Study of Aeronautical Broadband Service Protecting Co-Frequency Terrestrial Services in Ka-band

Abstract

The aeronautical broadband services ("inflight internet") with geostationary satellites have been expanding for the last two decades. The inflight internet transformed from being a privilege for business travelers to a necessity for every passenger. The unprecedented development of terrestrial fifth-generation (5G) applications and far-reaching aeronautical broadband services need to address the growing need for capacity. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), responsible for promoting the shared global use of the radio spectrum, adopted provisions in governing the use of 4 GHz of Ka-band spectrum to terrestrial and space applications during the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC 19). Sharing the spectrum requires keeping each party from unacceptable interferences. While operating in uplink frequency (27.5 GHz to 29.5 GHz), aeronautical broadband service ("Aeronautical Earth Station in Motion") must ensure compliance with Power Flux Density (PFD) envelop limits on the ground as defined by ITU. We study the co-existence of space and terrestrial application, present a methodology to examining the PFD conformity, and verify the methodology with a simulation. We recommend considering this methodology for examining conformity of aeronautical earth station in motion (A-ESIM) with respect to PFD limits in 27.5 GHz to 29.5 GHz bands.