Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS
Platform for early technology evaluation of Non-Terrestrial Networks
February 23, 2023 | Interview with Thomas Heyn and Thomas Schlichter
What are non-terrestrial Networks?
Non-terrestrial networks are mobile communications networks that are not located on the earth's surface. In particular, this includes 5G networks in which the base stations or user equipment flies, such as aircrafts, drones, High Altitude Platforms, HAPs or satellites.
How does communication with non-terrestrial netwoks work and what advantages does it offer?
IIn non-terrestrial networks, entire base stations, or parts of them, can be implemented on satellites. This means that much larger areas of the earth can be covered for mobile communication than is possible with conventional cell towers alone. Communication via satellites or HAPs is also possible in the event of a disaster in which the terrestrial mobile network fails.
What does the platform for early technology evaluation do?
With the help of our platform, we can support customers in the development of their own 5G NTN components and applications and enable them to test them in as realistic scenarios as possible, even before corresponding commercial systems are available.
For which customers is the technology evaluation interesting?
This possibility of early technology evaluation is particularly interesting for customers from the field of component and application development for various non-terrestrial 5G mobile communication systems.
What will we see in the future?
So far, we have been working in various projects mainly on scenarios with geostationary satellites, but now we are working on scenarios with satellites in low earth orbit. Because of the rapid movement of the satellites in the sky, completely new challenges arise here, and we will soon be able to demonstrate solutions for these.