6G-NTN² (NEXUS) – Harmonized Ku/Ka TN/NTN Radio Access & GNSS-Free PNT

Sat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Horizon Europe SNS JU

Role: Task 5.4 PoC#2 Lead (SnT – SIGCOM / 6GSPACE Lab)
Funding: European Commission (Horizon Europe Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking – SNS JU)
Official Page: uni.lu/snt-en/research-projects/6g-ntn2/

Executive Summary

6G-NTN² (NEXUS) is a Horizon Europe SNS JU flagship project designing a unified 6G Terrestrial / Non-Terrestrial Network (TN/NTN) architecture. Within the consortium, the 6GSPACE Lab leads Task 5.4 Proof-of-Concept #2 (PoC#2) on harmonized TN/NTN radio access above 10 GHz (Ku/Ka-band) with native, GNSS-independent Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) for mobile user terminals.

Key Objectives & Contributions

Ku/Ka-Band Joint Communications & PNT (JCAP): High-accuracy range and Doppler positioning exploiting wideband Ku/Ka-band 6G-NTN waveforms without relying on GNSS availability.
In-Lab & Over-the-Air (OTA) PoC#2 Validation: End-to-end validation using a 4-channel PNT-e receiver and multi-orbit hardware channel emulator in the laboratory, followed by over-the-air trials with 2 commercial NGSO satellites in Ku/Ka-band.

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5GLEON – Radio Positioning Technologies for 5G Satellite Networks

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

European Space Agency

Role: Principal Investigator (PI)
Funding: European Space Agency (ESA) · €90,000 (2023–2025) · Partner: Airbus Defence and Space
Official Page: uni.lu/snt-en/research-projects/5gleon/

Executive Summary

5GLEON develops a physical-layer measurement engine for radio positioning in 5G Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations, exploiting 3GPP Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) and Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSB) with two-stage PSS/SSS acquisition and 2nd-order DLL / 3rd-order FLL/PLL tracking loops under extreme LEO Doppler dynamics in FR1 and FR2.

Bilateral Live MEO JCAP Overlay Validation with SES

Building on our hybrid 5G-NTN / GNSS positioning research, we also conducted a bilateral collaboration with SES demonstrating an in-band Superimposed DSSS-OFDM Joint Communication and Positioning (JCAP) Overlay (GPS L1 C/A LNAV navigation signal overlaid beneath 5G-NR OFDM waveforms with a dual-branch receiver assisted by 5G-NR SSB carrier frequency offset estimation). The composite waveform was validated experimentally live over a Ka-band Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) link on the SES O3b mPOWER constellation (~8,000 km altitude), achieving 100% LNAV navigation frame recovery down to $\text{SIR} = -25\text{ dB}$ (DOI: 10.33012/2026.20684).

Project Details

Funding Agency: European Space Agency (ESA)
Consortium Partner: Airbus Defence and Space
Budget: €90,000
Duration: 2023 – 2025
Role: Principal Investigator (PI)
Laboratory: 6GSPACE Lab (SnT – University of Luxembourg)

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JCAP | Dr. Jorge Querol

6G-NTN² (NEXUS) – Harmonized Ku/Ka TN/NTN Radio Access & GNSS-Free PNT

Executive Summary

Key Objectives & Contributions

5GLEON – Radio Positioning Technologies for 5G Satellite Networks

Executive Summary

Bilateral Live MEO JCAP Overlay Validation with SES

Project Details