Data-Driven Satellite Communication and Control for Future IoT: Principles and Opportunities

New satellite-based 6G for the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to provide complete global coverage and support fully transparent services. In addition, a large number of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites are to be deployed to connect IoT devices (actuators and sensors) that are beyond terrestrial network coverage. However, there are the two major LEO satellites' hindering issues: 1) spectrum inefficiency leading to high cost and 2) continuous motions of satellites that limit the contact time to approximately 10 min which results in frequent handovers, link budget limitations, and high Doppler effects. This article discusses design approaches and principles that allow us to develop a cost-effective intelligent data-aided satellite communication and control framework for LEO networks by employing key features of 6G multiconnectivity, distributed sensing, and machine learning algorithms. Our ideas are evaluated with preliminary analytic modeling and simulation results.