AccelerComm & TTP to deliver cell service from space with 5G NTN LEO

Southampton, UK – AccelerComm, the Layer 1 5G IP specialists, and TTP, an independent technology and product development company based in the UK, today announced that they are jointly formulating a high-performance 5G LEO Regenerative - base station for deployment on low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites. The project combines expertise and IP from the two companies and additional technology from partners to propose a dedicated 5G regenerative gNodeB solution tailored to support high-performance 5G services in the challenging environment of a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN). 

In a typical LEO deployment, one satellite covers a wide geographical area, using a large number of beams to cover a multitude of subscribers. Terrestrial gNodeB products of similar scale are not designed to deal with this unique LEO deployment challenge. Also, any gNodeB platform for space applications will be highly constrained in size, weight, and power and must be able to work in the hostile space environment. 

The joint AccelerComm TTP LEO Regenerative base station solution will be designed to meet the growing demand for satellite-based eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband) and IoT (Internet of Things) services. This makes it an ideal solution for businesses and organisations that need to connect people and devices in remote locations, or for governments looking to provide internet access to all citizens. The solution will support a large number of beams and high subscriber density and will be delivered on a space-hardened platform optimised for low-power and size.  It includes a range of advanced developments in beam-to-cell mapping, beam forming and NTN beam-management.

The O-RAN compliant gNodeB leverages AccelerComm’s LEOphy, a Layer 1 modem that delivers enhanced performance for low-earth orbit satellite communications. LEOphy boasts the lowest error rates, with dedicated features to overcome the specific challenges of NTN channels, such as high path losses, differential delays, doppler shift, long propagation delays, and rapid fluctuations in signal amplitude and phase caused by atmospheric effects. As a result, it ensures a high-reliability link without resorting to lower coding rates and low-order modulation schemes, thereby maximising spectral efficiency.

“There has been an explosion in interest around combining satellite and traditional mobile communications systems with the iPhone 14 launch and the T-Mobile Starlink announcement,” said Rob Barnes, Chief Marketing Officer at AccelerComm. “However, for satellite 5G to be truly successful, there are a number of performance and efficiency challenges which have to be overcome. Solving these requires building on the existing 3GPP technologies to create a tailored solution built to deal with the unique challenges of operating around a thousand kilometres from earth, at speeds of over 7km per second, all while dealing with power and resource constraints. We are delighted to be working with our partner TTP to develop this high-performance solution which will open up a whole new market for delivering 5G services from space.”

“A 5G NTN LEO regenerative gNodeB deployment presents unique challenges when compared to Terrestrial gNodeB. In order to serve the number of beams and support the density of subscribers required, the gNodeB will have to be heavily optimised and tightly integrated with the overall payload functionality.” Said Adrian Hillier, TTP’s Head of Next G.