APPLICATION NOTE

5G Non-Terrestrial Network
End-to-End Testing
Model, simulate, emulate, and validate an NTN with
sky-to-lab solutions
Non-Terrestrial Networks Introduction
As 5G network rollouts continue globally, the drive for subscribers in unserved and underserved locales
and applications such as the Internet of Things (IoT) draws attention to a new opportunity: non-terrestrial
networks (NTN). Terrestrial 5G network installations feature the familiar antenna towers mounted on the
ground or atop buildings. NTNs break signaling away from terrain limitations by projecting 5G coverage
using spaceborne or airborne platforms to safely reach previously inaccessible or economically unfeasible
locations. 5G NTNs provide economies of scale for operators by superseding proprietary networks and
delivering a consistent user experience regardless of the mechanics of generating services.

Working groups within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) guide 5G NTN technology, with
elements defined in Release 17 and Release 18 of its 5G specifications. 5G NTN brings together the
traditional space and satellite industry and cellular networks, as shown in Figure 1.

At a conceptual level, 5G NTN applies satellite communication (SATCOM) technology to extend existing
5G technology. 5G NTN supports several types of satellite orbits:

• geosynchronous orbit (GSO)

• medium Earth orbit (MEO)
• low Earth orbit (LEO)

Figure 1. Integration of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks

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Important Challenges in NTN
3GPP identifies three categories for NTN usage, applying the technology in different ways:

• Service continuity: NTNs combine with terrestrial networks.

• Service ubiquity: NTNs compensate for where terrestrial networks remain unavailable.
• Service scalability: NTNs offer content multicast or broadcast over a large area.

Example use cases include the following:

• Coverage in remote areas and at the edge of terrestrial networks.

• Logistics tracking for long-haul trucking routes, rail lines, and maritime shipping lanes.
• Industrial applications for oil fields, mines, offshore platforms, and climate monitoring stations.
• Commercial service for airline, high-speed rail, or shipboard passengers.
• Coverage restoration in disaster areas suffering widespread infrastructure outages.

5G NTNs draw many features from 5G terrestrial networks and face many of the same challenges, adding
higher service reliability expectations for 5G NTN service compared to earlier SATCOM networks, as
shown in Figure 2. These challenges extend across physical, protocol, and application layers. They
include emulating physical propagation conditions, such as large distances and speeds, compensation of
delay and Doppler effect, and atmospheric / weather effects. Ensuring that gNBs and user equipment
(UE) comply with 3GPP standards, interoperate, and achieve seamless coexistence with terrestrial
networks is another issue. Benchmarking key performance indicators like latency, throughput, and quality
of service is also a concern.

Figure 2. NTN industry challenges include propagation conditions, 3GPP compliance, and performance characterization

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Keysight Solution: NTN Sky-to-Lab
The Keysight sky-to-lab end-to-end solution portfolio enables you to cover all phases in the testing
workflow, including modeling, physical channel impairments, and protocol and application-level testing.

The sky-to-lab initiative resulted from collaboration with NTN market leaders who provide solutions early
in the development cycle. This initiative synergizes device and network test solutions, offering end-to-end
portfolios. Additionally, Keysight’s expertise helped refine and develop operator certification test plans.

Table 1 shows the components of the sky-to-lab solution. Each use case will require specific solution
components, and the following sections will cover representative examples.

Table 1. Sky-to-lab solution components

Component Function Description

• Frequency range > 380

UXM 5G network emulator
MHz – 15 GHz (FR1 and
• Powerful and integrated 5G
FR2)
network emulator
• Simultaneous multi-RAT: 5G
• Small footprint
NR (NSA and SA), LTE, W-
• Integrated BBIQ interface
CDMA, C-V2X, Wi-Fi®
• Baseband fading, internal (legacy, 6, 6E, and 7)
PC
• mmWave and OTA
• Touch-screen interface for extensions
benchtop usage
• Bandwidth > 1,600 MHz
• 12+ Gbps throughput

• Modeling tool and transfer-

PROPSIM channel emulator
to-HW implementation of
• Satellite link emulation — delay, Doppler, atmospheric
realistic channel / weather conditions,
propagation conditions of dynamic multipath
wireless devices and radio propagation, range path
systems loss, noise, blocking effects,
and interference for testing
a vast range

• R17 NTN support

UeSIM UE emulator • UE emulation with all NTN
• Multi-UE per cell
features defined in 3GPP
• Multi-cell / beam support
R17
• IQ dump and export with
• Unmodified UE support
WaveJudge compatible
emulation
format

