpeed LEO constellation, which is anticipated to offer broadband entry to Canadians. Whereas satellite tv for pc has lengthy supplied cellular backhaul for mobile websites both in distant areas or as a part of extra occasion capability or catastrophe restoration, the supported bandwidth has additionally been restricted. Nevertheless, LEO constellations that may assist greater speeds additionally provide new prospects for extending 5G cellular or mounted broadband (Verizon talked about curiosity in such an association with Amazon’s Mission Kuiper for high-speed mobile backhaul, again in 2021.)
Within the case of LightSpeed, the LEO constellation might find yourself extending the attain of 5G by offering backhaul and trunking providers in rural areas which aren’t served by fiber or backhaul assets enough to assist 5G. Brazilian operator TIM examined LightSpeed for its suitability for 5G backhaul final 12 months and concluded that the service ranges supplied by LightSpeed can be acceptable, when it comes to latency and reliability, to assist terrestrial 5G service.
-A satellite tv for pc with a regenerative payload (one of many two NTN architectures laid out by 3GPP) is set to be launched this 12 months by Lockheed Martin, as a part of its 5G.MIL community options for the U.S. Division of Protection. In its remaining lab demonstration in October 2023, Lockheed showcased what it says is the “business’s first totally regenerative Superior 5G Non-Terrestrial Community (NTN) Satellite tv for pc Base Station.” In a stay hardware-in-the-loop take a look at atmosphere, the NTN base station “carried out high-speed knowledge transfers connecting with prototype NTN person tools,” based on Lockheed, which mentioned that the satellite tv for pc is “compliant with 3GPP Launch 17 and was developed in anticipation of pre-Launch 18 and 19 regenerative specs.” The protection vendor added: “Throughout a simulated satellite tv for pc orbital move, the Satellite tv for pc Base Station, working on space-hardened flight {hardware} and the person tools on the bottom, efficiently related and transferred knowledge, together with stay video streaming.”
Lockheed used Accelercom’s 5G NTN Layer 1 PHY resolution and 5G NTN Layer 2/3 and 5G Standalone core software program from Radisys. The corporate says that its Superior 5G Satellite tv for pc Base Station “is the lynch pin in Lockheed Martin’s imaginative and prescient to offer international 5G connectivity.” It has been investing in hybrid base stations for 3 years, and says that the satellite tv for pc makes use of a full 5G NR RAN software program stack, a RAN Clever Controller (RIC) and 5G SA Core that run on space-qualified flight {hardware} that may fly on the TacSat; that it’s reprogrammable on orbit utilizing a software-defined satellite tv for pc structure; and that it may be structured with a cut up structure with a Management Unit (CU) on the bottom and Distributed Unit (DU) on the satellite tv for pc.
“Our Satellite tv for pc Base Station is actual, operational {hardware} and we’re excited for the subsequent step,” mentioned Joe Rickers, Lockheed Martin’s vice chairman for Connectivity, Transport and Entry. Lockheed is self-funding the launch of the regenerative payload to orbit throughout 2024 to carry “5G’s capabilities to the ultimate frontier to show its functionality to attach the globe.”
On the lookout for extra info and insights on NTN? Try this latest RCR Wi-fi Information editorial webinar on-demand.
