Content for TS 38.108 Word version: 18.3.0

3.1 Definitions 3.2 Symbols 3.3 Abbreviations
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1 Scope p. 17

The present document establishes the minimum RF characteristics and minimum performance requirements of NR Satellite Access Node (SAN).

2 References p. 17

The following documents contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of the present document.

References are either specific (identified by date of publication, edition number, version number, etc.) or non-specific.
For a specific reference, subsequent revisions do not apply.
For a non-specific reference, the latest version applies. In the case of a reference to a 3GPP document (including a GSM document), a non-specific reference implicitly refers to the latest version of that document in the same Release as the present document.

[1]

TR 21.905: "Vocabulary for 3GPP Specifications".

[2]

ITU-R Recommendation SM.329: "Unwanted emissions in the spurious domain".

[3]

TS 38.181: "NR; Satellite Node conformance testing".

[4]

ITU-R Recommendation M.1545: "Measurement uncertainty as it applies to test limits for the terrestrial component of International Mobile Telecommunications-2000".

[5]

TS 38.211: "NR; Physical channels and modulation".

[6]

TS 38.331: "NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification".

[7]

TS 38.213: "NR; Physical layer procedures for control".

[8]

ITU-R Recommendation SM.328: "Spectra and bandwidth of emissions".

[9]

ITU-R Recommendation SM.1541-6: "Unwanted emissions in the out-of-band domain".

[10]

TS 38.212: "NR; Multiplexing and channel coding".

[11]

TS 38.101-5: "NR; User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception; Part 5: Satellite access Radio Frequency (RF) and performance requirements".

[12]

TR 38.901: "Study on channel model for frequencies from 0.5 to 100 GHz".

[13]

TR 38.811: "Study on New Radio (NR) to support non-terrestrial networks".

[14]

CEPT ECC Decision (05)01: "The use of the band 27.5-29.5 GHz by the Fixed Service

and uncoordinated Earth stations of the Fixed-Satellite Service (Earth-to-space)", March 2013

[15]

CEPT ECC Decision (13)01: "The harmonised use, free circulation and exemption from individual licensing of Earth Stations On Mobile Platforms (ESOMPs) within the frequency bands 17.3-20.2 GHz and 27.5-30.0 GHz", July 2021

[16]

FCC 47 (Telecommunication) CFR part 25 (Satellite Communications)

[17]

FCC 47 (Telecommunication) CFR § 25.202: "Frequencies, frequency tolerance, and emission limits"

3 Definitions, symbols and abbreviations p. 18

3.1 Definitions p. 18

For the purposes of the present document, the terms given in TR 21.905 and the following apply. A term defined in the present document takes precedence over the definition of the same term, if any, in TR 21.905.

basic limit:

emissions limit relating to the power supplied by a single transmitter to a single antenna transmission line in ITU-R SM.329 [2] used for the formulation of unwanted emission requirements for FR1-NTN.

beam:

beam (of the antenna) is the main lobe of the radiation pattern of an antenna array.

beam centre direction:

direction equal to the geometric centre of the half-power contour of the beam.

beam direction pair:

data set consisting of the beam centre direction and the related beam peak direction.

beam peak direction:

direction where the maximum EIRP is found.

beamwidth:

beam which has a half-power contour that is essentially elliptical, the half-power beamwidths in the two pattern cuts that respectively contain the major and minor axis of the ellipse.

Channel edge:

lowest or highest frequency of the NR carrier, separated by the SAN channel bandwidth.

directional requirement:

requirement which is applied in a specific direction within the OTA coverage range for the Tx and when the AoA of the incident wave of a received signal is within the OTA REFSENS RoAoA or the minSENS RoAoA as appropriate for the receiver.

Enhanced channel raster:

channel raster with a 10 kHz granularity in bands with a 100 kHz channel raster.

equivalent isotropic radiated power:

equivalent power radiated from an isotropic directivity device producing the same field intensity at a point of observation as the field intensity radiated in the direction of the same point of observation by the discussed device.

equivalent isotropic sensitivity:

sensitivity for an isotropic directivity device equivalent to the sensitivity of the discussed device exposed to an incoming wave from a defined AoA.

feeder link:

Wireless link between satellite-gateway and satellite.

Geostationary Earth Orbit:

Circular orbit at 35,786 km above the Earth's equator and following the direction of the Earth's rotation. An object in such an orbit has an orbital period equal to the Earth's rotational period and thus appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers.

