Keysight Partners with Airbus on SpaceRAN Demonstrator for 5G NTN Ground Testing and LEO Satellite Deployment

Keysight Technologies,  has entered a collaboration with Airbus UpNext on the SpaceRAN demonstrator project. The initiative examines 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) capabilities through software-defined satellite technology, with activities conducted on the ground and planned for in-orbit demonstration on an Airbus Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite.

The project addresses technical challenges in 5G NTN, including integration of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, mobility management, and connectivity performance in dynamic satellite orbits. These elements relate to goals of achieving global coverage, low-latency communications, and potential broadband and direct-to-handheld 5G services from space.

Keysight supplies test and measurement solutions for the ground-based portion of the demonstration. These include PROPSIM satellite channel emulation, UeSim user segment emulation, and associated software. The tools support validation of 5G NTN use cases, such as beam handover, gateway handover, and mobility management across terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.

The SpaceRAN demonstrator targets both broadband and direct-to-handheld 5G NTN functionalities. The project includes deployment of a regenerative payload on an Airbus LEO satellite, incorporating on-board signal processing and integrated gNodeB functionality to support network operations i...