On the eve of the satellite communications explosion

Latest update time：2024-10-30

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Satellite communications are playing an increasingly important role in the communications field. For example, China has brought international events such as the Olympics and the World Cup to thousands of villages in Africa through satellite TV, greatly enriching the cultural life of local residents. In addition, satellites are also used to monitor natural disasters such as Typhoon Makar in real time, providing people with early warnings and reducing losses. It is particularly worth mentioning that in the past two years, with the "mobile phone direct satellite connection" function being implemented on domestic mobile phones such as Huawei and vivo, satellite communications have gradually entered the lives of the public, allowing more people to experience its convenience.

At the same time, the commercial satellite market is developing rapidly. According to the annual report of the Satellite Industry Association (SIA), in 2023, the number of commercial satellite launches reached a record high, deploying a record number of 2,781 satellites, an increase of 20% over the previous year. By the end of the year, the number of active satellites in orbit around the Earth had reached 9,691, an increase of 361% in five years.

Driving force behind the development of satellite communications

Satellite communication technology has made significant progress in recent years, especially in the deployment of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. LEO constellation programs represented by SpaceX's Starlink have demonstrated their great potential in providing high-speed, low-latency global Internet services. In addition to SpaceX, other companies such as OneWeb, Amazon's Kuiper Project and Telesat are also investing heavily in the construction of LEO satellite networks. With the launch and deployment of more satellites, global satellite Internet services will become more feasible and the cost will drop significantly.

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are becoming a disruptive force in the field of satellite communications. According to the different orbital altitudes, satellites can be divided into three types: low earth orbit (LEO), medium earth orbit (MEO) and geosynchronous orbit (GEO). Among them, LEO satellites have significant advantages over similar satellites in GEO and MEO. The signal transmission delay of GEO satellites is 280 milliseconds (ms), while LEO satellites can reduce the delay to only 6 to 30 milliseconds. Therefore, LEO satellites can provide low-latency (30 times faster than GEO) and high-speed Internet connections to remote and underdeveloped areas on the earth.

LEO, GEO, MEO satellite coverage area

(Image source: Qorvo)

From the perspective of market demand, the commercial use of 5G technology has accelerated people's demand for high-speed, low-latency communications, and satellite communications can effectively supplement the insufficient coverage of ground-based 5G networks, especially in remote areas and at sea. The explosive growth of IoT devices has put higher demands on network connections, and satellite communications can provide wide-area coverage and low-power connection solutions. Satellite communications play an increasingly important role in emerging application scenarios such as drones, autonomous driving, and smart cities.

Policies are also an important driving force in the development of satellite communications. Governments of various countries have introduced policies to encourage the development of the satellite communications industry and provide a good development environment for it. For example, domestically: the State Council proposed in the "14th Five-Year Plan for Digital Economy Development" to accelerate the layout of satellite communication networks and promote the construction of satellite Internet; in the "Outline of the Strategic Plan for Expanding Domestic Demand (2022-2035)", it proposed to promote the construction of satellite and application infrastructure. Foreign: On July 15, 2024, Rocket Lab received up to $23.9 million in funding from the CHIPS Act. Rocket Lab specializes in the production of high-efficiency radiation-resistant compound semiconductors (space-grade solar cells)-equipment for converting light into electrical energy in space. This proposed investment will enable Rocket Lab to increase its production of compound semiconductors for spacecraft and satellites.

The development trend of satellite communications

Moving towards high frequency band

Satellite communications typically use the ultra-high frequency range of 1–50 gigahertz (GHz) to send and receive signals. Frequency ranges or bands are identified by letters: (from low frequency to high frequency) L, S, C, X, Ku, Ka, Q/V, E band. Most satellite deployments typically use the L to Ka bands, which are widely used for communications, broadcasting, mobile broadband and other services.