Low Earth Orbit:

Orbit around the Earth with an altitude between 300 km, and 1500 km.

Highest Carrier:

The carrier with the highest carrier frequency transmitted/received in a specified frequency band.

Lowest Carrier:

The carrier with the lowest carrier frequency transmitted/received in a specified frequency band.

maximum carrier output power:

mean power level measured per carrier at the indicated interface, during the transmitter ON period in a specified reference condition.

maximum carrier TRP output power:

mean power level measured per RIB during the transmitter ON period for a specific carrier in a specified reference condition and corresponding to the declared rated carrier TRP output power (Prated,c,TRP).

maximum total output power:

mean power level measured within the operating band at the indicated interface, during the transmitter ON period in a specified reference condition.

maximum total TRP output power:

mean power level measured per RIB during the transmitter ON period in a specified reference condition and corresponding to the declared rated total TRP output power (Prated,t,TRP).

measurement bandwidth:

RF bandwidth in which an emission level is specified.

minSENS:

the lowest declared EIS value for the OSDD's declared for OTA sensitivity requirement.

minSENS RoAoA:

The reference RoAoA associated with the OSDD with the lowest declared EIS.

minimum elevation angle:

Minimum angle under which the satellite can be seen by a UE.

necessary bandwidth:

The width of the frequency band which is just sufficient to ensure the transmission of information at the rate and with the quality required under specified conditions.

non-terrestrial networks:

Networks, or segments of networks, using an airborne or space-borne vehicle to embark a transmission equipment relay node or SAN.

operating band:

frequency range in which NR operates (paired or unpaired), that is defined with a specific set of technical requirements.

OTA coverage range:

a common range of directions within which TX OTA requirements that are neither specified in the OTA peak directions sets nor as TRP requirement are intended to be met.

OTA peak directions set:

set(s) of beam peak directions within which certain TX OTA requirements are intended to be met, where all OTA peak directions set(s) are subsets of the OTA coverage range.

OTA REFSENS RoAoA:

the RoAoA determined by the contour defined by the points at which the achieved EIS is 3dB higher than the achieved EIS in the reference direction assuming that for any AoA, the receiver gain is optimized for that AoA.

OTA sensitivity directions declaration:

set of manufacturer declarations comprising at least one set of declared minimum EIS values (with SAN channel bandwidth), and related directions over which the EIS applies.

polarization match:

condition that exists when a plane wave, incident upon an antenna from a given direction, has a polarization that is the same as the receiving polarization of the antenna in that direction.

radiated interface boundary:

operating band specific radiated requirements reference where the radiated requirements apply.

Radio Bandwidth:

frequency difference between the upper edge of the highest used carrier and the lower edge of the lowest used carrier.

rated beam EIRP:

For a declared beam and beam direction pair, the rated beam EIRP level is the maximum power that the SAN is declared to radiate at the associated beam peak direction during the transmitter ON period.

rated carrier output power:

mean power level associated with a particular carrier the manufacturer has declared to be available at the indicated interface, during the transmitter ON period in a specified reference condition.

rated carrier TRP output power:

mean power level declared by the manufacturer per carrier, for SAN operating in single carrier, multi-carrier, or carrier aggregation configurations that the manufacturer has declared to be available at the RIB during the transmitter ON period.

rated total output power:

mean power level associated with a particular operating band the manufacturer has declared to be available at the indicated interface, during the transmitter ON period in a specified reference condition.

rated total TRP output power:

mean power level declared by the manufacturer, that the manufacturer has declared to be available at the RIB during the transmitter ON period.

reference beam direction pair:

declared beam direction pair, including reference beam centre direction and reference beam peak direction where the reference beam peak direction is the direction for the intended maximum EIRP within the OTA peak directions set.

receiver target:

AoA in which reception is performed by SAN types 1-H or SAN type 1-O.

receiver target redirection range:

union of all the sensitivity RoAoA achievable through redirecting the receiver target related to particular OSDD.

receiver target reference direction:

direction inside the OTA sensitivity directions declaration declared by the manufacturer for conformance testing. For an OSDD without receiver target redirection range, this is a direction inside the sensitivity RoAoA.

reference RoAoA:

the sensitivity RoAoA associated with the receiver target reference direction for each OSDD.

requirement set:

one of the NR SAN requirement's set as defined for SAN type 1-H, SAN type 1-O.