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 • 3GPP NR Rel 15-17 (NR
WaveJudge wireless analyzer NTN, RedCap, V2X)
• Modular and scalable test
• Bandwidth up to 800 MHz
platform to capture and
• RF ports scalable: 2, 4, 6, or
decode LTE, 5G, and Wi-Fi
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signals as a part of the
• SSD storage for long IQ
SJ001A WaveJudge
captures
wireless analyzer toolset
• IQ import / export for
software only

EXata network modeling • Real-time network

simulation and emulation
replicates the behavior of a
• Network digital twins for
network
development, analysis,
testing, and cyber • The system interoperates at
assessment one or more protocol layers
with real radios and devices
• Cost-effective evaluation of
to provide hardware-in-the-
new network technologies
loop capabilities
before building systems or
networks • EXata connects to systems
with real applications just as
they would run on real
networks

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Network Modeling
Ensuring optimal performance requires rigorous verification and validation testing of end-to-end network
functionality prior to non-terrestrial network deployment.

Key challenges and requirements include the following:

• Stability of optical links and smooth performance during route changes, especially under adverse conditions.
• Accurate optical link modeling, taking into account factors such as noise, sunlight interference,
apertures, pointing stability, and atmospheric attenuation.
• Routing that can effectively handle frequent topology changes.
• Customizable routing protocols that can simulate accurate route requests, replies, and delays to
assess network behavior.
• Ground station network complexity, including handover criteria, control signals, timing, RF footprints,
and Doppler effects.
• Accurately modeling the effects of interference on bit error rates from both terrestrial and non-
terrestrial sources.

A complete, robust solution

Keysight EXata tools, shown in Figure 3, offer a robust solution for network digital modeling. These tools
provide insights into network behavior and performance, ensuring reliability and efficiency. EXata
incorporates the complete protocol stack, enabling thorough analysis from physical (PHY) to application
layers. It includes physics-based RF and optical models, such as transmitter, receiver, and antenna
models for precise simulation, along with versatile waveform and model libraries.

EXata’s network traffic management ensures robustness with prioritization, queuing, and resilience
mechanisms. Detailed performance metrics provide in-depth analysis with time-stamped statistics such as
latency, throughput, and packet loss. Integration with live devices enables realistic testing scenarios.
Moreover, co-simulation with the Ansys STK delivers a unified graphical user interface (GUI) for creating
results based on real physics to enhance efficiency.

Figure 3. EXata
graphical user
interface

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End-to-End NTN Testbed
The Keysight end-to-end NTN testbed solution, shown in Figure 4, incorporates all the essential
emulation components of an NTN, making it well-suited for a wide array of research and development
applications. The components of this solution seamlessly integrate through automation software that
enables engineers to replicate scenarios and perform measurements.

Emulating networks across NTN frequencies

A comprehensive suite of tools, including the Keysight UXM 5G wireless test platform serving as the
network emulator, enables users to emulate multiple terrestrial and non-terrestrial cells across a broad
spectrum of NTN frequencies. This platform supports various cellular technologies and facilitates the re-
creation of realistic scenarios, simulating base stations with a diverse range of protocol parameters.
Furthermore, the UXM enables users to conduct crucial measurements such as RF transmitter and
receiver assessments, as well as block error rate (BLER) and throughput analyses.

Complementing the UXM, the Keysight UeSIM enables infrastructure vendors, chipset providers, and
mobile operators to validate end-to-end radio access network (RAN) performance. It does so by
emulating authentic network traffic over both radio and Open RAN fronthaul interfaces.

The inclusion of the Keysight F9860000A Channel Studio geometric channel modeling (GCM) tool, shown
in Figure 5, enhances the testbed’s capabilities. It includes support for modeling and creating
parameterized orbits for various orbit types (GSO, NGSO) and incorporates multipath fading channel
models. GCM enables engineers to smoothly load the models into Keysight PROPSIM and UXM 5G for
end-to-end emulation.

The Keysight SJ001A WaveJudge Wireless Analyzer Toolset combines powerful over-the-air
communications analysis, real-time protocol decoding, and PHY analysis to deliver effective system
development and troubleshooting.

Figure 4. Keysight end-to-end NTN testbed

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The testbed enables the laboratory reconstruction of all possible NTN scenario permutations involving UE
and network emulation, satellites, orbital models, and channel models. It also measures application-level
performance (for example, energy consumption, protocol, RF, throughput, and latency).

Figure 5. F9860000A Channel Studio GCM modeling tool

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NTN Device Testing
The NTN device testing solution focuses on assessing the performance and functionality of devices
operating within NTNs. This use case streamlines the testing process by using the described NTN sky-to-
lab testbed but without including the user equipment emulator component.

Figure 6 shows the NTN device testing solution setup with a real UE connected to the UXM 5G network
emulator through the PROPSIM channel emulator.

