About NTNs

We refer to all systems not located on land as "Non-Terrestrial" (NT). The term NTN refers to communication networks that use NT devices. Such networks are crucial for providing connectivity in areas where ground-based devices cannot be deployed, and they also serve a wide range of other applications.

First, I want to emphasize the importance of terrestrial networks, which most of us use without giving it much thought. You start listening to a song online using your phone before leaving home in the morning. You go outside, get into a vehicle, and start traveling. You arrive at your destination without the song ever stopping. What happened in the meantime? Where did the data for your device come from?

Most likely, your device continuously connected to different base stations while you were on the move. You left the coverage area of one base station and entered another without interruption. Your device switched between many different base stations to ensure maximum connection quality without you even noticing.

What if you want to connect to the internet in the middle of the ocean? Or if you need to conduct temporary scientific research in an area with no nearby cell towers?

Consider the temporary scientific research situation first. Most likely, building a terrestrial network infrastructure on that land would not be a viable option in terms of both time and cost. When connecting in the ocean, this option is completely ruled out (unless you have laid a very long cable from a terrestrial network to your ship, of course).

In these and many other situations, NTNs simplify the solution. If you want to connect to the internet via NTN, all you need to do is be within the coverage area of a satellite and subscribe to the service provider. You can view real-time location estimates of satellites from companies like StarLink and OneWeb at satellitemap.space.

We know that setting up stations all over the world is not the only solution to our connectivity problems. We can use NTN systems to achieve our goal of providing connectivity everywhere. So, how are NTN systems currently being used, and what are the plans for their future integration?

Currently, 5G (Version 17+) technology uses NTN systems as a supplementary feature to existing network systems. NTNs are also crucial for achieving the global coverage target of the 6G standard.

This is the first post on my blog. I hope you enjoyed it.