MWC showcases satellite communications

Industry collaboration is driving new developments in satellite communications. At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023, many of these partnerships are demonstrating their satellite non-terrestrial network (NTN) connectivity with new chipsets, modules and test setups. These advances also mean satellite communications is coming soon to smartphones.

Some of the latest developments include Murata and Skylo’s cellular and satellite services, MediaTek and Bullitt’s satellite-to-mobile messaging 5G smartphone and Qualcomm’s new partnerships, leveraging its new Snapdragon Satellite for two-way messaging in premium phones.

Satellite networks target coverage for emergencies in remote rural and offshore areas as well as global tracking and positioning. The 5G NTN market is expected to reach $16.1 billion by 2027, up from $3.2 billion in 2022, according to a new report from Research and Markets.

No new hardware required

Murata and Skylo are demonstrating their next generation of cellular and satellite services, leveraging Skylo’s NTN with Murata’s Type 1SC module, an ultra-small, low-power cellular IoT solution for seamless connectivity. The new solution will enable devices such as wearables, sensors and trackers to connect directly over satellite without requiring new hardware or specialized equipment, while reducing design complexity, according to the companies.

Murata’s Type 1SC module (Source: Murata)

Murata has claimed the Type 1SC device as the industry’s smallest form factor LTE Cat M/NB-IoT module with global certification and satellite NTN. It supports GPS/GNSS, OpenMCU and Integrated SIM to support new applications such as dual-mode cellular IoT. Thanks to the solution’s high integration it also reduces time to market as well as development and deployment costs, said Murata, and existing Type 1SC module customers can adopt this new feature without changing hardware. 

NTN service provider Skylo’s technology enables compatible devices to connect over existing geostationary satellites. The direct-to-device service is based on its standards-based technology, including an NTN-capable RAN and core with a modem firmware update. The technology allows users with compatible cellular devices to switch between terrestrial and NTN connectivity as long as there is access to the open sky.

Two-way satellite communications

Both MediaTek and Qualcomm are bringing two-way satellite communications to smartphones, with the first devices announced at the show.

MediaTek is demonstrating its 3GPP NTN technology for two-way satellite communications in smartphones and is providing a “sneak peek” of its next-generation 5G New Radio NTN (NR-NTN) technology for the next wave of satellite-enabled devices. The company also announced the first smartphones with MediaTek’s satellite connectivity with more devices in the pipeline.

“Two-way satellite communications on smartphones and other devices will usher us into a new era of connectivity and open up new possibilities across many different verticals,” said JC Hsu, corporate vice president and general manager of MediaTek’s wireless communications business unit, in a statement.

Satellite networks are used to fill the gaps in mobile coverage, enabling devices to communicate in remote locations, said MediaTek. The biggest market for 3GPP NTN technology is smartphones with growing demand in IoT applications, such as agriculture, forestry and logistics, and automotive in the coming years, added the company.

MediaTek’s standalone MT6825 chipsets, based on the 3GPP NTN open standard, can be integrated into any smartphone for satellite connectivity. In the future, the company said it will target both IoT-NTN and NR-NTN technology based on the 3GPP 5G specification for Release 17 (R17). IoT-NTN targets messaging since it is designed for low data rate connections, while NR-NTN supports higher data rates for video calls and other applications.

MediaTek said the first satellite-enabled smartphones and other devices powered by MediaTek will be for two-way satellite messaging services since satellite networks only currently support IoT-NTN on a mass-scale. The company expects the upcoming NR-NTN chipset will open up opportunities in consumer, enterprise and industrial uses cases.

MediaTek is partnering with Bullitt to bring the first commercial smartphones with 3GPP NTN technology to market, using the MT6825 chipset to connect to the Bullitt Satellite Connect platform, which provides two-way messaging, location sharing and emergency SOS. New phones include the Motorola Defy 2 and CAT S75 smartphones, and the Motorola Defy satellite link Bluetooth accessory that allows Android and iOS devices to connect to the Bullitt Satellite Connect platform.

The IoT-NTN standalone chipsets, using the open 3GPP R17 NTN standard, can be added to any 4G or 5G device. “For OEMs, the advantage of the standard is that once a device has been certified for 3GPP R17 IoT-NTN it can be used on any IoT-NTN compliant network,” said MediaTek. It also means that mobile network operators can partner with service providers to offer roaming services or establish their own satellite networks.

The MT6825 can connect to geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO) constellations, which could be converted into a 3GPP NTN compliant network, and it allows devices to automatically receive messages from satellites. MediaTek said competitive solutions require users to manually check for messages.

R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication tester and SMBV100B GNSS simulator (Source: Rohde & Schwarz)

Testing of the NTN capabilities in the Bullitt smartphone, powered by the MediaTek 3GPP Release 17 chipset, was conducted by Rohde & Schwarz, which tested and verified the first satellite-to-mobile messaging 5G smartphone based on the 3GPP Release 17.

The test solution, using the CMW500 wideband radio communication tester and SMBV100B GNSS simulator, verified that SOS messaging and two-way messaging work reliably in no-coverage environments via NTN in line with 3GPP. The company is showcasing the test setup with a rugged 5G smartphone from Bullitt with the integrated MediaTek chipset as DUT.

The CMW500 wideband radio communication tester now supports Release 17 NB-NTN and simulates a satellite base station by using the SMBV100B to generate GNSS signals. Rohde & Schwarz is highlighting its testing and verification solutions for 3GPP NTN at MWC 2023. The company is exhibiting in Hall 5, booth 5A80, Fira Gran Via.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced that several leading smartphone makers will be bringing satellite-enabled devices to market, leveraging the Qualcomm Snapdragon Satellite solution. Snapdragon Satellite enables two-way messaging for emergencies, SMS texting and other messaging applications.

Honor, Motorola, Nothing, OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi are all planning to develop smartphones with satellite communications, using Snapdragon Satellite, which will be available across all upcoming Qualcomm 5G Modem-RF systems and Snapdragon Mobile Platforms.

Snapdragon Satellite for two-way messaging (Source: Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.)

Qualcomm said Snapdragon Satellite is the industry’s first satellite-based two-way capable messaging solution for smartphones, offering global coverage from pole to pole. It is supported by the low-Earth orbiting (LEO) and Iridium satellite constellation, which enables low-power, low-latency satellite connections using the L-band spectrum.

The company expects Snapdragon Satellite to expand to other device applications in compute, automotive and IoT. It will support 5G NTN as NTN satellite infrastructure and constellations become available.

R&S CMW100 communications manufacturing test set (Source: Rohde & Schwarz)

Rohde & Schwarz collaborated with Qualcomm and Iridium on testing and validating Qualcomm’s Snapdragon on next-generation Android smartphones. The test setup includes the CMW100 non-signaling wireless tester, supported by the Qualcomm Development Acceleration Resource Toolkit (QDART) to verify the Iridium waveforms in R&D and production testing.

The CMW100 communications manufacturing test set is part of the company’s single-box tester portfolio. The RF interface permits simultaneous testing of up to eight devices and has a continuous frequency range up to 6 GHz and RF bandwidth up to 160 MHz.

The company will demo a setup featuring a radio communications tester performing Iridium waveform verification in line with QDART for a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform.