5G Non-Terrestrial Networks with OpenAirInterface: An Experimental Study over GEO Satellites

January 1, 2024·
Florian Völk
,
Thomas Schlichter
,
Sumit Kumar
,
Robert T. Schwarz
,
Andreas Knopp
,
Marwan Hammouda
,
Thomas Heyn
,
Jorge Querol
,
Symeon Chatzinotas
,
Adam Kapovits
· 2 min read
Abstract
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) aims to integrate non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) with terrestrial 5G networks. In this context, prototyping and testing are essential to demonstrate the readiness of new 5G-NTN releases. However, commercial 5G protocol stack implementations are usually costly and closed solutions, which makes it challenging for universities and nonprofit research institutions to adapt and customize them for 5G-NTN testing and development purposes. Software-defined radio testbeds that utilize open-source software implementations are an attractive alternative. In this article, we describe our protocol stack adaptation of an open-source implementation for 5G-NTN based on OpenAirInterface (OAI), which runs on commodity hardware. We evaluate the performance of our 5G-NTN in various layers in real-world environments with a transparent geostationary satellite. We validate our testbed with a variety of Internet applications. These include streaming video, web browsing, and voice over IP. The results indicate that the current implementation utilizing the 5 MHz bandwidth is reliable over several hours and achieves both downlink and uplink speeds of 3.6 Mb/s while maintaining a typical geostationary latency of approximately 530 ms. The tests demonstrate that our 5G-NTN testbed is an reliable alternative to costly commercial implementations.
Type
Publication
IEEE Access
publication

Abstract & Overview

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) aims to integrate non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) with terrestrial 5G networks. In this context, prototyping and testing are essential to demonstrate the readiness of new 5G-NTN releases. However, commercial 5G protocol stack implementations are usually costly and closed solutions, which makes it challenging for universities and nonprofit research institutions to adapt and customize them for 5G-NTN testing and development purposes. Software-defined radio testbeds that utilize open-source software implementations are an attractive alternative. In this article, we describe our protocol stack adaptation of an open-source implementation for 5G-NTN based on OpenAirInterface (OAI), which runs on commodity hardware. We evaluate the performance of our 5G-NTN in various layers in real-world environments with a transparent geostationary satellite. We validate our testbed with a variety of Internet applications. These include streaming video, web browsing, and voice over IP. The results indicate that the current implementation utilizing the 5 MHz bandwidth is reliable over several hours and achieves both downlink and uplink speeds of 3.6 Mb/s while maintaining a typical geostationary latency of approximately 530 ms. The tests demonstrate that our 5G-NTN testbed is an reliable alternative to costly commercial implementations.

Publication Metadata

  • Authors: Florian Völk, Thomas Schlichter, Sumit Kumar, Robert T. Schwarz, Andreas Knopp, Marwan Hammouda, Thomas Heyn, Jorge Querol, Symeon Chatzinotas, Adam Kapovits
  • Venue: IEEE Access (2024)
  • Research Areas: 6G-NTN, Satellite Communications, AI & Neuromorphic SatCom, SDR & Experimental Testbeds
  • DOI: 10.1109/access.2024.3483958
  • Open Access Repository: ORBiLu – University of Luxembourg
6G-NTN Satellite Communications AI & Neuromorphic SatCom SDR & Experimental Testbeds