Chinese vendor ZTE, full-service provider China Mobile and the China Transport Telecommunications and Information Group, have showcased what they claim is the world’s first field trial 5G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) technology at the 5G-Advanced Industry Development Summit in Beijing. The trials demonstrated services such as short messages and voice services, with performance meeting expectations. As such, the satellite-based solution was considered ‘very likely feasible’ and would be used in emergency communication service pilot projects in Beijing, Yunnan and other provinces. The trial comprised a series of tests of the direct connection between a handset and satellite, which the operators claim provides support for ubiquitous connection, more use cases, integrated industry chains and low operating and maintenance costs.

Regarding the NTN solution, ZTE explained: ‘The trial was based on the 3GPP R17 and was based on a network architecture using high-orbit satellite for transparent forwarding to implement end-to-end link interconnection among terminals, satellites, terrestrial gateways, base stations, core networks, and service servers. The L-band satellite and terrestrial gateways – located between the NTN terminal and the base station – were responsible for air-interface message transmission. The terrestrial gateways were interconnected with the 5G NTN base station. The terminal was connected to the terrestrial core network and service platform through the satellite, gateways, and NTN base station in turn to implement end-to-end service interconnection.’