ESA Open Invitation to Tender: 1-11177
Open Date: 24/10/2022 13:59 CEST
Closing Date: 09/01/2023 13:00 CEST

The objective of the activity is to develop a solution to provide direct satellite to vehicle multicasting services for video and data distribution in frequencies below 6 GHz and based on open standards. The solution will be verified by a test bed that will implement key ground segment components including a prototype receiver. The test bed will be developed as part of the activityTargeted Improvements: Increasing the number of concurrent delivery channels for high quality video and data to vehicles up to 10. Enabling a seamless hand-over between terrestrial and satellite networks.Description: The rapid development of wireless communications (non-)terrestrial networks has revitalized the opportunity to expand ubiquitous access to data and video contents seamlessly. In-vehicle entertainment is an example use case to complement the terrestrial wireless networks with direct satellite access for a near real / real-time high-definition video delivery. In particular, the use of licensed or shared spectrum in L, S and C bands present opportunities for providing direct access to in-vehicle terminals reaching the required bit rate for enhanced quality video content distribution to vehicles. This activity will:- Assess, select and implement the air interface and higher layer protocols according to 3GPP or other open standard for multicast service and direct access via satellite to complement the terrestrial access.- Implement hand-over mechanisms to use system resources efficiently between satellite and terrestrial resources- Ensure continuity of service in the presence of channel blocking or shadowing- Perform rate adaptation techniques to match the satellite channel link quality, ensuring the link availability under harsh channel conditions- Agility to use multiple carriers to aggregate resources and reach required bit rates- Devise feedback channel via satellite or terrestrial links for resource sharing, adaptation, authentication, etc.The selection of one or multiple frequency bands for content distribution to vehicles would require trade-offs, particularly if hybrid satellite and terrestrial access schemes are considered. The design and deployment of multi-path resilient transmission techniques both in terms of physical layer and access layer as well as the receiver techniques would be an essential element of the in-vehicle direct access solution. In order to ensure an efficient use of system resources, multicasting video or data content among multiple receivers is considered. An in-vehicle terminal prototype with open protocol standard implementation will be developed and the solution will be tested in a representative test-bed.

Directorate: Directorate Telecom Integrated Applica
Estabilishment: ECSAT
ECOS Required: No
Classified: No
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Authorised Contact Person: Adriana Lucas
Initiating Service: TIA-TTG
IP Measure: N/A
Prog. Reference: E/0534-01G - CC-AT 4.0.1
Tender Type: Open Competition
Open To Tenderers From: AT+BE+CA+CH+CZ+DE+DK+GR+ES+FI+FR+GB+HU+IE+IT+LU+NL+NO+PL+PT+RO+SE
Technology Keywords: 6-A-III-Networking Techniques