The 5G-HUB venture allows resilient 5G providers by means of TN–NTN integration and seamless vertical handover.
The rising dependence of contemporary societies on digital providers and safe communications makes the necessity for resilient, ubiquitous community infrastructures – able to guaranteeing service continuity even underneath excessive operational circumstances – more and more evident. Particularly, mission-critical providers supposed for domains reminiscent of public security, civil safety, emergency administration, defence, and humanitarian operations require ranges of reliability, availability, and high quality of service which are considerably larger than these of conventional industrial communications. Inside this state of affairs, the 5G-HUB project is positioned as a European initiative aimed toward exploring and demonstrating new approaches to the mixing of terrestrial and satellite tv for pc networks, with the aim of enabling really steady and resilient 5G Mission-Vital (MCx) providers.
What’s the 5G-Hub venture?
The 5G-HUB venture is embedded within the broader framework of the European GOVSATCOM (Governmental Satellite tv for pc Communications) technique, which represents one of many elementary pillars of the European Union’s area coverage for making certain safe, dependable, and sovereign governmental communications. GOVSATCOM was conceived to handle the necessity to coordinate and federate present and future European satellite tv for pc sources, making them accessible to institutional customers by means of centralised administration mechanisms, frequent insurance policies, and assured service ranges. Within the long-term, this imaginative and prescient will probably be absolutely realised with the next-generation European satellite tv for pc system IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Safety by Satellite tv for pc) – a multi-orbit constellation together with Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO), and Geostationary Orbit (GEO) satellites – which can kind the spine of European safe communications over the approaching decade.
Inside this strategic context, 5G-HUB acts as an enabling venture, specializing in the mixing of 5G Terrestrial Networks (TN) and 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN). The underlying rationale is that no single entry expertise can, by itself, fulfill all the necessities of MCx providers throughout each operational state of affairs. Terrestrial networks present excessive capability, low latency, and extensive availability in densely populated areas, however they’re susceptible to infrastructure failures, congestion, or bodily destruction throughout pure disasters or disaster conditions (Fig. 1). Satellite tv for pc networks, against this, guarantee international protection, speedy deployment, and independence from native infrastructure, however they face intrinsic limitations by way of latency, capability, and value. The synergistic integration of TN and NTN allows the strengths of each domains to be mixed to attain a strong system.
The companions of the 5G-HUB venture are: Università degli Studi di Siena (venture coordinator), Centre Tecologic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya, Hisdesat Servicios Estrategicos, Hispasat, Indra Sistemas, Indra Espacio, Onesource, Telecom Italia Spa, Fundacio Professional-Activa Open Arms, and Associazione della Croce Rossa Italiana.
The venture is financed by EUSPA, the EU Company for the House Programme.
An built-in method
The distinctive contribution of the 5G-HUB venture lies exactly within the realisation of an built-in TN–NTN system able to supporting service continuity for mission-critical purposes by means of vertical handover mechanisms which are clear to finish customers and purposes. Vertical handover refers back to the skill to switch an energetic communication session from one entry expertise to a different – for instance, from a terrestrial 5G community to a satellite-based 5G community – with out perceptible service interruption. This requirement is essential for purposes reminiscent of emergency communications, MCx providers, telemedicine, operational coordination, and situational consciousness, the place even brief disruptions could have critical penalties.
From an architectural perspective, 5G-HUB adopts a systemic method that mixes a number of modern components. A central function is performed by the GOVSATCOM-HUB (G-HUB), conceived as a satellite tv for pc useful resource dealer able to federating capability from a number of satellite tv for pc operators and dynamically allocating it in response to the wants of authorised customers. The 5G-HUB venture extends this paradigm by together with the terrestrial 5G ecosystem, thereby creating a really built-in atmosphere the place sources might be managed in a coordinated method.
To allow service continuity throughout TN and NTN, the venture introduces an modern practical component, generally known as the Good Gateway, which operates each on the person aspect and on the emergency administration aspect. This part is liable for monitoring the connectivity circumstances of the person terminal and managing visitors redirection throughout vertical handover phases. A key side of this resolution is its skill to protect person IP addresses and software periods through the transition between networks, avoiding the necessity for reconnections. On this means, service continuity is ensured even within the presence of radical modifications within the underlying radio entry expertise.
Innovation in 5G-HUB just isn’t restricted to the entry layer but additionally extends to community administration. The venture extensively leverages the ideas of community softwarisation, virtualisation, and cloud-native design, in keeping with the evolution of 3GPP requirements for 5G and past. Community capabilities, in each the terrestrial and satellite tv for pc domains, are conceived as virtualised and disaggregated parts that may be dynamically orchestrated in response to service necessities. This method makes it potential to activate NTN sources solely when wanted, lowering operational prices and enhancing total system effectivity – a side of explicit relevance within the GOVSATCOM context, the place satellite tv for pc sources are useful and have to be rigorously managed.
One other vital component is the event of built-in TN–NTN person terminals, able to working on each terrestrial 5G networks and satellite tv for pc hyperlinks throughout completely different frequency bands (i.e., Ku and X). Such terminals signify a elementary technological prerequisite for enabling vertical handover and making integration between the 2 domains really clear. Inside the 5G-HUB venture, these terminals are envisioned as versatile platforms, based mostly on software-defined options, able to adapting to a variety of operational situations.
From an software perspective, 5G-HUB is strongly oriented towards the sensible validation of the proposed options by means of demonstrations (demos) in practical situations (Figs. 1 and a couple of). The venture’s demos are designed to mirror typical operational conditions confronted by governmental and humanitarian providers, reminiscent of large-scale emergency administration (e.g., an earthquake state of affairs) or medical assist at sea. These demonstrations subsequently present not solely technical worth, but additionally robust conceptual validation, exhibiting how the GOVSATCOM method can translate into tangible advantages for institutional customers.
Within the context of the IRIS² system, the relevance of the 5G-HUB venture turns into much more strategic. This future European LEO constellation is meant to supply safe, resilient, and high-performance communications to assist each governmental customers and strategic industrial purposes. Nonetheless, the true worth of IRIS² lies not solely within the area infrastructure itself, but additionally in its efficient integration with terrestrial networks and repair administration techniques. 5G-HUB anticipates and experiments exactly with these integration mechanisms, offering useful insights into how European LEO sources might be optimally exploited inside a 5G-based ecosystem.
The networks of the long run
Wanting forward, the outcomes of the 5G-HUB venture contribute not solely to technological growth but additionally to the definition of finest practices, architectural fashions, and potential inputs to future standardisation actions. The teachings realized inside the venture could subsequently affect future 3GPP Releases to additional evolve the TN-NTN integration.
In conclusion, the 5G-HUB venture might be thought to be a technological and conceptual bridge between terrestrial 5G networks and next-generation governmental satellite tv for pc communications. By means of innovation in TN–NTN integration, assist for vertical handover, and the demonstration of service continuity for mission-critical purposes, 5G-HUB makes a major contribution to the creation of a European ecosystem of safe, resilient, and interoperable communications, absolutely aligned with the GOVSATCOM imaginative and prescient and the strategic ambitions of IRIS².
Acknowledgements
This publication is supported by the 5G-HUB analysis venture, which has acquired funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe analysis and innovation programme underneath grant settlement No. 101180143. Views and opinions expressed are these of the authors solely and don’t essentially mirror these of the EU or EUSPA.
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