3D-NET is the national part of the Celtic Next 3D-NET research project, whose goal is to integrate traditional terrestrial mobile communications and space-based satellite communications into 6G, the sixth generation of mobile communications systems, which is expected to be deployed in the 2030s. The vision of 6G is that mobile communication services will be available to every user, everywhere, at any time, and without interruption. To realize this vision, the following major challenges in research and innovation across various disciplines relating to satellite communications still need to be addressed.
- New radio hardware for 6G devices and satellites to enable direct communication between them
- Signal processing methods that can cope with significant signal losses and are robust against space-based interference
- Network technologies that integrate terrestrial and space-based systems
- Intelligent methods that combine communication, localization, and sensing
- Use of different communication technologies for airborne users, known as Multi-RAT
- Simultaneous suitability for a wide variety of airborne users such as UAVs, drones, air taxis, helicopters, and aircraft, as well as for ground users in rural and urban areas
The architecture with which our vision is to be realized is shown on the cover page. The communication technologies used range from direct air-to-ground communication (DA2GC) to inter-satellite links. Our vision is therefore to use all these links for seamless, robust, and resilient connectivity, thereby enabling a wide range of new use cases such as drone swarm communication, on-board communication in aircraft, and mobile subnetworks in mobile machines, whose requirements cannot be met by today’s systems. To this end, the following tasks are being carried out:
- Analysis of relevant use cases and scenarios and creation of the requirements for a 3D TN/NTN architecture
- Development of a holistic architecture that combines TN/NTN and network-in-network communication, and derivation of the requirements for the technical realization of such a system
- Development of methods to orchestrate the dynamics of the system (mobility, topology, resource utilization)
- Development of a UPF demonstrator function that can also be deployed on resource-constrained systems such as drones and satellites
- Development of coordination and orchestration functions for TN/NTN-networked swarms with network-in-network communication
- Development of a network-in-network solution for drone communication based on device-to-device communication
- Development of a demonstrator suitable for field testing to demonstrate the feasibility and performance of the system with TN/NTN connectivity
We are developing new technologies while taking into account the overarching requirements of sustainability, reliability, interoperability, and network intelligence. By 2030, the research project will have contributed to a robust European ecosystem capable of realizing 6G satellite communications in the global market.
Within the 3D-NET subproject, DFKI is pursuing specific and individual project objectives for the research and development of AI-native, adaptive network control and resource management methods for integrated three-dimensional terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks (TN/NTN).
Partners
- Airbus Defence and Space (ADS)
- BISDN (BIS)
- Deutsche Telekom (DTAG)
- Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz GmbH (DFKI)
- esc Aerospace (ESC)
- Giesecke+Devrient Mobile Security Germany (GD)
- Meshmerize (MES)
- VIAVI Berlin (VIA)
