Description
The objective of this activity is to design and develop a simulation testbed for secure delivery of assistance data with5G satellite networks to enhance positioning.Targeted Improvements:Foster the use of 5G satellite networks to enhance positioning with ubiquitous, reliable, and secure delivery of assistance data. Enable secure time and frequency synchronisation in existing or future telecommunication infrastructure.Description:Various positioning use cases, such as high-accuracy or integrity, rely on receiving assistance data to enhance the positioning performance beyond what can be obtained by using messages broadcast by the global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Currently, the 5th generation (5G) terrestrial networks provide a native mechanism to delivery assistance data through the 3GPP LTE positioning protocol (LPP), enhancing the performance of mobile users within the coverage of the network interms of time to first fix, position accuracy, and/or integrity. Important benefits of 5G terrestrial networks in this context include the intrinsic reliability and security of communication channels. The expansion of 5G to direct-to-device satellite networks in low-Earth orbit (LEO) will enable new use cases and enhance the existing ones, by providing continuous and ubiquitous connectivity across the globe. In terms of enhanced positioning, 5G satellite networks could adapt protocols and solutions of terrestrial networksto allow for secure delivery of the assistance data also to remote areas or to ensure no service interruption, enabling use cases such as autonomous shipping or GEO referencing sensor data. To achieve this, the protocols and solutions currently available in terrestrial networks need to be adapted and simulated for the satellite networks. Enhancing positioning with assistance data delivered through secure channels will also serve telecommunication infrastructure. It will bring the trust in time and frequency synchronisation, currently achieved by using unprotected GNSS messages. The activity will: 1) Review the relevant standards and study/identify network architectures providing assistance data to enhance positioning with 5G satellite networks. 2) Consolidate use cases and performance targets benefiting from secure delivery of assistance data, targeting worst-case positioning users requiring high-accuracy and integrity in relevant scenarios, such as in remote areas, denied environments, or during network congestion. 3) Design and develop a representative end-to-end testbed capable of simulating network architectures and modelling high-fidelity user environments considering the identified use cases. 4) Assess the performance of the assistance data dissemination with 5G satellite networks considering the consolidated use cases using the developed testbed.