Ok, thanks to all of you for joining this session about um NTN.
So my name is Mark Ballier.
I'm working for Nokia, but I'm mainly here for as being the chair of the BIG.
So this is a broadband industry group.
So this is a group, a working group from the TCCA where all the um broadband industry,
uh, I mean, uh, the infrastructure vendors but also the terminal vendors are gathering to to
grow the ecosystem of mission critical networks.
And uh we usually talk a lot about terrestrial network, but now as you know,
there's more and more discussions ongoing mainly in the 5G domain because non-terrestrial
network is a complete new chapter that 5G is addressing, but we will see that we don't need
actually to wait for 5G that NTN already started and I will now leave the floor to our
specialists here. So the first one being Alis.
Yeah, maybe you can sit sit down here.
Uh Ali and then also um then we have Gan Paolo
and then Ronlo from the French Jean Paullo is from uh Nokia and uh Ronlou is uh from the
Ministry of Interior French Ministry of Interior.
So I leave the clear to you. I think you have your mic.
Do you hear me? Yeah, seems to be working great.
So thank you Mark for the introduction and um let's move on.
So the topic is non-terrestrial networks for critical communications,
and there has been lately quite a lot of discussion already how to apply satellite
communication properly in critical coms, and this is more or less the topic we are having
here today. So let's look at the Critical coms environment
as such. Traditionally, Critical com services have been
implemented by one single technology, Naroban Technology, Tetra Tetropole P25.
Now when I say all the services have been implemented, it means basically only voice
voice service, voice call service, and, and short messaging.
And these have been working and they are still working fine with these technologies,
but of course there is no need for more data applications, situational awareness,
and so on, meaning that the next solutions will become much more versatile and complex and in
reality there is need to combine.
Uh, different kind of technologies and solutions and what we finally have is,
uh, multi-technology telecoms and IT hybrid solution where we also have room and
need for satellite communication.
It's good to remind about um most important requirements of critical coms.
So basically uh these requirements uh are valid for everything which is related to critical
comms. It doesn't matter whether we talk about voice
call service or let's say some data application running in the cloud environment.
In any case, if it's something related to critical coms,
these requirements by default are valid.
So the first of them is higher availability, meaning that the services they need to work
always and everywhere.
Security is the 2nd 1, well, I guess there's no need to start explaining the importance of
security here. Control, it means that the critical coms users
and operators, they need to have, let's say adequate control in relation to the way how the
services have been implemented and how they are operated.
Operational efficiency is the 4th 1, which means that the critical services they need to
be seamlessly linked to the operations of the uh critical users so that they
really improve the efficiency of the field operations.
Usability is important, meaning that it needs to be easy to use the services,
uh, and then finally the cost, of course, the cost needs to be reasonable as well.
And now when we think about satellite communication, obviously it's contributing,
especially for the first requirement, high availability.
Because the satellite signal is basically available uh everywhere.
When we look at things in more details, it's not everywhere,
but when we talk about, let's say open grounds, then it's everywhere available and that is
making a good contribution to the.
Higher availability of the service, but of course the message is such that satellite
communication technology and solutions are not either able to fulfil all the possible use
cases and user requirements and also other solutions are needed.
So main use cases or use case classes for the critical commerce.
So first of all, we have the permanent coverage extension which SATO can provide,
and this is mostly uh valid for the areas where it's too difficult or expensive to build the
terrestrial coverage.
We talk about, let's say mountain areas, coastal areas,
and so on. Then the second case is temporary coverage
extension which is from technical point of view exactly the same as the previous one,
but the difference is that we are now talking about areas where there is no need or no idea
to plan the permanent coverage at all, so it means for example a desert or or something like
that. And then the third one is, of course, the
backup, which means that if there is something wrong, some problem with the terrestrial
network, then the non-terrestrial network and SEO can be used as a backup,
kind of a disaster recovery solution.
There are also a few other points which are listed here which we see happening today and
which are important.
First of them is the integration.
It's important that the terrestrial and non-terrestrial solutions are integrated
together so that from users' point of view they the ideal situation is that they see only one
service so that it's easy to use.
Second thing is that as of today, a lot of effort is put into the receiver and terminal
integration in the vehicle environment. That's what we see happening a lot with uh SATO
in critical coms environment.
And then the last bullet point is just a reminder that There is also that kind of aspect
that is national preparedness, national security, and that kind of things which are
very important.
