D2.1-S (A) NTN architecture capabilities study
Creators: name: Open University of Catalonia
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: This document provides a comprehensive overview of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) and their critical role in transforming the wireless communication landscape, particularly in the 5G and upcoming 6G standards. It emphasizes the attention that NTNs have received in recent years, motivated by their ability to provide innovative solutions to global connectivity challenges, increase network capacity, and support a wide range ofservices and applications.The document first examines the evolution of NTNs, from their conceptual design to their current state of development, detailing the critical standardization efforts conducted by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). This standardization activity reflects an ongoing transformation, which is supported by a collaborative effort to effectively integrate NTNs into the global communication ecosystem.The document then discusses the regulatory and operational challenges associated with the deployment of NTNs. These challenges include spectrum management, interoperability with terrestrial networks, and ensuring global coverage to meet the needs of various applications. Furthermore, the document identifies the opportunities NTNs provide for remote areas where traditional connectivity solutions are impractical or tooexpensive.Regarding the standardization initiatives, the document emphasizes the importance of a harmonized approach to ensure that NTNs can be integrated with existing and future terrestrial networks. This involves addressing technical specifications, security concerns, and compatibility issues, which are critical for their successful adoption and implementation. Furthermore, the document presents a detailed state of the art, considering both research literature and ongoing research activities funded by national and European agencies.A significant portion of this document is devoted to delineating the NTN Technical Requirements, rooted in the ITU-R M.2514-0 specifications. These requirements are meticulously identified to ensure the integration of satellite components with terrestrial networks, thereby fostering service continuity, especially across underserved locales.The document intricately details the technical requisites essential for supporting the 3GPP defined use cases enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and massive machinetype communications (mMTC), tailored to satellite interfaces and focus of our study.Finally, the document presents the requirements for the evaluation of a set of commercial use cases for NTNs. We have selected a direct-to-handset and IoT connectivity use cases, employing a Tradespace methodology to analyze different architectural configurations. The scenarios are meticulously characterized by the critical requirements for a relevant evaluation considering constellation types, payload capacities, and operational metrics, thereby facilitating informed decision-making in satellite constellation design. This comprehensive analysis underscores the potential of NTNs in revolutionizing offshore communications, IoT applications, and beyond.