The Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm is defined as a key service and has established itself as a widespread technology of importance in future networks (i.e. 5G). Many relevant IoT use cases remain unserved in rural and remote areas due to the cost and complexity of deploying network infrastructure. The growth of the satellite sector and the deployment of LEO constellations raised the Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) architecture as an alternative to provide coverage for these use cases. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has introduced in its architecture the NTN approach to provide coverage through satellites, but it does not work correctly if there are discontinuities in the space links.
Discontinuities will happen when coverage is provided by, for example, a sparse constellation of LEO satellites. Giving a complete solution to these use cases opens several research areas in the field of space communications. The discontinuities in space links and the constrained capabilities of satellite terminals have stopped the adoption of IP suite protocols for satellite communications, which are mature technologies and classical choices in a multitude of ground-based networks. Instead, space communications protocols have evolved separately, developing protocols focused on handling the problems of space links.
This is the case for Delay-Tolerant Networking (DTN), a technological approach that aims to solve the challenges of the links in interplanetary and deep-space missions. Standards exist that place IP over a DTN protocol stack and proposals to create a DTN compatible IP framework, opening the discussion and many research topics on the evolution of space communications protocols. This work tries to expand the IP stack to perform DTN functionalities.
This PhD proposal aims to contribute to the developments in the field of 3GPP satellite networks for IoT service provision. Specifically, the main areas of contributions are:
