Presented by Riccardo De Gaudenzi, Adjunct Professor, Universities of Parma and Pisa, Italy and Florin-Catalin Grec, Navigation Future Programs, ESA, The Netherlands
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) vulnerabilities, exacerbated by increasing jamming and spoofing, highlight the urgent need for resilient Positioning Navigation Timing (PNT) alternatives. While Fifth Generation (5G) offers technical positioning capabilities, its limited real-world deployment on terrestrial networks necessitates a more promising complement. A dedicated Low Earth Orbiting-Positioning Navigation Timing (LEO-PNT) layer, leveraging rapid geometry and enhanced link budgets, presents a robust solution for augmenting and providing an alternative to GNSS. In parallel, Direct to Device (D2D) satellite connectivity, enabled by technologies like 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) and systems, has emerged as a transformative capability for communication. A key open question is whether these Low Earth Orbit (LEO) direct-to-device systems can be adapted to also provide robust positioning services from space. This presents significant challenges due to high satellite mobility, large Doppler shifts, and the conflicting requirements of multi-satellite visibility for positioning versus minimized beam overlap for communication. The presentation addresses these challenges by investigating the use of Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) spectrum and 3GPP NTN for innovative integrated positioning and communication services. Buildingon use cases, we propose and analyse three candidate LEO NTN system architectures. Through detailed link budgets and simulations, we evaluate the trade-offs between accuracy, availability, and communication throughput, laying the groundwork for future European LEO-PNT missions.
Riccardo De Gaudenzi (Fellow IEEE) received his Doctor Engineer degree (cum Laude) in electronic engineering from the University of Pisa, Italy in 1985, a PhD from the Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands in 1999 and a Communication Engineering Master Degree ad honorem from University of Parma in 2021. He is currently a freelance consultant and University lecturer. In 1988, he joined ESA’s Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Noordwijk, The Netherlands where he has been covering several technical and managerial positions inside the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality. As last position, he has been the Head of the ESA’s Electrical Department from 2018 until December 2023. He actively contributed to the development and the demonstration of the ETSI S-UMTS Family A, S-MIM, DVB-S2, DVB-S2X, DVB-RCS2 and DVB-SH standards. He has published more than 140 scientific papers and owns more than 30 patents. He is co-recipient of the 2003 and 2008 Jack Neubauer Memorial Award Best Paper from the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society. He has been awarded the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) 2022 Aerospace Communications Award.
Presented by Sergio Parolari, Standards Manager in ZTE's Wireless and Computing Product Planning department, ZTE, Italy.
The presentation provides an overview of the 3GPP standardization journey for NTN, from basic support in Release 17 to 5G NTN enhancements in Releases 18, 19 and 20 up to the expected
6G technology evolution in Release 21.
In addition to presenting the evolution of the standards, the talk will highlight the impact on the future integration of satellite and terrestrial networks. Attendees,
whether directly involved in 3GPP activities or simply interested in the future of space and mobile communications, will gain a clear understanding of how NTN
is becoming a fundamental pillar of the 6G connectivity ecosystem.
Sergio Parolari is a Standards Manager in ZTE's Wireless and Computing Product Planning department. He represents ZTE in 3GPP RAN groups, where he also served as RAN WG2 Vice-Chairman. He also supports ZTE product marketing activities for 5G in Europe.
Sergio has 25+ years of experience in telecommunication technologies, in R&D and standardization environments.
Before joining ZTE in 2010, he worked for Siemens and then Nokia, covering different positions, starting as System Engineer for the design of algorithms and procedures for mobile networks equipments, then as
Standardization Specialist representing his company in different 3GPP and ETSI standard bodies and finally as Technical Product Manager driving the definition of new products for evolved 3G and LTE wireless systems.
He is co-author of several patents in the area of mobile communication and of a number of scientific publications.
Sergio holds a M.Sc. degree in Electronics Engineering from the Polytechnic of Milan, Italy.
Presented by Stefano Cioni, RF Systems Technology Division, ESA, The Netherlands.
The talk will cover the most relevant ESA initiated projects to develop and to demonstrate NTN technologies in real satellite systems. The presentation is reporting about the existing 5G laboratory tools and describing the new satellite experimental asset to be launched very soon. The emphasis is on the experiments done in ESTEC along with industrial partners for early demonstrations about 5G NTN features using real satellite systems. In addition, some examples of new cubesats to be launched (e.g., 6G LINO) will be presented to show the upcoming reconfigurable satellite digital payload solutions for enabling more advanced 5G technology experiments, like full gNB on-board.
Stefano Cioni was born in Imola (Italy) on October 12, 1973. He received the Dr.Ing. degree in telecommunication engineering and the Ph.D from University of Bologna, Italy, in 1998 and in 2002, respectively. Since 2002, he has been a senior researcher at the Advanced Research
Center for Electronic Systems (ARCES) of the University of Bologna. In 2010, he joined the European Space Agency, Noordwijk, The
Netherlands, where he is currently a telecommunication systems engineer within the Radio Frequency Systems, Payload and Technology Division.
Since September 2016, he has been attending the 3GPP RAN plenary and RAN-WGs meetings, with the specific interest to support non-terrestrial network (NTN)
aspects and to facilitate the 5G terrestrial/satellite networks integration.
He has co-authored more than 100 papers and scientific conference contributions, and he is a co-recipient of the Best Paper Award at IEEE ICT
2001 and at IEEE ASMS/SPSC 2012. Dr. Cioni has been elevated to Senior Member of the IEEE Society in August 2017. Dr. Cioni has selected
as recipient of the IEEE ComSoc Satellite and Space Communications Technical Recognition Award 2020.