NTN (r)evolution: stepping into 6G
Tuesday, 3 June 2025, 14:00 – 17:30, room 1.F
Speaker:
- Alessandro Vanelli-Coralli (Univ. Bologna, IT)
- Tomaso De Cola (German Aerospace Center (DLR), DE)
- Alessandro Guidotti (CNIT, IT)
- Carla Amatetti (Univ. Bologna, IT)
Motivation and Context
The integration of a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) component in the global 5G telecommunications infrastructure is now a reality since 3GPP Rel. 17 and its evolution in 5G-Advanced developed in Rel. 18 and the ongoing Rel. 19. Moreover, 3GPP has initiated steps toward defining 6G systems based on NTN, for which an unparalleled industrial interest to provide connectivity from the sky already arose. It is globally recognised that the seamless integration of airborne and spaceborne network elements in the 5G/6G ecosystem in a single, jointly optimised infrastructure will be a key element to achieving true worldwide ubiquitous and continuous connectivity, yielding unprecedented benefits for industry, society, and economy on a global scale. This tutorial is co-organised by two SNS JU-funded projects specifically dedicated to integrating NTN systems in the 5G/5G-Advanced and 6G ecosystem, namely 6G-NTN and 5G-STARDUST. Together, the projects’ consortia, encompassing major European stakeholders in the terrestrial and non-terrestrial industries and network operators, as well as major research centers and universities, are focusing their unparalleled experience and commitment to the definition of 5G-Advanced and 6G systems. This tutorial will provide valuable insight on the evolution of NTN in the context of 5G-Advanced/6G, in terms of use cases, system architectures, and radio interface, also introducing the public to the results of the advanced technologies and demonstrators being developed. In addition, ITU-R activities in the framework of IMT-2030, and the recently finalised agreements from the World Radio Communication Conference 2023 (WRC-23) and the road to WRC-27 and WRC-31, will be discussed.
Structure and Content
14:00 – 14:20: Introduction: from Satellite Communications (SatCom) to NTN
- What is 5G/5G-Advanced via NTN and why is 6G NTN needed?
- The basics of SatCom.
- 5G-NTN architectures, services, and technologies.
- NTN standardisation and regulation.
This part provides a general overview of the evolution from SatCom to NTN, including system architectures, services, and technologies based on legacy systems and 3GPP Rel. 17-18. The standardisation plan and activities for 5G-Advanced and 6G via NTN are presented. An overview of current spectrum allocations and the preliminary action items for WRC-27 and WRC-31 are also discussed.
14:20 – 15:00: Architectures and services
- Architectures for 5G-Advanced via NTN.
- From 5G-Advanced to 6G-NTN: architecture and service evolution.
This part features a detailed discussion about the evolution of NTN architectures in 5G-Advanced (Rel. 18-19), including regenerative payloads and Wireless Access Backhaul (WAB) nodes, towards unified terrestrial/non-terrestrial global networks for 6G communications. The trends in service provisioning and use cases via NTN in the near-term (5G-Advanced) and in the long-term (6G) are also discussed.
Coffee break
15:30 – 16:30: Technology and Air Interface evolution
- Main technologies in 5G-Advanced/6G NTN systems
- ○ CF-MIMO, AI, routing in space, self-organised networking, network slicing.
- ○ Technology challenges.
- Air Interface and waveform evolution for NTN
- ○ CP-OFDM, OTFS, OFDM variants, NOMA.
This part provides a detailed discussion on the technology, air interface, and waveform trends in NTN for 5G-Advanced and 6G, including Cell-Free MIMO (CF-MIMO), Artificial Intelligence (AI), OFDM variants, Orthogonal Time Frequency Space (OTFS), and Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA), routing and overall networking principles towards convergence of NTN and 5G/6G. The main challenges related to the deployment of such technologies in NTN are also discussed.
16:30 – 17:30: Virtualisation and orchestration/edge-computing
- 3D management and orchestration based on AI and edge computing.
- Zero-touch automated operations in NTN.
- Technology challenges.
This part features a detailed discussion on virtualisation and orchestration technologies for NTN, also including edge computing solutions. The integration of AI/ML mechanisms to achieve optimum orchestration are also discussed. The main challenges are also presented to the public, such as satellite mobility management.
