Ericsson, Qualcomm, and Thales say that low Earth orbit satellites can expand coverage to remote areas.
Ericsson, Qualcomm, and Thales are working together to deliver 5G connectivity to groups of low Earth orbit (LEO) artificial satellites, a move that will expand mobile networks to hard-to-reach areas like offshore rigs. The three companies will soon test smartphone use and validate 5G non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) in the field.
In this testing and validation process, Ericsson will use virtual radio access network (vRAN) technology to handle radio signals from space. Qualcomm will test phones and Thales will verify a radio satellite payload. The testers will then mimic 5G radio propagation and time delays between the satellites and testing equipment. The combined efforts will ensure that the three critical components—a 5G smartphone, the satellite technology and the infrastructure on the ground—work well together.

LEO satellites are intended to complement 5G technology, says Danny Tseng, director of technical marketing at Qualcomm.
“[They’ll] improve the value of 5G networks by addressing difficult coverage challenges and complex use cases that ground-based infrastructure alone cannot efficiently [resolve],” says Tseng.
He adds that the collaboration has the potential to play an integral role in leveraging communication infrastructure to deliver expanded 5G services in the future.“[The cooperation can also] make strides to address the digital divide. [That] has only worsened and will continue to remain a reality long after the pandemic,” he says.
The collaboration promises to broaden 5G global connectivity for transportation, energy and health. The 5G NTNs could also serve as a backup for ground-based networks in the event of a disaster or series of outages.
“The biggest takeaway [after multiple studies and simulations] is that 5G NTN is now finally supported in standards—a major feat. The next step is for the industry to … make it a reality,” says Tseng.
Erik Ekudden, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Ericsson, says that testing and validation could be a major milestone in the history of communications.
“The ultimate result could effectively mean that no matter where you are on Earth—in the middle of an ocean or the remotest forest—high-end, secure and cost-effective connectivity will be available through collaborative 5G satellite and terrestrial connectivity,” says Ekudden.
Solving the Limitations of Existing Cellular Networks
Around the world, communications engineers are looking for ways that service providers and governments can offer coverage in challenging locations. A lack of access or insufficient access poses risks for everything from health care to remote work. This has been particularly true during the COVID-19 pandemic.
India’s disruptions in education during the first two years of the pandemic reveal how inadequate Internet access can add to existing problems. Rural areas had inadequate Internet access or none at all. Data plans were too expensive for many families. These issues were not offset by the widespread adoption of smartphones and teachers becoming skilled at developing hybrid lessons.
Tseng says that using cellular and satellite ecosystems together to solve “a classic network coverage problem” can deliver great values to end users in different sectors. For 5G to provide “ubiquitous connectivity,” service providers must also deliver network coverage where terrestrial cellular networks do not exist or cannot exist in a sufficient way. For example, a provider would have to pull long fiber to connect multiple remote oil drilling sites.
“Two parallel NTN workstreams address mobile broadband and low-complexity IoT use cases. The first project adapts the 5G New Radio (NR) framework for satellite communications, enabling fixed wireless access (FWA) backhaul, or intermediate links between the core network, from the ground to the satellites,” explains Tseng.
The purpose of the first project was to provide broadband access. This project also provided a direct low-data rate and voice services for smartphones, including for emergency services.
The second project focused on supporting satellite access for low-complexity enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) and narrowband Internet of Things (NB IoT) devices. That work expands the coverage for key use cases like worldwide asset tracking, such as containers over the ocean or other devices that are outside of cellular coverage.
Tseng says the complex end-to-end system that will eventually be developed will require bringing satellite support into a smartphone form factor—a hardware design aspect that determines the physical specifications of components. The satellite support is necessary for smartphones to connect to satellites as well as to terrestrial 5G for coverage.
“On the network side, we anticipate network components that are modified to handle the Doppler shifts and delay spread that occurs when transmitting from fast-moving LEO satellites,” says Tseng.
Core network components will be needed to add the NTN access type and allow for NTN-terrestrial network (TN) roaming. For instance, to be used, satellite payloads developed for 5G NTN must access the 5G frequencies. Large antenna gain and a large number of spot beams will also be needed. Spot beams are satellite signals specially concentrated in power to cover limited areas. The combination of large antenna gains and more spot beams will create as much sellable capacity as possible.
Future Directions for Collaboration
The Ericsson-Qualcomm-Thales collaboration may be one of many efforts that involve multiple players. Tseng says that 5G was envisioned to connect virtually everything relating to human populations.
“[That presents] a unique set of challenges … requiring time for 5G and non-terrestrial networks to reach peak maturity to bring real-life use cases to life,” says Tseng.
Future endeavors could address other challenges for manufacturers of satellites, infrastructure and devices that want to progress together toward a common goal. The companies need to ensure that costs are viable, address issues regarding substantial distance and complexity in comparison to traditional TNs, and keep in mind regulatory and legal obligations.
Tseng says that Qualcomm’s vision of a connected intelligent edge—the connectedness of a process of data analysis and aggregation close to where it is captured—is a world with billions of intelligently connected devices.
“[They’d all be] powered by Qualcomm’s cutting-edge solutions, where [those would be] our powerful processors, 5G modems and radio frequency (RF), on-device AI, or our many other innovations,” says Tseng.
Tseng says that satellite communications is undoubtedly a part of this future.
“We are continuing to evolve 5G NTN in 5G advanced on the path to 6G. In fact, it is already a part of the work plan for 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) release 18, the first release of 5G advanced,” says Tseng.
The proposed enhancements in release 18 include provide better coverage and mobility, as well as more efficient power consumption and deployment in more bands.
Changes Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
At first, it seemed as if the COVID-19 pandemic would negatively affect progress. Yet the telecommunications industry was able to work around the initial concerns. The social distancing requirements brought on by the pandemic put a damper on the work of the industry’s 3GPP specifications body. 3GPP is a global, consensus-driven body. The group brings together seven telecommunications standard development organizations to produce technical specifications and technical reports for mobile systems.
“[The pandemic] ultimately [had] a ripple effect on the stage 3 functional freeze of release 17. Despite a revised timeline, the entire release was developed during the pandemic. [The pandemic] hit soon after the release was approved in December 2019,” says Tseng.
There were challenges because of travel restrictions caused by the pandemic and the need for remote work. Yet the original scope for release 17 was kept intact. The goal of adding NTN support to the 5G release was accomplished as planned.
“While standards process delays aren’t particularly unusual, the pandemic added an extra layer of complications.” The process of developing these standards involves “a wide array of different stakeholders with intentions of connecting and protecting billions of people and things,” says Tseng.