There's a war in Ukraine that has reminded us that the world is not always so nice place but
we have seen during the past years, and there is a there is a strong need in different
countries, especially in Europe now to look at the national preparedness questions as well,
and SATCOM can contribute there also.
Um, a little bit information about these different kind of satellites and don't be
afraid. I'm not starting to explain all these details,
but just to mention that we basically have 3 different kinds of satellites.
Geostationary is the traditional satellite solution with those have been available already
a long time, uh.
The satellites are very high, 35,000 kilometres, and uh you need only a few of them for the
global coverage, but the drawback is that the latency is high and the lat latency is
actually so high that these satellites are not usable for the critical
coms voice group call service where the flow control needs to happen very quickly.
The next one, the M is quite the same as as the geostationary from criticalcom's point of view,
no big difference, but then the low Earth orbit satellites which has,
which have emerged recently, they are very different because They are their orbit height
is only 100 kilometres or maybe around 1000 kilometres, which means that the latency is in
practise also very low, and we have carried out tests running MCX over one
web link, and what we have found is that the quality of service is good and it's very much
compa comparable to ordinary 4 4G service, meaning that in reality it works well with the
critical coms applications.
So the latency is, is the big thing here from the critical coms services point of view.
A bit industry development related to SATO, um, in the left hand side chart,
there are um.
You see numbers of new satellite launches for 2 satellite SATO LEO systems which are
1eb and Starlink.
Starlink is the, as you know, Elon Musk initiative there.
And they are investing a lot. A lot of satellites are being launched all the
time, which happens also with the one web, and these two systems are something which are
reality and in operation already as of today. So when we talk about low Earth orbit,
it's not something that is coming somewhere in the distant future.
The technology is already there and it's working.
Um, other developments is that Traditionally, satellites have been big and
bulky and expensive.
Now they are as of today, much cheaper, and the cost per launch has gone down a lot.
So these are much more affordable.
And then the big thing, as we discussed already, is that this latency has come down with the low
orbit technology and all in all, also the throughput of the satellite systems has
increased significantly.
So I already mentioned this Starlink and OneWeb as as examples or I would say most advanced
low Earth orbit satellite systems as of today.
There is a third one, Amazon projectuer, but that is a bit lagging behind there.
It is not yet that advanced, and uh these are something which are really working,
operating, and subscriptions can be bought for these systems,
but I would say the weakness is that these are proprietary systems.
That is the nature of this SAcom systems as of today.
Um, challenges from critical coms point of view.
So as already a we discussed this geostationary and the MO also they are not really suitable
for the critical coms voice service, but of course for certain use cases it's possible to
use them. Such use cases where the long latency doesn't
cause too much problems.
Then what, what, what's about the low Earth orbit the challenges are different.
The current technologies are such that the terminals are quite big and the antenna systems
are big, which means that these systems as of today, in reality they can be used only for
fixed and vehicle use cases.
And then of course the pricing is still a bit open question.
These are new things we are not fully sure how the pricing will settle for Starling one web or
or other systems.
Standards and interoperability as mentioned are also challenges,
so these are uh proprietary systems as of today.
Uh, a little bit information about future topics because SATO is an
area where a lot of things are happening every day, big developments are done,
and I just picked up two quite big and important things here.
First of them is the so-called EU space-based securecom system which which we could call
also the EU satellite constellation.
It is currently an EU Commission proposal with the targeted date of 2027 for operational
use, so it's not yet accepted as such.
And the drivers here are European sovereignty and uh different kind of geopolitical threats
and so on which are very, very valid as of today.
I personally believe that this system will be implemented, but I also believe that probably
takes a bit more time than 2027.
And it will offer services both for consumers and and governmental users.
It would give for us as Europeans that advantage that the satellite communication
system is not anymore something which is, for example, in the control of North America.
It would be European control system.
Then the other thing here which I picked up ashy task could be intentional or
unintentional. Intentional, we know we are talking about Star
Wars. Uh we know that there are some data that
besides that are.
Build to destroy satellite, but it could be also unintentional.
This is the collision with the debris that is a big problem of sustainability,
in particular on Leo um constellation.
I will show something later. Then we have cyberattack,
of course, and we have some electronic warfare, so it's the matter that you can.
Blind the satellite with some technology just to talk a bit more about cyberattack,
what are the different vulnerability access points you can enter in a satellite system from
the earth section that could be the ground section or the terminal.
