Advancing Multi-Connectivity in Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Networks: Architectures, Challenges, and Applications

Fuente: arXiv
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Li, Xiangyu, Shang, Bodong
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2024
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866912285110304768
author Li, Xiangyu
Shang, Bodong
author_facet Li, Xiangyu
Shang, Bodong
contents Multi-connectivity (MC) in satellite-terrestrial integrated networks (STINs), included in the Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards, is regarded as a promising technology for future networks, especially the non-terrestrial network (NTN). The significant advantages of MC in improving coverage, communication, and sensing through satellite-terrestrial collaboration have sparked widespread interest. This article introduces three fundamental deployment architectures of MC systems in STINs, including multi-satellite, single-satellite single-base-station, and multi-satellite multi-base-station configurations. Considering the emerging but still evolving satellite networking, we explore system design challenges such as satellite networking schemes, such as cell-free and multi-tier satellite networks. Subsequently, key technical challenges severely influencing the quality of mutual communications, including beamforming, channel estimation, and synchronization, are discussed. Furthermore, typical applications such as coverage enhancement, traffic offloading, collaborative sensing, and low-altitude communication are demonstrated, followed by a case study comparing coverage performance in MC and single-connectivity (SC) configurations. Several essential future research directions for MC in STINs are presented to facilitate further exploration.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_04675
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Advancing Multi-Connectivity in Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Networks: Architectures, Challenges, and Applications
Li, Xiangyu
Shang, Bodong
Signal Processing
Information Theory
Systems and Control
Multi-connectivity (MC) in satellite-terrestrial integrated networks (STINs), included in the Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards, is regarded as a promising technology for future networks, especially the non-terrestrial network (NTN). The significant advantages of MC in improving coverage, communication, and sensing through satellite-terrestrial collaboration have sparked widespread interest. This article introduces three fundamental deployment architectures of MC systems in STINs, including multi-satellite, single-satellite single-base-station, and multi-satellite multi-base-station configurations. Considering the emerging but still evolving satellite networking, we explore system design challenges such as satellite networking schemes, such as cell-free and multi-tier satellite networks. Subsequently, key technical challenges severely influencing the quality of mutual communications, including beamforming, channel estimation, and synchronization, are discussed. Furthermore, typical applications such as coverage enhancement, traffic offloading, collaborative sensing, and low-altitude communication are demonstrated, followed by a case study comparing coverage performance in MC and single-connectivity (SC) configurations. Several essential future research directions for MC in STINs are presented to facilitate further exploration.
title Advancing Multi-Connectivity in Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Networks: Architectures, Challenges, and Applications
topic Signal Processing
Information Theory
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.04675