5G-ENABLED GROUND SEGMENT TECHNOLOGIES OVER THE AIR DEMONSTRATOR (ARTES AT 7C.057)
20, March 2020

ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO10226
Open Date: 19/03/2020
Closing Date: 22/06/2020 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 20.1TT.46
Prog. Ref.: CC-AT 4.0.1
Budget Ref.: E/0534-01G – CC-AT 4.0.1
Special Prov.: BE+DK+FR+DE+IT+NL+ES+SE+CH+GB+IE+AT+NO+FI+PT+GR+LU+CZ+RO+CA+HU+PL
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Technology Domains: Ground Station Systems and Networks / Ground Communications Networks / Communication Network Technologies and Protocols
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate Telecom & Integrated Applica
Department: Telecom Technologies,Product&Systems Dep
Division: Technologies and Products Division
Contract Officer: Beardsell, Andrea
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 19/03/2020
Update Reason: Tender issue

Objective: The objective of this activity is to develop a gNodeB (gNB) based gateway and the user terminal, compliant with the 5G standard release 16 or above. The activity will include a demonstration of bi-directional links between the developed terminal and the gateway via a direct satellite link. Targeted Improvements: Enabling the deployment of 5G compatible gateway and terminals. Description: The 3GPP Rel.16, and most likely Rel.17, will be a crucial working point in the 5G standardisation groups in order to developand to approve the necessary technical specifications to enable direct access technologies via satellite links. The differences between terrestrial and satellite communication channels have been analysed and reported in the TR 38.811. In addition, the 3GPP standardisation groups have proposed some solutions in the TR 38.821 for the inclusion of satellite access schemes. This activity willdesign the necessary modifications in the latest 5G terrestrial standard in order to enable the direct access via satellite to the terrestrial communication networks. In particular, it is assumed that the hardware development will start from the existing technologies and hardware components available for the deployment of 5G terrestrial systems. The new solutions will span from physical layertechniques (e.g., sub-carrier spacing, pilot distribution, guard time, etc.) to specific protocols and upper layer implementations (e.g.,timers, random access, hybrid automatic repeat request, mobility management, etc.) of the radio access network. The activity will address both geostationary and non-geostationary satellite systems. The scope is to facilitate the implementation of emerging satellite services in the context of full integration among 5G satellite and terrestrial networks. The new technologies will be implementedin a hardware prototype, consisting of a user terminal and a gNodeB base station, aiming at the verification of bi-directionalend-to-end communications. The activity shall also include a live demonstration of these radio links between the developed terminaland the modified 5G base-station via direct satellite link.

If you wish to access the documents related to the Invitation to Tender, you have to log in to the ESA Portal.