Testing Satellite Communications for 5G Networks

Recent developments in 3GPP have brought the need to test satellites against fading conditions, as 5G NTN (non-terrestrial network) introduces a satellite component to traditional land mobile cellular 5G systems. The 3GPP specification TR 38.811 entitled, “Study on New Radio (NR) to support non-terrestrial networks,” details channel models used for large-scale parameters such as shadowing, outdoor-to-indoor (O2I) loss, clutter loss, path loss, and small-scale parameters specific to satellite applications. Even though these models represent the best understanding of radio propagation, there are a new set of challenges for satellite transceiver performance that must be examined methodically in line with the parameters that matter most for each application.

In order to achieve the best outcomes, rather than just emulating channel models from the new 3GPP specifications, it is better to consider what might make a satellite transceiver fail and find models that stress those parameters in the lab. Read this white paper to learn how to develop the foundation for a recommended test matrix for systematic satellite communication testing, which can be further refined to the targeted NTN application.