System and methods for providing integrated 5G and satellite service in backhaul and edge computing applications

Abstract

5G technologies are knocking at the door and ready to be implemented. This paper analyses the requirements of the satellite network for its integration with the 5G terrestrial network concerning backhaul and edge computing scenarios. In a Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) architecture, the paper proposes utilizing a low-latency Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation to provide the fronthaul demand in a hybrid deployment along with either optical fibre or microwave. For backhaul services between C-RAN and 5G core, LEO, or Geostationary Orbit (GEO) orbit, or both LEO and GEO in a hybrid configuration can be reliable and resilient. However, some challenges need to be resolved, which are captured in this paper. Satellite terminals hosted in the C-RAN or base station can provide virtualized computing and storage resources to host edge functions for specific applications by caching necessary information a priori to mitigate inherent large latency over the GEO satellite, for example, performing IoT server functions is suitable from the edge. The backhaul satellite network can be leased by content providers to multicast content to several C-RANs for edge caching. On the network side, this paper examines the integration of a satellite network as a network slice in the 5G core.