The other possible attack is through the satellite itself.
So with the direct link or and this is very critical, the supply chain.
When you build a satellite system, there are different actor.
They come in the in the game, so there are the owners, then the designer,
the manufacturer with the subcontractors.
Then uh the company that is moving the satellite to the launch pad,
there is the launch uh company and then there is the operation company.
So there are different paths in which some cyber attack cyber um
element could be included in the path. So it's very important to have um um a risk,
a risk model. And some security architecture to be
implemented like the one of of NIT.
Example of attack to ground station better to the terminals was the VAAKA
satellite exactly the date in which the 24th of September of
February when Russia invaded Ukraine and many of the users in Ukraine was
blinded from this this attack.
The other problem is the sustainability problem. This is not a pictorial view.
This is a real picture taken if I remember from NASA.
That is giving the map of the debris with the dimension greater than 2 centimetre if I
remember around the Earth. So you can see how the low Earth orbit is very
proud of the breeze.
You can also distinguish here the geo satellite orbit, OK,
with this circle full of debris.
And we know that when you are in the orbit, the um a satellite in order to keep the orbit to go
to a very high speed, 7.8 kilometres per second, when you go at that speed,
also a very small debris can create a big damage.
And for example, the International Space Station had to made many manoeuvres in order to
avoid the debris in the, in the year where it was, it was working.
Now, just to show you a last picture, this is the number of objects of debris
in the different orbit.
While you can see that the neo geo orbit, there are the lower one.
Yes, the objects are increasing during the year, but not so much.
Look at Leo.
And it's incredible that there were some specific moment you can see these
vertical lines.
One was in 2007 an ASA test from an Asiatic
country that generate a lot of debris. Then there was a collision between one of the
radium satellite with a rocket again and then something that happened very recently,
a few months ago. There was another test from a European Asiatic
nation that made an ESA test in November and they created at least
1500 new small debris object coming from this uh
from this test. And of course this is a challenge,
a very important challenge that for sure is one of the business of the future that is
the attempt to find back.
All the debris that can be risky for satellite.
OK, this was last slide of my presentation. I give the room to And I know with
your slide please.
I That I know.
this one It's working. Yeah.
So, uh, thank you. Um, it's a very Challenging subject and
very innovative. So I'm Renaul Melias.
I'm head of international cooperation standardisation and innovation for for the
French Ministry of Interior.
So innovation is a big part of my job and I'm very happy to be part of this panel and and to.
Tell you not my view but what I'm trying to do for our community so I have multiple
ads so my first ads would be to to be the representative for um
first responders so I could tell you that we have requirements.
I could tell you that we want to have a ubiquitous connectivity.
I could tell you many things, but many people could do a better job than me.
So I'm not here with this hat.
I have another hat.
I'm a 3 GPP delegate, so standards are really important for me.
So I could tell you about what has been done in 1617, what we are doing in in
18, but.
Some people, many people could do a better job than me.
So I'm here with my final hats and if you know me, you know that I like to bring people
together, so I'm here to bring people together, so I'm.
The leader of the task force on NTN uh critical communication at the TCCA,
so it's been initiated, um, at the beginning of the year,
so we already had two meetings.
And the purpose of this task force is As soon as possible to provide guidance,
so. We will have multiple views from the user
community first responders, from, um, vendors, so from the industry,
obviously, but also we want to have all the stakeholders, uh meaning that we want to have
the point of view of um mobile network operators.
We want to have the point of view of satellite vendors obviously.
So I'm trying to bring all these people together and work in this task force,
so. We've achieved already, what we have achieved
already is putting the content on the draught paper, so.
We are still Trying to to finalise this content and then contribute and and and write
the paper but there is still time to join.
So I'm here to say that.
For the moment We are Only I don't know, 20-30
people, but we need more people. We need more people from the PPDR um community,
so either first responders, either um PPDR operators.
But we also need anos.
We need to have the All picture with all the stakeholders on board.
So With that, I would like to thank everybody
um to this nice presentation, everybody that has been in the audience and
people online. I think we will have um video available soon.
So, uh, please, um, get back to me or find any way to get in contact with any of the
panellists, and we will bring this task force and, and,
and provide um a successful uh deliverable I hope by the end of the year.
So thank you very much. Thank you.
So please, if you, if you have a question, this is a time to,
to go for the Q&A.