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Shared Sky, Shared Spectrum: Coordinated Satellite-5G Networks for Low-Altitude Economy

Yanmin Wang, Wei Feng, Yunfei Chen, Baoquan Ren, Qingqing Wu, Cheng-Xiang Wang

Abstract

Driven by both technological development and practical demands, the low-altitude economy relying on low-altitude aircrafts (LAAs) is booming. However, neither satellites nor terrestrial fifth-generation (5G) networks alone can effectively satisfy the communication requirements for ubiquitous lowaltitude coverage. While full integration of satellites and 5G networks offers theoretical benefits, the associated overhead and complexity pose significant challenges for rapid deployment. As a more economical and immediately viable alternative, this paper investigates partially-integrated networks where satellites and 5G systems operate with coarse synchronization yet achieve coordinated spectrum sharing, pooling their capabilities to jointly serve LAAs. Leveraging the inherent position-awareness of LAAs, we propose a framework for joint time-frequency spectrum sharing with an adaptive synchronization time scale, where only large-scale channel state information (CSI) is required. To avoid solving the NP-hard optimization problem directly, link-feature-aided clustering is employed following a divide-andconquer strategy. The proposed framework achieves substantial performance gains with low overhead and complexity, enabling swift advancement of low-altitude applications while paving the way for future integrated satellite-terrestrial network evolution.

Shared Sky, Shared Spectrum: Coordinated Satellite-5G Networks for Low-Altitude Economy

Abstract

Driven by both technological development and practical demands, the low-altitude economy relying on low-altitude aircrafts (LAAs) is booming. However, neither satellites nor terrestrial fifth-generation (5G) networks alone can effectively satisfy the communication requirements for ubiquitous lowaltitude coverage. While full integration of satellites and 5G networks offers theoretical benefits, the associated overhead and complexity pose significant challenges for rapid deployment. As a more economical and immediately viable alternative, this paper investigates partially-integrated networks where satellites and 5G systems operate with coarse synchronization yet achieve coordinated spectrum sharing, pooling their capabilities to jointly serve LAAs. Leveraging the inherent position-awareness of LAAs, we propose a framework for joint time-frequency spectrum sharing with an adaptive synchronization time scale, where only large-scale channel state information (CSI) is required. To avoid solving the NP-hard optimization problem directly, link-feature-aided clustering is employed following a divide-andconquer strategy. The proposed framework achieves substantial performance gains with low overhead and complexity, enabling swift advancement of low-altitude applications while paving the way for future integrated satellite-terrestrial network evolution.
Paper Structure (15 sections, 2 equations, 6 figures)

This paper contains 15 sections, 2 equations, 6 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Opportunities and Challenges for Spectrum Sharing in Coordinated Networks Serving LAAs
  3. Opportunities
  4. Challenges
  5. Cooperative Spectrum Sharing under Coarse Satellite-Terrestrial Synchronization
  6. Fundamental Idea of Coarse Satellite-Terrestrial Synchronization
  7. Complicated Inter-Link Coupling and A Possible Way Out
  8. Link-Feature-Aided Satellite-Terrestrial Spectrum Sharing with Adaptive Cooperation Time Scale
  9. Link Clustering based on Interference Similarity
  10. Link Feature Sketching for Interference-Similarity-based Link Clustering
  11. Link-Feature-Aided Spectrum Sharing with Adaptive Cooperation Time Scale
  12. Application and performance potentials
  13. Potential for Practical Applications
  14. Performance Potential by A Case Study
  15. Conclusions

Figures (6)

  • Figure 1: Opportunistic satellite-terrestrial spectrum sharing for (a) LAA-satellite uplink and LAA-TBS uplink, (b) satellite-LAA downlink and TBS-LAA downlink, (c) LAA-satellite uplink and TBS-TU downlink, (d) TU-satellite uplink and LAA-TBS uplink, (e) satellite-LAA downlink and TU-TBS uplink, and (f) satellite-TU downlink and TBS-LAA downlink.
  • Figure 2: Propagation delays and serving time slices for satellite and terrestrial links in coordinated networks.
  • Figure 3: Coarse satellite-terrestrial time synchronization for spectrum sharing in coordinated networks.
  • Figure 4: Illustration of interference-similarity-based link clustering for cooperative link scheduling.
  • Figure 5: Joint time-frequency satellite-terrestrial spectrum sharing framework.
  • ...and 1 more figures