Satellites enable the provision of global 5G coverage utilizing a customized protocol stack for direct access of 5G devices. This paper reports the results of a field trial based on an Open Source Software (OSS) 5G protocol stack modified for Satellite Communications. 5G New Radio (NR) functions have been adapted to support 3GPP Non Terrestrial Networks (NTN) standardization for Release 17. Some of the currently discussed enhancements for 5G NR direct access for NTNs were evaluated in this study utilizing a geosynchronous satellite system. NTN devices and base station were software-defined solutions communicating via satellite through a standardized 5G NR waveform. The results show that OSS implementations running on general purpose platforms greatly support the research and standardization process for 5G-Beyond NTNs. New functions related to NTNs can be evaluated at an early stage over channel emulators or real world satellites to highlight the capabilities of space based 5G-Beyond networks. Therefore, OSS can be a starting point to turn the vision of 6G protocols on-board the satellite into reality.    «

Satellites enable the provision of global 5G coverage utilizing a customized protocol stack for direct access of 5G devices. This paper reports the results of a field trial based on an Open Source Software (OSS) 5G protocol stack modified for Satellite Communications. 5G New Radio (NR) functions have been adapted to support 3GPP Non Terrestrial Networks (NTN) standardization for Release 17. Some of the currently discussed enhancements for 5G NR direct access for NTNs were evaluated in this study...    »