Figure 6. NTN device testing solution setup

First, engineers must configure the emulated satellite link with the NTN channel modeling tool. Delay
and Doppler define the orbit geometry. Then, the engineer configures 3GPP NTN channel models for
link-level emulations (such as tapped delay lines and clustered delay lines). The addition of shadowing
fading models, as shown in Figure 7, as well as weather and atmospheric conditions, provides realistic
channel emulation.

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Figure 7. Channel model graphs, including path loss reflecting the effect of fading

After the engineer creates the orbit, the system automatically loads it into the PROPSIM channel emulator
and creates a connection between the mobile phone and the network emulator.

Figure 8 shows the NTN simulator GUI with the location of the UE on the ground and a LEO satellite. (This
example emulates 560 km altitude, 39 degrees elevation angle, and a total orbit duration of 3 minutes.)

Figure 8. NTN
emulator GUI, showing
real-time KPIs

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Real-time key performance indicators (KPIs), such as delay, Doppler, throughput, RTT latency, and
BLER, appear on the right side of the screen.

In order to characterize the end-to-end link quality, we define two application-level endpoints with VoIP
traffic at 64 kbps using the Keysight XR Mobile application (IxChariot). Figure 9 shows the XR Mobile
application measurements window, with important KPIs related to NTN, such as latency, throughput, lost
data, jitter, delay, and MOS (mean opinion score).

Figure 9. Characterization of end-to-end application quality of service with the Keysight XR Mobile software application

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NTN gNB Testing
The NTN base station testing solution focuses on the validation and optimization of base stations (gNBs)
operating within non-terrestrial networks. Similar to the NTN device testing solution, this use case
leverages the end-to-end NTN testbed while excluding the network emulator component.

Figure 10 shows the NTN gNB testing solution setup with a real gNB connected to the UeSIM UE
emulator through the PROPSIM channel emulator.

Figure 10. NTN gNB testing solution setup

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Three steps to validation
A step-by-step approach from simple to realistic scenarios, shown in Figure 11, helps gNB vendors
accelerate time to market for their NTN solutions.

Figure 11. gNB validation approach

The first step focuses on protocol verification. As shown in Figure 12, NTN features to validate include the
following:

• SIB1 and SIB19 (periodicity, encoding)

• HARQ mode and processes (configuration and data transmission)
• traffic adaptation and retransmission)

This stage of the setup does not require PROPSIM.

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Figure 12. UeSIM capture of a gNB SIB19 message

The second step validates whether the gNB manages propagation delay correctly. PROPSIM adds static
or dynamic delay, while UeSIM provides real-time throughput, BLER, and other measurements for
troubleshooting. WaveJudge analyzes the IQ data captured by UeSIM and PROPSIM to determine the
time alignment of uplink and downlink signals, as shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13. WaveJudge IQ data capture of service link

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The third step adds Doppler delay to the model, according to the satellite velocity information. This step
validates how the downlink signal on the feeder link pre-compensates and how the uplink signal recovers.
Just like in the previous step, comprehensive measurements in UeSIM and WaveJudge offer further
analysis.

The last step adds path loss to the model. PROPSIM configures the path loss to make the channel
emulation more realistic. Traffic generated from UeSIM verifies the throughput achieved. The solution
allows for varied configuration parameters in the gNB, such as different HARQ modes, so developers
understand the impact on throughput.

In addition to the mentioned steps, the solution enables engineers to include other variables like noise
and interference, shadowing, atmospheric effects, mobility, and multiple UEs.

Summary
The emergence of non-terrestrial networks expands 5G coverage to remote and underserved areas.
However, there are challenges to implementing such networks. Key challenges include ensuring physical,
protocol, and application layer compatibility, as well as addressing issues related to propagation
conditions, standards compliance, and performance benchmarks.

The Keysight sky-to-lab solution offers comprehensive testing capabilities across modeling, physical channel
impairment, and protocol / application levels, enabling end-to-end testing and validation of NTN deployments.

By seamlessly integrating various components such as the UXM 5G network emulator, PROPSIM
channel emulator, UeSIM UE emulator, and WaveJudge wireless analyzer, Keysight provides a robust
solution for addressing the complexities of NTN deployment and ensuring reliable network performance.
The sky-to-lab solution facilitates emulation of NTN scenarios, enabling thorough testing of network
functionality, device performance, and base station validation, ultimately contributing to the successful
deployment of NTN infrastructure.

For more information

Watch the NTN sky-to-lab end-to-end emulation solution

For more insights on how to accelerate 5G NTN innovation across the device workflow, read
Enable Next-Generation Non-Terrestrial Networks.

Keysight enables innovators to push the boundaries of engineering by quickly solving

design, emulation, and test challenges to create the best product experiences. Start your
innovation journey at www.keysight.com.

This information is subject to change without notice. © Keysight Technologies, 2024,

Published in USA, October 3, 2024, 3124-1275.EN