Satellite NOMA for Direct-to-Cell Communications: Fundamentals, Protocols, and Opportunities

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Li, Xiangyu, Shang, Bodong, Ma, Junchao, Ren, Yuzheng, Zhang, Haijun, Fan, Pingyi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866911739420868608
author Li, Xiangyu
Shang, Bodong
Ma, Junchao
Ren, Yuzheng
Zhang, Haijun
Fan, Pingyi
author_facet Li, Xiangyu
Shang, Bodong
Ma, Junchao
Ren, Yuzheng
Zhang, Haijun
Fan, Pingyi
contents Direct-to-cell (DTC) satellite communication is regarded as one of the most recent technologies that provides global connectivity. However, with the growing number of wireless users and devices, the design of DTC communications must satisfy the requirements of high-scale capabilities and efficient spectrum utilization. To this end, integrating satellite communications with advanced multiple-access techniques, such as non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), has attracted considerable interest in developing NOMA-DTC communications. In this article, we first introduce the fundamentals of NOMA-DTC communications, including architectural fundamentals, system design aspects, and potential applications. Given the various cooperative modes and the still-evolving satellite network (SatNet) architectures, such as cooperative SatNets and multi-tier SatNets, we explore protocols that suit future SatNets and enhance system performance. Furthermore, a case study is conducted to investigate the benefits of NOMA schemes for DTC communications and to compare them with OMA schemes. Finally, to inspire further research, several opportunities for NOMA-DTC communications are presented.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2606_01732
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Satellite NOMA for Direct-to-Cell Communications: Fundamentals, Protocols, and Opportunities
Li, Xiangyu
Shang, Bodong
Ma, Junchao
Ren, Yuzheng
Zhang, Haijun
Fan, Pingyi
Signal Processing
Direct-to-cell (DTC) satellite communication is regarded as one of the most recent technologies that provides global connectivity. However, with the growing number of wireless users and devices, the design of DTC communications must satisfy the requirements of high-scale capabilities and efficient spectrum utilization. To this end, integrating satellite communications with advanced multiple-access techniques, such as non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), has attracted considerable interest in developing NOMA-DTC communications. In this article, we first introduce the fundamentals of NOMA-DTC communications, including architectural fundamentals, system design aspects, and potential applications. Given the various cooperative modes and the still-evolving satellite network (SatNet) architectures, such as cooperative SatNets and multi-tier SatNets, we explore protocols that suit future SatNets and enhance system performance. Furthermore, a case study is conducted to investigate the benefits of NOMA schemes for DTC communications and to compare them with OMA schemes. Finally, to inspire further research, several opportunities for NOMA-DTC communications are presented.
title Satellite NOMA for Direct-to-Cell Communications: Fundamentals, Protocols, and Opportunities
topic Signal Processing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.01732