Square Peg Communications and ESA Collaborate to Pioneer Testing of Hybrid 5G Networks

Square Peg Communications and ESA Collaborate to Pioneer Testing of Hybrid 5G Networks

5G in space is becoming a reality, and Square Peg Communications, one of the leaders in satellite communications test equipment, is helping make it happen. Square Peg was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to implement an emulation environment that reliably tests a variety of scenarios across multiple satellite constellations as part of its Space for 5G and 6G Strategic Program Line.

Square Peg teamed up with European technology firm WORK Microwave, with support from the Canadian Space Agency and ESA, to deliver an emulator that can accurately model dynamics, tightly control channel impairments, and cover frequency bands spanning nearly 30 GHz across a wide variety of satellite and terrestrial scenarios – providing a complete solution that addressed ESA’s requirements.

“We are proud to evolve with the industry as we support today’s space innovators. They need reliable and responsive technology solutions that empower advancements in satellite communications,” said Michael Gertsman, President of Square Peg. “Testing has always been an important factor in successful innovation. And now, in response to massive growth in the sector, we’re seeing it being implemented in broader and more integrated ways than ever before.”

Using its high-performance wideband radio link simulator, the RLS-2100, Square Peg provided an emulation environment that supports terrestrial and non-terrestrial links for 5G application testing, including 5G channel models, and an increased frequency range covering 5G FR1 — all in a single platform. Seamless integration with the flexible wideband converter technology developed by WORK Microwave allows the combined offering to interface directly to equipment in the 5G FR2 band as well as in the Ku- and Ka- satellite bands. The successful project will enable ESA to realistically test a range of 5G scenarios across multiple satellite constellations in a more flexible and affordable way and with better performance levels than any other solution on the market.

”This is a major advancement of 5G in space and we are pleased to see Square Peg and WORK Microwave delivering first-class technology in the frame of ESA`s strategic program line Space for 5G & 6G,” said Stefano Cioni, ESA’s Technical Officer on this project. “This team has met the technical requirements and we believe that the RLS-2100 will foster 5G NTN experimentations in realistic laboratory environments.”

“We were excited to work in partnership with Square Peg to develop a strong technology solution,” stated Matthias Stangl, VP of RF Products at WORK Microwave, “One with a potentially massive market opportunity ahead.”

The RLS-2100 tester enables users to cost-effectively:

  • Conduct hardware-in-the-loop testing of bi-directional 5G carriers for both satellite-satellite or satellite-terrestrial links
  • Perform realistic and accurate emulation of satellite and terrestrial link characteristics including atmospheric effects (e.g. rain fade), Doppler, delay, and path loss variations
  • Emulate impairments introduced by transmit and receive RF components such as nonlinear distortion, phase noise, amplitude ripple, and thermal noise
  • Model all types of satellite constellations, including traditional geostationary satellites as well as LEO, MEO, and HEO satellites, or combinations of these
  • Verify link performance during satellite beam, satellite-satellite, and satellite-terrestrial handovers

Click here to learn more about Square Peg's RLS-2100 Satellite Link Emulator on SATNow.

Click here to view other Satellite Link Emulators listed on SATNow.

Publisher: SatNow

GNSS Constellations - A list of all GNSS satellites by constellations

beidou

Satellite NameOrbit Date
BeiDou-3 G4Geostationary Orbit (GEO)17 May, 2023
BeiDou-3 G2Geostationary Orbit (GEO)09 Mar, 2020
Compass-IGSO7Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit (IGSO)09 Feb, 2020
BeiDou-3 M19Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)16 Dec, 2019
BeiDou-3 M20Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)16 Dec, 2019
BeiDou-3 M21Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)23 Nov, 2019
BeiDou-3 M22Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)23 Nov, 2019
BeiDou-3 I3Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit (IGSO)04 Nov, 2019
BeiDou-3 M23Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)22 Sep, 2019
BeiDou-3 M24Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)22 Sep, 2019

galileo

Satellite NameOrbit Date
GSAT0223MEO - Near-Circular05 Dec, 2021
GSAT0224MEO - Near-Circular05 Dec, 2021
GSAT0219MEO - Near-Circular25 Jul, 2018
GSAT0220MEO - Near-Circular25 Jul, 2018
GSAT0221MEO - Near-Circular25 Jul, 2018
GSAT0222MEO - Near-Circular25 Jul, 2018
GSAT0215MEO - Near-Circular12 Dec, 2017
GSAT0216MEO - Near-Circular12 Dec, 2017
GSAT0217MEO - Near-Circular12 Dec, 2017
GSAT0218MEO - Near-Circular12 Dec, 2017

glonass

Satellite NameOrbit Date
Kosmos 2569--07 Aug, 2023
Kosmos 2564--28 Nov, 2022
Kosmos 2559--10 Oct, 2022
Kosmos 2557--07 Jul, 2022
Kosmos 2547--25 Oct, 2020
Kosmos 2545--16 Mar, 2020
Kosmos 2544--11 Dec, 2019
Kosmos 2534--27 May, 2019
Kosmos 2529--03 Nov, 2018
Kosmos 2527--16 Jun, 2018

gps

Satellite NameOrbit Date
Navstar 82Medium Earth Orbit19 Jan, 2023
Navstar 81Medium Earth Orbit17 Jun, 2021
Navstar 78Medium Earth Orbit22 Aug, 2019
Navstar 77Medium Earth Orbit23 Dec, 2018
Navstar 76Medium Earth Orbit05 Feb, 2016
Navstar 75Medium Earth Orbit31 Oct, 2015
Navstar 74Medium Earth Orbit15 Jul, 2015
Navstar 73Medium Earth Orbit25 Mar, 2015
Navstar 72Medium Earth Orbit29 Oct, 2014
Navstar 71Medium Earth Orbit02 Aug, 2014

irnss

Satellite NameOrbit Date
NVS-01Geostationary Orbit (GEO)29 May, 2023
IRNSS-1IInclined Geosynchronous Orbit (IGSO)12 Apr, 2018
IRNSS-1HSub Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (Sub-GTO)31 Aug, 2017
IRNSS-1GGeostationary Orbit (GEO)28 Apr, 2016
IRNSS-1FGeostationary Orbit (GEO)10 Mar, 2016
IRNSS-1EGeosynchronous Orbit (IGSO)20 Jan, 2016
IRNSS-1DInclined Geosynchronous Orbit (IGSO)28 Mar, 2015
IRNSS-1CGeostationary Orbit (GEO)16 Oct, 2014
IRNSS-1BInclined Geosynchronous Orbit (IGSO)04 Apr, 2014
IRNSS-1AInclined Geosynchronous Orbit (IGSO)01 Jul, 2013