Validation framework for building a spectrum sharing testbed for integrated satellite-terrestrial systems : Invited Paper

Development of a testbed for spectrum sharing is a multi-step process requiring systems engineering understanding. The ASCENT project is building a testbed to study licensed spectrum sharing between satellite systems and between satellite and terrestrial systems. The work has been carried out as part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme. The 5G frequency bands currently under study are the 3.6 GHz band and the 26 GHz band. Validation is needed to check that all the requirements are fulfilled and consequently to understand in detail how the spectrum could be shared in the studied bands and what the benefits of different techniques such as licensed shared access (LSA) and power control could be. This paper describes the validation framework that provides guidance for the actual validation and enables creation of an efficient validation plan for different use cases and frequency bands. We also define the architecture for the LSA testbed.