Non-Terrestrial Communication in the 6G Era: Challenges and Opportunities
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Many organizations recognize non-terrestrial communication (NTC) as a key component to provide cost-effective and high-capacity connectivity in future 6th generation (6G) wireless networks. Despite this premise, there are still many questions to be answered for proper network design, including those associated to latency and coverage constraints. In this paper, we review the characteristics and enabling technologies of non-terrestrial systems in the 6G landscape and shed light on the challenges in the field that are still open for future research. As a case study, we also evaluate the performance of an NTC scenario in which satellites use millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies to provide access connectivity to on-the-ground mobile terminals as a function of different networking configurations.
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