Non-Terrestrial Networks for 6G: Integrated, Intelligent, and Ubiquitous Connectivity
Muhammad Ali Jamshed, Aryan Kaushik, Miguel Dajer, Alessandro Guidotti, Fanny Parzysz, Eva Lagunas, Marco Di Renzo, Symeon Chatzinotas, Octavia A. Dobre
Abstract
Universal connectivity has been part of past and current generations of wireless systems, but as we approach the sixth generation (6G), the subject of social responsibility is being built as a core component. Given the advent of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), reaching these goals will be much closer to realization than ever before. Owing to the benefits of NTN, the integration of NTN and Terrestrial Networks (TN) is still at its infancy, where the past, the current and future standard releases within the 3<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">rd</sup> Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) provide guidelines to adopt a successfully co-existence/integration of TN and NTN. Therefore, in this article, we illustrate, through 3GPP guidelines, how NTN and TN can effectively be integrated. Moreover, the role of beamforming and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is highlighted to achieve this integration. Finally, the usefulness of integrating NTN and TN is validated through numerical analysis.