Traditional mobile connectivity has powered 3G, 4G and 5G and while this is impressive, it has one unavoidable limitation, coverage gaps. As mentioned in our article LEO Satellites & D2D: Expanding Connectivity Everywhere, remote areas, rural villages, disaster-struck zones, maritime routes and so on are all areas that fall within these coverage gaps. However, NTN (Non-Terrestrial Networks) appears to be a solution to these gaps.
What are NTN’s?
To put it simply, NTN’s are communication networks that depend on physical hardware in the air or in space, as opposed to physical hardware on the ground.
These can be:
– LEO Satellites (Low-Earth Orbit): Orbiting +/-200 – 2 000km’s above Earth, giving us lower latency and faster speeds.
– MEO Satellites (Medium-Earth Orbit): Orbiting around 10 000 km’s above Earth, giving us a fair balance between performance and coverage.
– GEO Satellites (Geostationary): Orbiting around 36 000km’s above Earth, covering greater areas with higher latency.
– HAPS (High-Altitude Platform Stations): These are unmanned hardware in the form of aircrafts, drones or balloons that operate in the stratosphere.
The fundamental element of NTN’s however lies in their ability to integrate with traditional networks, essentially creating a hybrid model where smartphones can roam between cell towers and satellites.
Standardisation:
Satellite and mobile networks have always existed separately but thanks to 3GPP release 17, NTN’s have been integrated into the 5G standard.
What does this mean?
– We no longer need special, bulky satellites phones because your smartphone will be able to connect to these satellites.
– Telco service providers can expand their coverage through partnering with satellites rather than building additional network towers.
While this all sounds incredibly promising, there are potential challenges that NTN’s may face, like:
– Capacity Limits: Being able to effectively manage the millions of devices that could be accessing LEO constellations at a time.
– Cost Models: Finding a way that NTN services can be affordable for both Telco’s and the consumer.
– Regulatory Barriers: There are various different national policies on satellite services where some are easier to comply with, while others are more difficult.
From towers to space, what we know as connectivity is evolving right before of your eyes.