As the frequency band gradually develops from L to E band to higher frequencies, high-frequency band communications require more sophisticated RF power amplifiers, filters, low-noise amplifiers and other devices to reduce signal loss and noise, while ensuring efficient operation in high-frequency environments. In this regard, Qorvo is one of the few RF device suppliers that can cover the Ku band and K/Ka band, covering a wide range of products including PA, LNA, discrete switches, RF filters, digital step attenuators, mixers, multipliers, phase shifters, etc. In September 2023, Qorvo released the industry's highest-power Ku-band satellite communication amplifier QPA0017, which is suitable for the growing number of phased array antenna satellite terminals and ground and mobile devices with high data throughput. This provides strong support for satellite communications to move to higher frequency bands.

With the advancement of communication technology and the increasing demand for greater bandwidth, more and more satellites are gradually moving towards higher frequency bands such as Q/V and E spectrum. These high frequency bands can provide higher throughput and meet the future demand for higher-speed data transmission. The industry still needs to actively respond to these demands.

Integration of satellite communications and 5G networks

An important trend in the next generation of communication networks is the integration of terrestrial and satellite communications. In particular, the rapid development of 5G technology has brought about changes in global mobile communications. However, the coverage of terrestrial 5G networks is still limited by infrastructure, especially in remote areas such as rural areas, mountainous areas, oceans and air. In these restricted areas, satellite communications can provide vital backhaul support for 5G.

However, the existing terrestrial 5G NR standards cannot adapt to low-orbit satellite channels. To this end, the International Telecommunication Standards Organization 3GPP has introduced support for non-terrestrial networks (NTN) in its 17th and 18th versions of the standards, including LEO, MEO (medium earth orbit) and GEO satellite systems. NTN aims to expand global network coverage, especially in rural and remote areas, and promote direct connections between mobile devices, the Internet of Things (IoT) and commercial autonomous vehicles and satellites. This integration enables the satellite industry to take full advantage of the scale effect of the 5G ecosystem.

With the introduction of these standards, satellite communications will be seamlessly connected with ground-based 5G networks to meet a wider range of communication needs. This is not only a technical integration, but also heralds a major shift in the satellite communications market from professional and niche areas to the mass market.

Satellite Communications Challenges

A key challenge for satellite communications has always been cost, especially for user terminals. Developing satellite communications terminals is more complex than in the commercial telecommunications sector. While industry standards for 5G systems provide unified hardware specifications across markets, satellite communications user terminals lack consistent performance requirements, physical interfaces, waveforms, modems, or intermediate frequency (IF) frequencies. This poses a huge challenge for terminal developers.

In antenna arrays with thousands of elements, the high cost per square millimeter of gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN) materials make it difficult to achieve high-volume satellite communication terminal applications. Highly integrated silicon-based beamforming ICs provide a suitable size for large-scale array integration and can keep costs low in high-volume production.

For satellite communications to embrace 5G, active electronically scanned antennas (AESAs) using silicon-based millimeter wave ICs have become the technology that strikes a balance between cost and performance. Silicon ICs for flat-panel AESA designs offer high performance, application flexibility, ease of integration, high energy efficiency, and good economics.

In this field, Anokiwave of the United States has become an industry benchmark in the field of flat-panel active electronically scanned array (AESA) antennas, and is recognized as the preferred supplier of silicon ICs in the field of millimeter-wave flat-panel active antennas for LEO, MEO and GEO satellite communication terminals. However, on January 31, 2024, Anokiwave was acquired by Qorvo. It is expected that combined with Qorvo's rich accumulation in the field of RF, the complementary combination of the two parties will greatly promote the cost reduction in the field of satellite communications.

Conclusion

Satellite communications are in a historic period of development opportunities. The combination of multiple technological advances, cost reductions, and market demand is driving this industry toward maturity. From the deployment of LEO constellations to the integration of ground-based 5G networks, the application scenarios of satellite communications will continue to expand, ultimately achieving seamless global connectivity. In the future, we have reason to believe that with the joint efforts of all parties, satellite communications will bring more convenience and well-being to human society.

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