5G-NTN GEO-based In-Lab Demonstrator using OpenAirInterface5G

in 11th Advanced Satellite Multimedia Conference (2022, September)

The integration of 5G with Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) components is going through a series of technological advancements and soon satellites will be a part of the 5G ecosystem. Early demonstrators ... [more ▼]

The integration of 5G with Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) components is going through a series of technological advancements and soon satellites will be a part of the 5G ecosystem. Early demonstrators, especially based on open-source implementations, are essential to support further research. In this work, we discuss the ongoing activities and developments related to the project 5G-Enabled Ground Segment Technologies OverThe-Air Demonstrator (5G-GoA) which has been funded under the ESA-ARTES program. The vision of 5G-GoA is developing and implementing suitable modifications in the 5G New Radio (NR) standard for enabling direct radio access to 5G services using a transparent GEO satellite. For this purpose, we have used OpenAirInterface(OAI) which is a Software Defined Radio (SDR) based open-source implementation of the 5G-NR protocol stack. We adapted it to address the challenges caused by the excessive round-trip delay in GEO satellites. Our solutions encompass all the layers of the 5G protocol stack: The physical layer (e.g. synchronization) up to upper layer implementations (e.g. timers and random-access procedure) of the Radio Access Network. Our modifications comply with the specifications mentioned for 5GNTN in the recently frozen 3GPP Release-17. An end-to-end demonstrator has been developed for in-lab validation over a satellite channel emulator prior to over-the-satellite testing. Our initial experiments show promising results and the feasibility of direct access to 5G services through transparent GEO satellites. [less ▲]

Solar-Aerodynamic Formation Flight for 5G Experiments

in Proceedings of the 12th European CubeSatSymposium (2021, November 15)

Random access procedure over non-terrestrial networks: From theory to practice

in IEEE Access (2021)

Non-terrestrial Networks (NTNs) have become an appealing concept over the last few years and they are foreseen as a cornerstone for the next generations of mobile communication systems. Despite opening up ... [more ▼]

Non-terrestrial Networks (NTNs) have become an appealing concept over the last few years and they are foreseen as a cornerstone for the next generations of mobile communication systems. Despite opening up new market opportunities and use cases for the future, the novel impairments caused by the signal propagation over the NTN channel, compromises several procedures of the current cellular standards. One of the first and most important procedures impacted is the random access (RA) procedure, which is mainly utilized for achieving uplink synchronization among users in several standards, such as the fourth and fifth generation of mobile communication (4 & 5G) and narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT). In this work, we analyse the challenges imposed by the considerably increased delay in the communication link on the RA procedure and propose new solutions to overcome those challenges. A trade-off analysis of various solutions is provided taking into account also the already existing ones in the literature. In order to broaden the scope of applicability, we keep the analysis general targeting 4G, 5G and NB-IoT systems since the RA procedure is quasi-identical among these technologies. Last but not least, we go one step further and validate our techniques in an experimental setup, consisting of a user and a base station implemented in open air interface (OAI), and an NTN channel implemented in hardware that emulates the signal propagation delay. The laboratory test-bed built in this work, not only enables us to validate various solutions, but also plays a crucial role in identifying novel challenges not previously treated in the literature. Finally, an important key performance indicator (KPI) of the RA procedure over NTN is shown, which is the time that a single user requires to establish a connection with the base station. [less ▲]

5G-SpaceLab

Poster (2021, April 19)

The new phase of space exploration involves a growing number of human and robotic missions with varying communication and service requirements. Continuous, maximum coverage of areas where activities are ... [more ▼]

The new phase of space exploration involves a growing number of human and robotic missions with varying communication and service requirements. Continuous, maximum coverage of areas where activities are concentrated and orbiting missions (single spacecraft or constellations) around the Earth, Moon or Mars will be particularly challenging. The standardization of the 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) has already begun [1], and nothing prevents 5G from becoming a common communications standard supporting space resource missions [2]. The 5G Space Communications Lab (5G-SpaceLab) is an interdisciplinary experimental platform, funded by the Luxembourg Space Agency and is part of the Space Research Program of SnT. The lab allows users to design and emulate realistic space communications and control scenarios for the next-generation of space applications. The capabilities of the 5G-SpaceLab testbed combine the experience of different disciplines including space communications, space and satellite mission design, and space robotics. The most relevant include the demonstration of SDR 5G NTN terminals including NB-IoT, emulation of space communications channel scenarios (e.g. link budget, delay, Doppler…), small satellite platform and payload design and testing, satellite swarm flight formation, lunar rover and robotic arm control and AI-powered telerobotics. Earth-Moon communications is one of the scenarios demonstrated in the 5G-SpaceLab. Bidirectional communication for the teleoperation of lunar rovers for near real-time operations including data collection and sensors feedback will be tested. AI-based approaches for perception and control will be developed to overcome communication delays and to provide safer, trustworthy, and efficient remote control of the rovers. [1] 3GPP Release 17 Timeline. [Online]. Available: https://www.3gpp.org/release-17 [2] Nokia, Nokia selected by NASA to build first ever cellular network on the Moon. [Online]. Available: https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2020/10/19/nokia-selected-by-nasa-to-build-first-ever-cellular-network-on-the-moon/ [less ▲]

On the Random Access Procedure of NB-IoT Non-Terrestrial Networks

in IEEE Access (2021), 9

The standardization of the 5G systems has recently entered in an advanced phase, where non-terrestrial networks will be a new key feature in the upcoming releases. Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT ... [more ▼]

The standardization of the 5G systems has recently entered in an advanced phase, where non-terrestrial networks will be a new key feature in the upcoming releases. Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is one of the technologies that will address the massive machine type communication (mMTC) traf- fic of the 5G. To meet the demanding need for global connectivity, satellite communications can provide an essential support to complement and extend the NB-IoT terrestrial infrastructure. However, the presence of the satellite channel comes up with new demands for the NB-IoT procedures. In this paper, we investigate the main challenges introduced by the satellite channel in the NB-IoT random access procedure, while pointing out valuable solutions and research directions to overcome those challenges. [less ▲]

Link budget analysis for satellite-based narrowband IoT systems

Scientific Conference (2019)

Resource Allocation Approach for Differential Doppler Reduction in NB-IoT over LEO Satellite

in 9th Advanced Satellite Multimedia Systems Conference (ASMS) and 15th Signal Processing for Space Communications Workshop (SPSC), Berlin, Germany, 10-12 September 2018 (2018)

Internet of things (IoT) over satellite is an attractive system architecture which has been proposed as a key-enabling technology, to extend the coverage in remote areas (e.g. desert, ocean, forest, etc ... [more ▼]

Internet of things (IoT) over satellite is an attractive system architecture which has been proposed as a key-enabling technology, to extend the coverage in remote areas (e.g. desert, ocean, forest, etc), particularly where a terrestrial network is impossible or impractical to reach. One of the most promising technologies that fit the IoT vision of low-power, wide area networks (LPWAN) is the narrowband IoT (NB-IoT). While low earth orbit (LEO) satellites are favourable because of their lower round trip time (RTT) and lower propagation loss in the communication link, they come up with a significantly increased Doppler shift. In our NB-IoT over LEO satellite architecture, we identify the problem of high differential Doppler among channels of different users on Earth, which leads to the performance degradation of our system. In this paper, we propose a resource allocation approach in order to reduce the high values of differential Doppler under the maximum value supported by the standard itself. [less ▲]