3. 3GPP standard introduces regenerative satellites

This section presents the modifications to the 3GPP standard for the direct access use case (e.g. smartphone) for a usage frequency below 7 GHz and using the 5G NR waveform with satellites in non-geostationary orbit with a regenerative satellite. The elements presented are also relevant for scenarios with higher usage frequencies.

The terminology "regenerative" refers to the fact that the gNB is either entirely on-board the satellite, or split between the satellite and the ground. The satellite is capable of encoding and decoding transport blocks.

As this scenario has not been standardized by the 3GPP standard at the time of writing, the main associated issues are presented. This section presents an approach with a gNB distributed between the on-board and the ground, and an approach where the gNB is entirely on-board the satellite....