In the realm of satellite communications, a team of researchers from Aalborg University, including Israel Leyva-Mayorga, Shashi Raj Pandey, Petar Popovski, Fabio Saggese, Beatriz Soret, and Cedomir Stefanovic, has developed a novel framework to address the challenges of scalability and bandwidth limitations in non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite networks. Their work, published in the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, presents an integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) approach to enhance the efficiency and resilience of multi-band satellite networks.
The researchers highlight that NGSO satellite networks face significant challenges due to the large number of ground users competing for the limited sub-6 GHz spectrum. To overcome this, they propose utilizing K- and higher bands, which offer more bandwidth but are susceptible to atmospheric attenuation, particularly from rainfall. This attenuation can degrade performance and cause link outages, posing a hurdle for practical implementation.
To tackle these issues, the team developed an ISAC-powered framework designed for multi-band satellite networks. This framework incorporates distributed mechanisms for atmospheric sensing, cell-to-satellite matching, and resource allocation (RA) within a 5G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) wide-area scenario. The scenario includes quasi-Earth fixed cells and a beam hopping mechanism, which allows satellites to switch beams rapidly to serve multiple cells.
The researchers tested their framework using a multi-layer, multi-band constellation with satellites operating in the S- and K-bands. The results demonstrated significant improvements, with the ISAC-powered multi-band system achieving a 73% higher throughput per user compared to single S- and K-band systems. This indicates that the framework can effectively enhance the performance and reliability of satellite communications.
For the energy sector, this research could have practical applications in improving the efficiency and reliability of satellite-based communication systems used for monitoring and controlling energy infrastructure. Enhanced throughput and resilience could lead to better data transmission for remote energy assets, such as offshore wind farms or solar installations, ensuring more effective management and maintenance. Additionally, the framework could support the integration of renewable energy sources into the grid by providing robust communication links for smart grid technologies.
In summary, the ISAC-powered framework developed by the researchers at Aalborg University offers a promising solution to the challenges of scalability and bandwidth limitations in NGSO satellite networks. By leveraging multi-band operations and advanced sensing and communication techniques, the framework can significantly improve the performance and reliability of satellite communications, benefiting various sectors, including the energy industry.
This article is based on research available at arXiv.