3GPP-based Non-Terrestrial Networks in 5G and 6G: Expanding the Frontiers of Wireless Communications

Self-contained resource on fundamental concepts and the planning, provisionining, design, and operations of 3GPP-based NTNs

3GPP-based Non-Terrestrial Networks in 5G and 6G: Expanding the Frontiers of Wireless Communications provides an overview of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) in the context of 3GPP systems such as 4G LTE and 5G NR. Unique challenges of NTNs such as long and variable propagation delays, large and time-varying Doppler shifts, different types of beams including Earth-fixed beams, quasi-Earth-fixed beams, and Earth-moving beams and transparent and regenerative payloads are discussed. The mechanisms that 3GPP foresees to tackle these NTN-specific challenges are described and, furthermore, the planning, provisioning, design, and operations of the radio and core networks for NTNs are illustrated.

NTN considerations in the book range from physical-layer aspects (e.g., synchronization, random access, and uplink and downlink data transmission), to mobility management including handover and cell reselection, and to network architecture. Fundamentals of the associated concepts of NR, eMTC (i.e., LTE_M), and NB-IoT are described so that their customizations for NTNs become clear in NTN-specific discussions. NTN features in 3GPP Release 17, 18, and 19 are described andhe role of NTN in 6G is also summarized.

A companion website provides exercises to help learners to reinforce concepts, along with software utilities (e.g., Excel spreadsheets) that provide templates to investigate the impact of various factors (e.g., carrier frequency and channel bandwidth) on the performance of NTNs (e.g., coverage and capacity/throughput).

3GPP-based Non-Terrestrial Networks in 5G and 6G includes information on:

• Earth-fixed beams, Earth-moving beams, and quasi-Earth-fixed beams, as well as characteristics of Geo Synchronous Orbit (GSO) and Non-GSO (NGSO) satellites such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites
• Challenges unique to NTNs including large coverage areas, mobility of cells, and different types of payloads (e.g., transparent and regenerative)
• Issues surrounding data transfer in NTNs such as time and frequency pre-compensation, timers for different radio protocol stack layers, and HARQ enabling/disabling
• Random access, RRC connection setup, registration/attach, and PDU session/EPS bearer setup for LTE-M, NB-IoT, and 5G NR

3GPP-based Non-Terrestrial Networks in 5G and 6G is an essential resource for wireless communications and satellite industry engineers and professionals seeking to facilitate the design, provisioning, deployment, operations, maintenance, and optimization of 5G-based NTNs and identify R&D areas for 5G-advanced-based and 6G-based NTNs.

Dr. Nishith D. Tripathi is a Research Associate Professor at Virginia Tech, USA. Dr. Tripathi has 24 years of industry experience at Nortel Networks, Huawei Technologies, Award Solutions, and Samsung Research America. He is a co-author of five books related to cellular communications, AI, 5G, and O-RAN.

Dr. Jeffrey H. Reed is the Willis G Worcester Professor of Electrical Engineering at Virginia Tech, USA. Dr. Reed is co-author or co-editor of five textbooks and is on the editorial board for IEEE/Wiley Press. He is a fellow of the IEEE for his contributions to software defined radio, communications signal processing, and engineering education.