Integrated Access Backhaul Nodes for Autonomous and Reconfigurable Satellite-Terrestrial 5g/6g Networks

• Country: United Kingdom
• Summary: Integrated Access Backhaul Nodes for Autonomous and Reconfigurable Satellite-Terrestrial 5g/6g Networks
• GBT Ref No: 103921524
• Deadline: 21 Oct 2024
• Financier: Other Funding Agencies
• Purchaser Ownership: Government
• Tender Value: Refer Document
• Notice Type: Tender
• Document Ref. No.: 1-12409
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• Description:
• Tenders are invited for Integrated Access Backhaul Nodes for Autonomous and Reconfigurable Satellite-Terrestrial 5g/6g Networks (Artes Spl 5g 7a.072) Price Range 500 KEURO The objective of the activity is to develop and test an engineering breadboard of a satcom access/backhaul node capable of responding to changing link conditions facilitated by reconfigurable, regenerative, and software-defined payloads. The activity will also provide the system demonstrator to test the breadboard and to assess the performance in a laboratory environment. Targeted Improvements: Adding flexibility to integrated satcom nodes needed to support the densified 6G networking architectures not existing today. Description: In Rel-17 3GPP RAN developments include normative work on 5G NR enhancements to support non-terrestrial access (NTN). Nevertheless, discussion has already started for a more comprehensive network setup. Satcom engineers envision heterogeneous architectures to provide three-dimensional coverage, thereby complementing terrestrial infrastructures with non-terrestrial flying platforms (e.g., drones, HAPS, satellites). These integrated network architectures will increase the density of access points, which in turn will need broadband backhaul connectivity to their neighbours and to the core network. The densified network introduces challenges but also more opportunities for the satellite element to provide combined access and backhaul solutions, thus enhancing network s autonomous configuration capabilities to support dynamic topologies, meshed, chained, mobile, etc. In that context, although 3GPP studies have shown suitability of the contemporary terrestrial RAN existing solutions to the characteristics of the non-terrestrial communications scenarios, the challenges that future networks shall introduce will require far more advancements. Generic satcom node products will need to be equipped with a novel dynamic reconfigurable air-interface flexible enough to respond -likely by trading spectral efficiency maximization to link reliability- to different system requirements, operational scenarios and link conditions, e.g., NGSO scenarios, active antenna payloads, software defined and regenerative payloads. Finally, the scale of deployments for Satcom node products could include ad-hoc service offerings extending and improving the network coverage in urban environment or/and in unserved rural areas whenever enhanced network capacity is needed. The aim of the activity is to develop and test an engineering breadboard of a satcom access/backhaul node, flexible enough to enable a dynamic reconfigurable Radio Access Network (RAN) that provides coverage to air-borne non-terrestrial platforms, besides offering connectivity to ground devices and customer-premises equipment (CPE) located in bi-dimensional space (including maritime environment). The targeted Integrated Access/Backhaul (IAB) engineering breadboard shall support 5G satellite backhaul, stand-alone 5G satellite networks and integrated 5G satellite-terrestrial networks, with provision for the dense 3D 6G future networks not existing today. It shall also handle attributes like interference management, handovers, and intensive frequency reuse in multi-beam multi-layered satellite systems. The IAB breadboard will be tested in a laboratory environment via a system demonstrator that will be provided as part of the activity.
• Documents:

 Tender Notice