Non-Terrestrial Networks in 5G Systems | The Media Connectivity Association

Non-Terrestrial Networks in 5G Systems, project cover

Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) extend 5G coverage via satellite (geostationary GEO and low Earth orbit LEO) and high-altitude platform stations (HAPS), standardised in 3GPP Release 17. For media distribution, NTN is not a standalone system: it is a delivery infrastructure layer on top of which existing 5G services such as MBS Multicast and MBS Broadcast can be deployed. 5G-MAG's work in this area focuses on the specific challenges NTN introduces: propagation delay, Doppler effects, handover between satellite beams, and device mobility across terrestrial and non-terrestrial segments.

No dedicated reference tool exists for NTN. The 5G-MAG MBS reference tools (for Multicast and Broadcast) are the relevant software for NTN deployment scenarios: see 5G Multicast Broadcast Services (MBS). For satellite broadcast delivery using the FeMBMS (5G Broadcast) waveform, see 5G Broadcast - TV and Radio Services.

This project is based on technology developed by:

3GPP

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The Problem It Solves

Terrestrial infrastructure doesn't reach every area a broadcaster needs to serve, and building a separate service layer for satellite delivery would mean maintaining two parallel stacks. NTN avoids that: it standardises only the radio-layer adaptations a long, variable-delay satellite path needs: a large UE-specific timing advance, Doppler pre-compensation, the k-offset scheduling adjustment: so the existing MBS Multicast and Broadcast user-service and streaming layers can run over a satellite or HAPS access exactly as they do terrestrially, reaching areas outside terrestrial coverage without a second, incompatible delivery system.