5G Use Cases and Satellite Networks

(Jungfrau, Switzerland - Alvin Wei-Cheng Wong)

 - Satellite Networks To Support 5G Use Cases

Satellite networks have specific capabilities to address 5G use cases. The general consensuses on how satellite helps in achieving 5G requirements are: 

• Ubiquity: Satellite provides high-speed capacity across the globe using the following enablers: capacity in-fill inside geographic gaps, overspill to satellite when terrestrial links are over capacity, global coverage and backup/resilience for network fall-back (especially for communication during emergencies). In other words, high-data rate backhauling is quickly available everywhere with satellite: urban, suburban and rural areas.
• Mobility: Satellite is the only technology capable of providing connectivity anywhere on land, at sea, or in the air for moving platforms (trains, ships & aircraft, respectively), while requiring a minimal terrestrial infrastructure for support. In fact, an airplane can be backhauled like a small cell through satellite.
• Simultaneous Broadcast: Satellite can efficiently deliver rich multimedia and other content across multiple sites simultaneously, using broadcast/multicast streams with an information-centric network and content caching for local distribution.

Recent technological developments have led to a number of initiatives in the SatCom sector, enabling the operation of High Throughput Geostationary (GSO) as well as non-Geostationary (non-GSO) satellite networks, based on hundreds to thousands of satellites that can contribute to the delivery of 5G services leveraging on reduced-latency, high-throughput communications.

- 5G and LEO Satellites

5G satellites orbit the Earth in low Earth orbit (LEO), which is between 200 and 2,000 kilometers above the Earth. They can operate on a wider range of spectrum than 4G LTE. 5G satellites can supplement terrestrial 5G infrastructure to increase network coverage and provide high-speed internet service to emerging markets and business customers. 

LEO satellites can deliver virtually blanket coverage and potentially the high data rates demanded for 5G. In optimal conditions, LEO satellites offer typical download speeds in the 50 to 250 Mbps range, while 5G can average download speeds up to 2Gbps. However, LEO satellite has shorter latency than HEO satellite, but it's still longer than what 5G offers.

Some use cases for combining LEO and 5G connectivity include: Reliable failover from cellular to satellite, Uphold communications for moving vehicles, Ensure connectivity in rural and off-grid areas, Keep things moving with automatic redundancy, and Recover from unforeseen disasters.

Some LEO satellite companies include: OneWeb, SpaceX, Project Kuiper (Amazon), Telesat, and AST & Science.

- Integration of Satellites in 5G through LEO Constellations

LEO Satellites will play a key part in extending cellular 5G networks to air, sea and other remote areas not covered by small cell networks. For the end-user, satellites offer a seamless extension of 5G services from the city to airplanes, cruise liners and other vehicles in remote locations. IoT sensors and M2M connections on farms and remote worksites like mines can also capitalize on the wide coverage areas offered by 5G satellites. 

Integrating satellites with 5G infrastructure improves the Quality of Experience (QoE) of high capacity applications. By intelligently routing and offloading traffic, satellites save valuable spectrum and improve the resilience of each network. 

In the event of a natural or man-made disaster where 5G infrastructure is damaged, satellite networks can take over and keep the network alive. While they will not be able to provide a full set of services, they can still retain critical and life-saving communication services during disasters. 

- Multicast Streaming

The traditional core market of satellite communication is media broadcast. Now, with the proliferation of mobile devices, media content trends are shifting away from live linear television broadcasts, to low latency on-demand streaming. 

Media streaming – arguably the most successful service of 4G – will become one of the key use cases for new satellite technology.  With 5G, users will consume enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) applications such as 8K video streaming and online VR/AR gaming. With the help of 5G-enabled satellites, these immersive experiences can globally transmit higher data rates to support smooth delivery and low latency to mobile devices.

- Satellites and IoT

Obviously, satellites have become an important part of the Internet of Things (IoT). At the same time, satellites are an achievable and powerful complement to terrestrial networks and future 5G/6G communications. Having billions of IoT devices poses a significant operational challenge. To combat on-going security vulnerabilities, devices need constant updates and future 5G devices will require an efficient distribution of data on a global scale. With wide coverage and broadcast capabilities, satellites are well-positioned to support IoT. They can offer shared uplink connectivity for a massive amount of IoT devices and provide data aggregation.

- Satellite-Based Cellular Backhaul

Satellite-based cellular backhaul is going mainstream. Cellular backhaul has, in recent years, been identified as one of the fastest-growing satellite application sectors, prompting satellite operators and service providers everywhere to expand their awareness and capabilities in these areas. 

Until recently, mobile network operators (MNOs) were reluctant to deploy satellite-based cellular backhaul solutions if they didn’t absolutely have to - mainly due to high costs and bandwidth limitations. As a result, the satellite option was used only for hard-to-reach areas such as islands, mountains and deserts, where terrestrial infrastructure (e.g., fibre or microwave) was either unfeasible or prohibitively expensive.

The emergence of high throughput satellites (HTS) and technological breakthroughs has irreversibly changed this paradigm. As satellite capacity continues to grow and bandwidth costs ($/Mbps/month) continue to drop, MNOs are taking advantage of satellite backhaul to support new types of use cases, beyond remote connectivity. These include metro-edge coverage extension, urban network densification, roads and highway coverage, emergency response and backup.