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Challenges and Opportunities in Delivering Satellite 5G

Regular readers of this blog are no doubt aware of how many different satellite projects are going on, with or without 5G. Many industry pundits are sure that none of these initiatives will ever break even but that hasn't stopped new and existing players coming up with newer solutions.

Recently, Professor Rob Maunder, CTO of AccelerComm and Tim Farrar, President at TMF Associates delivered a webinar on 'Challenges and Opportunities in Delivering Satellite 5G'. The event abstract says: 

Constellations of 5G satellites are set to play a vital role in completing the technology and connectivity ecosystem addressing critical connectivity challenges, such as data speed and coverage limitations as well fulfilling the needs of a wide range of emerging use cases. We have seen a revolution in the thinking around the potential for 5G applications but while there are considerable opportunities, there are also several challenges.

This webinar will take a deep dive into the market and consider the best technical, strategic and regulatory approaches involved in designing and launching 5G satellite services. It will:

  • Detail the market landscape for satellite 5G including: 5G standards and Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) and the state of the current LEO broadband market, including key technology issues in current systems.
  • Provide an overview of direct-to-handset: re-use of satellite frequencies vs ad hoc terrestrial spectrum use (AST), pros and cons of each approach.
  • Outline the market motivations and use cases for full 5G and the technical and regulatory challenges and current geopolitical considerations.
  • Explain lessons that can be learnt from prior attempts at offering cellular service from space including funding needs, and performance shortfalls.
  • It will also provide a detailed technical overview of the 5G radio challenges,  techniques that can be used to improve ‘receive sensitivity’, and AccelerComms Layer 1 solutions for Space applications

The webinar video is embedded as follows:

You can download the Tim Farrar's slides here and Prof. Rob Maunder's slides here.

Happy to hear your thoughts on this topic.

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