Satellite and Cellular Networks Integration - A System Overview

Using the same radio interface for both cellular (i.e. terrestrial) and satellite (i.e. non-terrestrial) networks can potentially provide huge benefit by leveraging cellular ecosystem to bring satellite communications into consumer markets. By integration of cellular and satellite networks can provide ubiquitous coverage from indoor, urban to rural areas around the world. It is especially important for IoT applications since machine distribution is much different than human distribution. From a long-term perspective, the spectrum allocation for terrestrial network (TN) and non-terrestrial network (NTN) may be harmonized to achieve better spectrum utilization if cellular and satellite networks can be well integrated. This paper provides an overview of the system design challenges and potential solutions to extend the cellular radio technologies on New Radio Mobile Broadband (NR MBB) and Narrow-Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) to support satellite communications. The design target is not only for the ongoing 3GPP NTN standardization but also for future radio interface designs toward 6G