The NTN Revolution: 3GPP's Journey from IoT-NTN to NR-NTN

The wireless communication technology of NTN was introduced in 3GPP rel.17 and two standards defined by 3GPP are IoT-NTN and NR-NTN. IoT-NTN technology is suitable for IoT devices with low transmission data-rate and high latency applications, and NR-NTN technology is suitable for devices with higher transmission data-rate and lower latency applications. The frequency bands of NTN based on 3GPP rel. 17 & 18 are shown as below table.

 

IoT-NTN
3GPP Rel.17&18	Band	Uplink BS receive / UE trainsmit	Downlink BS transmit / UE receive	Duplex mode
	256	1980.0~2010.0 MHz	2170.0~2200.0 MHz	FDD
	255	1626.5~1660.5 MHz	1525.0~1559.0 MHz	FDD
	254	1610.0~1675.0 MHz	2483.5~2500.0 MHz	FDD
	253	1668.0~1675.0 MHz	1518.0~1525.0 HMz	FDD

 

NR-NTN
3GPP Rel.17&18	Band	Uplink BS receive / UE trainsmit	Downlink BS transmit / UE receive	Duplex mode
	n256	1980.0~2010.0 MHz	2170.0~2200.0 MHz	FDD
	n255	1626.5~1660.5 MHz	1525.0~1559.0 MHz	FDD
	n254	1610.0~1675.0 MHz	2483.5~2500.0 MHz	FDD
	n512	27.5~30 GHz	17.3~20.2 GHz	FDD
	n511	28.35~30 GHz	17.3~20.2 GHz	FDD
	n510	27.5~28.35 GHz	17.3~20.2 GHz	FDD

 

 As IoT-NTN products (chipset, module, end-device..) that comply with 3GPP standard have been launched from last year. At the same time, The satelite operator such as Skylo had launched satellite communication services of IoT-NTN that comply with 3GPP. The GCF conformance test cases of NR-NTN based on 3GPP rel. 17 will be released around the H2, 2025, the NR-NTN products (chipset, module, end-device..) that comply with 3GPP standard are expected to be launched in the 2026.

 

NTN market trend:

NTN can be divided into the following three categories based on technology aspect

• Proprietary : Traditional satellite communication technology such as satellite phones & TVs existed in past decades, the representative one is Apple’s cooperation with satellite operator of Globalstar to provide satellite’s messaging service of emergency SOS on I-phone 14.
• Un-modified 3GPP : Terminal devices supporting 3GPP rel. 16 and below can directly coomunicate with satellites without hardware modification. The representative one is the cooperation between mobile operator of T-mobile and satellite operator of Satrlink, to provide the mobile phone with satellite texting service in this July.
• 3GPP Rel. 17/18 and beyond : The NTN standard defined by 3GPP rel. 17, and subquent release versions of 3GPP are aimed at NTN’s performances enhancement、new features added and technology evolution. The representative one is satellite operator of Skylo to provide the narrow band communication service of IoT-NTN that comply with specification of 3GPP rel. 17.

 

At the same time, satellite operators are moving towards the integration of multi-orbit satellite systems by means of:

 

• Satellite operators merge: The representative one is the merge of Eutelsat and Oneweb completed in Sep. 2023 to form Eutelsat Group. The Eutelsat Group integrates GEO satellites and LEO satellites to provide communication services of multi-orbit.
• Satellie operators collaboration: Collaboration between satellite operators in different orbits to achieve the communication services of multi-orbit.

 

Trend for Multi-Orbit System Integration
Merge			Collaboration
Company	Satellite type	Note	Company	Satellite type	Note
Eutelsat	GEO	Eutelsat merged OneWeb	SES	GEO/MEO	SES collaboration with Starlink
OneWeb	LEO		Starlink	LEO
SES	GEO/MEO	SES merged Intelsat	Intelsat	GEO	Intelsat collaboration with OneWeb
Intelsat	GEO		OneWeb	LEO
Viasat	GEO	Viasat merged inmarsat	Hughes	GEO	Hughes, OneWeb, Echostar collaboration with each other
inmarsat	GEO		OneWeb	LEO
			Echostar	GEO

 

Status of 3GPP NTN:

Since the 3GPP rel. 18 had been completed and released last year, the contents focus on performance enhancement of NTN defined in 3GPP rel. 17 and the introduction of new features. For the spectrum, in addition to the frequency band of B254/n254 is introduced and high frequency of Ka-band (n510~n512) is added to achieve the high-spped data rate. The ASN.1 of following 3GPP rel. 19 is expected to be frozen in the end of this year, the contents are including NTN downlink coerage enhancement、NTN uplink capacity/throughput enhancement、regenerative payload supported、Redcap UE supported, and the high frequency Ku-band(10.7-14.5 GHz) will be introduced.

SGS also shared information about the progress of 3GPP Rel.19 at the webinar:

In response to the conformance testing of IoT-NTN based on 3GPP Rel.17 enforced by GCF and the PTCRB conformance test cases of IoT-NTN based on 3GPP rel.17 had been released in June this year, SGS Taiwan has taken the lead in launching IoT-NTN compliance verification testing services. We are actively collaborating with measurement equipment manufacturers to provide industry-leading pre-testing services. We have obtained  samples from chip samples in advance for comparison and verification, offering customers a more comprehensive solution to ensure a smooth product launch.

Additionally, the GCF conformance test cases of NR-NTN based on 3GPP Rel.17 are expected to be released around the H2 this year. SGS Taiwan will continue to closely monitor all standard release schedules to ensure that our services remain aligned with industry developments.

 

If you want to know more about IOT-NTN or certification requirements, please contact us:

📧  twwireless.MKT@sgs.com  ☎ (02) 2299-3279 # 1530 / 1522 / 1567