Field Trial of a 5G Non-Terrestrial Network Using OpenAirInterface

Satellites enable the provision of global 5G coverage utilizing a customized protocol stack for direct access of 5G devices. This paper reports the results of a field trial based on an Open Source Software (OSS) 5G protocol stack modified for Satellite Communications. 5G New Radio (NR) functions have been adapted to support 3GPP Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) standardization for Release 17. Some of the currently discussed enhancements for 5G New Radio (NR) direct access for NTNs were evaluated in this study utilizing a geosynchronous satellite system. Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) devices and base station were software-defined solutions communicating via satellite through a standardized 5G NR waveform. The results show that Open Source Software (OSS) implementations running on general purpose platforms greatly support the research and standardization process for 5G-Beyond NTNs. New functions related to NTNs can be evaluated at an early stage over channel emulators or real world satellites to highlight the capabilities of space based 5G-Beyond networks. Therefore, OSS can be a starting point to turn the vision of 6G protocols on-board the satellite into reality.