Connectivity Technology Blog

Non-terrestrial networks have moved from early exploration to a more structured and capable part of the 3GPP ecosystem in a relatively short span of time. A recent presentation by Sertaç Kaya at the Global 5G Evolution webinar (embedded below) provided a useful walkthrough of how NTN specifications have evolved since Release 17, highlighting both incremental improvements and some more fundamental shifts. Release 17 marked the starting point for NTN within 3GPP. The focus at this stage was understandably narrow, laying down the baseline architecture and assumptions. Only transparent payloads were considered, meaning satellites acted largely as relays rather than performing any onboard processing. The spectrum options were limited, confined to L-band and S-band in FR1, and bandwidth was modest. The system design also assumed that user equipment would be equipped with GNSS capabilities, which played a key role in handling challenges such as Doppler shift and long round trip delays. Even a...

The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) Research Team recently hosted a webinar examining the current state of 5G Reduced Capability, or RedCap, and its role in the wider 5G ecosystem. The session provided a useful snapshot of where the technology stands today, how it is evolving, and what still needs to happen before it reaches scale. At its core, 5G RedCap is designed to address a gap that has existed since the early days of 5G. While full 5G NR targets high performance use cases and technologies such as LTE-M and NB-IoT focus on ultra low power and low data rates, RedCap sits in between. It is intended for mid-tier IoT applications that require a balance of performance, cost, and energy efficiency. This positioning makes it particularly relevant for devices such as wearables, industrial sensors, cameras, and gateways, where full 5G capability is unnecessary but legacy IoT technologies may not be sufficient. RedCap was introduced as part of 3GPP Release 17, with the enhanced ve...