519 research outputs found
Integration of Satellites in 5G through LEO Constellations
The standardization of 5G systems is entering in its critical phase, with
3GPP that will publish the PHY standard by June 2017. In order to meet the
demanding 5G requirements both in terms of large throughput and global
connectivity, Satellite Communications provide a valuable resource to extend
and complement terrestrial networks. In this context, we consider a
heterogeneous architecture in which a LEO mega-constellation satellite system
provides backhaul connectivity to terrestrial 5G Relay Nodes, which create an
on-ground 5G network. Since large delays and Doppler shifts related to
satellite channels pose severe challenges to terrestrial-based systems, in this
paper we assess their impact on the future 5G PHY and MAC layer procedures. In
addition, solutions are proposed for Random Access, waveform numerology, and
HARQ procedures.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) 201
Architectures and Key Technical Challenges for 5G Systems Incorporating Satellites
Satellite Communication systems are a promising solution to extend and
complement terrestrial networks in unserved or under-served areas. This aspect
is reflected by recent commercial and standardisation endeavours. In
particular, 3GPP recently initiated a Study Item for New Radio-based, i.e., 5G,
Non-Terrestrial Networks aimed at deploying satellite systems either as a
stand-alone solution or as an integration to terrestrial networks in mobile
broadband and machine-type communication scenarios. However, typical satellite
channel impairments, as large path losses, delays, and Doppler shifts, pose
severe challenges to the realisation of a satellite-based NR network. In this
paper, based on the architecture options currently being discussed in the
standardisation fora, we discuss and assess the impact of the satellite channel
characteristics on the physical and Medium Access Control layers, both in terms
of transmitted waveforms and procedures for enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB)
and NarrowBand-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) applications. The proposed analysis
shows that the main technical challenges are related to the PHY/MAC procedures,
in particular Random Access (RA), Timing Advance (TA), and Hybrid Automatic
Repeat reQuest (HARQ) and, depending on the considered service and
architecture, different solutions are proposed.Comment: Submitted to Transactions on Vehicular Technologies, April 201
LEO Small-Satellite Constellations for 5G and Beyond-5G Communications
The next frontier towards truly ubiquitous connectivity is the use of Low
Earth Orbit (LEO) small-satellite constellations to support 5G and Beyond-5G
(B5G) networks. Besides enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and massive
machine-type communications (mMTC), LEO constellations can support
ultra-reliable communications (URC) with relaxed latency requirements of a few
tens of milliseconds. Small-satellite impairments and the use of low orbits
pose major challenges to the design and performance of these networks, but also
open new innovation opportunities. This paper provides a comprehensive overview
of the physical and logical links, along with the essential architectural and
technological components that enable the full integration of LEO constellations
into 5G and B5G systems. Furthermore, we characterize and compare each physical
link category and explore novel techniques to maximize the achievable data
rates.Comment: This work has been accepted for publication at the IEEE Access
journa
Role of satellite communications in 5G ecosystem: perspectives and challenges
The next generation of mobile radio communication systems – so-called 5G – will
provide some major changes to those generations to date. The ability to cope with huge
increases in data traffic at reduced latencies and improved quality of user experience
together with a major reduction in energy usage are big challenges. In addition,
future systems will need to embody connections to billions of objects – the so-called
Internet of Things (IoT) which raises new challenges.Visions of 5G are now available
from regions across the world and research is ongoing towards new standards. The
consensus is a flatter architecture that adds a dense network of small cells operating in
the millimetre wave bands and which are adaptable and software controlled. But what
is the place for satellites in such a vision? The chapter examines several potential
roles for satellites in 5G including coverage extension, IoT, providing resilience,
content caching and multi-cast, and the integrated architecture. Furthermore, the
recent advances in satellite communications together with the challenges associated
with the use of satellite in the integrated satellite-terrestrial architecture are also
discussed
Downlink Coverage and Rate Analysis of Low Earth Orbit Satellite Constellations Using Stochastic Geometry
As low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication systems are gaining
increasing popularity, new theoretical methodologies are required to
investigate such networks' performance at large. This is because deterministic
and location-based models that have previously been applied to analyze
satellite systems are typically restricted to support simulations only. In this
paper, we derive analytical expressions for the downlink coverage probability
and average data rate of generic LEO networks, regardless of the actual
satellites' locality and their service area geometry. Our solution stems from
stochastic geometry, which abstracts the generic networks into uniform binomial
point processes. Applying the proposed model, we then study the performance of
the networks as a function of key constellation design parameters. Finally, to
fit the theoretical modeling more precisely to real deterministic
constellations, we introduce the effective number of satellites as a parameter
to compensate for the practical uneven distribution of satellites on different
latitudes. In addition to deriving exact network performance metrics, the study
reveals several guidelines for selecting the design parameters for future
massive LEO constellations, e.g., the number of frequency channels and
altitude.Comment: Accepted for publication in the IEEE Transactions on Communications
in April 202
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