5G

Policy ＞

Satellites will play a vital role in future 5G networks, and the benefits to users, including consumers, governments and industry, will come not from individual technologies, but from the quantum difference these services will make to mankind. GSC's members will make a valuable contribution to these cutting edge developments. 5G will be a network of networks - an ecosystem - with multiple technologies supporting a global infrastructure: satellite, Wi-Fi, small cells, and traditional mobile wireless networks, among others. Satellites have a particularly important role to play bringing services to users quickly, no matter where they are located and no matter the availability of terrestrial infrastructure. Satellites have three key characteristics that are critical for the success of 5G: wide area coverage, cost-effectiveness, and reliability (resilience).

Wide area coverage and reduced vulnerability of physical attacks and natural disasters allow space-based satellite networks to:

Foster the roll out of 5G service in areas that cannot be covered by terrestrial networks (e.g. isolated/ remote areas, on board aircrafts or vessels);
Upgrade the performance of limited terrestrial networks in a cost effective manner in underserved areas (e.g. sub-urban/rural areas);
Reinforce 5G service availability by providing service continuity for M2M/IoT devices or connectivity and autonomy of intelligent cars with software updates on board moving platforms (e.g. passenger vehicles, aircraft, ships, high speed trains, bus, etc.);
Ensure service anywhere, especially for critical communications, future railway train communications, and maritime communications;
Enable 5G network scalability by providing efficient global multicast/broadcast coverage resources for data delivery;
Create a reliable and ubiquitous communication system that is both highly secure and economically viable.

Trunking and Head-end Feed

This use case addresses high speed trunking of video, IoT and other data to a central site, with further terrestrial distribution to local cell sites, for instance neighbouring villages.

A very high speed satellite link (up to 1 Gbps or even more) from geostationary and/
or non-geostationary satellites will complement existing terrestrial connectivity.

Backhauling and Tower Feed

This use case is about high speed backhaul connectivity to individual cells, with the ability to multicast the same content (e.g. video, HD / UHD TV, as well as other non-video data) across a large coverage (e.g. for local storage and consumption), as shown in the graph below. The same capability also allows for the efficient backhauling of aggregated IoT traffic from multiple sites.

Communications on the Move

This use case is about high speed backhaul connectivity to individual in-motion terminals on planes, vehicles, trains and vessels (including cruise ships and other passenger vessels), with the ability to multicast the same content (e.g. video, HD / UHD TV, FOTA, as well as other non-video data) across a large coverage area (e.g. for local storage and consumption), as shown in the graph below. The same capability also allows for the efficient backhauling of aggregated IoT traffic from these moving platforms.

A very high speed, multicast-enabled, satellite link (up to 1 Gbps or even more), direct to the plane, vehicles, train or vessel, from geostationary and/or non-geostationary satellites will complement existing terrestrial connectivity where available.

Hybrid Multiplay

This use case is about high speed connectivity including backhaul to individual homes and offices, with the ability to multicast the same content (video, HD/UHD TV, as well as other non-video data) across a large coverage (e.g. for local storage and consumption). The same capability also allows for an efficient broadband connectivity for aggregated IoT data. In-home distribution via Wi-Fi or very small cell (“nano-cell”), is shown in the figure overleaf.

Related Position Papers

Internet of Things (IoT) and the Role of Satellites

No single communications technology can reach all the possible markets and users, and be able to handle the flood of connections required and mounds of data that will be transmitted and received for future IOT applications.

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