SAN channel bandwidth:

RF bandwidth supporting a single NR RF carrier with the transmission bandwidth configured in the uplink or downlink.

SAN RF Bandwidth:

RF bandwidth in which a SAN transmits and/or receives single or multiple carrier(s) within a supported operating band.

SAN RF Bandwidth edge:

frequency of one of the edges of the SAN RF Bandwidth.

SAN transmission bandwidth configuration:

set of resource blocks located within the SAN channel bandwidth which may be used for transmitting or receiving by the SAN.

SAN type 1-H:

Satellite Access Node operating at FR1-NTN with a requirement set consisting of conducted requirements defined at individual TAB connectors and OTA requirements defined at RIB.

SAN type 1-O:

Satellite Access Node operating at FR1-NTN with a requirement set consisting only of OTA requirements defined at the RIB.

SAN total assigned bandwidth:

Bandwidth of the total assigned band (frequencies range) as defined in SM.1541-6 [9].

SAN transponder bandwidth:

Total bandwidth of the carrier(s) in operation by one SAN transponder.

SAN transponder:

part of the SAN permitting to receive, channelize and transmit signals within an allocated bandwidth.

satellite:

A space-borne vehicle embarking a transparent payload, or a regenerative payload telecommunication transmitter, placed into Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) or Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO).

Satellite Access Node:

node providing NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards NTN satellite capable UE, and connected via the NG interface to the 5GC. It encompasses a transparent payload on board a NTN platform, with satellite-gateway and gNB functions.

satellite-gateway:

An earth station or gateway is located at the surface of Earth, and providing sufficient RF power and RF sensitivity for accessing to the satellite.

sensitivity RoAoA:

RoAoA within the OTA sensitivity directions declaration, within which the declared EIS(s) of an OSDD is intended to be achieved at any instance of time for a specific SAN direction setting.

TAB connector:

transceiver array boundary connector.

total radiated power:

is the total power radiated by the antenna.

transceiver array boundary:

conducted interface between the transceiver unit array and the composite antenna.

transmission bandwidth:

RF Bandwidth of an instantaneous transmission from a satellite UE or SAN, measured in resource block units.

3.2 Symbols p. 21

For the purposes of the present document, the following symbols apply:

Percentage of the mean transmitted power emitted outside the occupied bandwidth on the assigned channel.

BeW_θ,REFSENS

Beamwidth equivalent to the OTA REFSENS RoAoA in the θ-axis in degrees. Applicable for FR1-NTN only.

BeW_φ,REFSENS

Beamwidth equivalent to the OTA REFSENS RoAoA in the φ-axis in degrees. Applicable for FR1-NTN only.

BW_Channel

SAN channel bandwidth.

BW_Config

Transmission bandwidth configuration, where BW_Config = N_RB x SCS x 12.

BW_GB,low

The minimum guard band defined in clause 5.3.3 for lowest assigned component carrier.

BW_GB,high

The minimum guard band defined in clause 5.3.3 for highest assigned component carrier.

BW_SAN

The SAN transponder bandwidth

Δf

Separation between the channel edge frequency and the nominal -3 dB point of the measuring filter closest to the carrier frequency.

ΔF_Global

Global frequency raster granularity.

Δf_max

f_offset_max minus half of the bandwidth of the measuring filter.

Δf_OOB

Maximum offset of the out-of-band boundary from the uplink operating band edge.

Δ_minSENS

Difference between conducted reference sensitivity and minSENS.

Δ_OTAREFSENS

Difference between conducted reference sensitivity and OTA REFSENS.

ΔF_Raster

Channel raster granularity.

EIS_minSENS

The EIS declared for the minSENS RoAoA.

EIS_REFSENS

OTA REFSENS EIS value.

F_C

RF reference frequency on the channel raster, given in Table 5.4.2.2-1.

F_C,low

The Fc of the lowest carrier, expressed in MHz.

F_C,high

The Fc of the highest carrier, expressed in MHz.

F_DL,low

The lowest frequency of the downlink operating band.

F_DL,high

The highest frequency of the downlink operating band.

F_filter

Filter centre frequency.

F_offset,high

Frequency offset from FC,high to the upper SAN RF Bandwidth edge.

F_offset,low

Frequency offset from FC,low to the lower SAN RF Bandwidth edge.

f_offset

Separation between the channel edge frequency and the centre of the measuring.

f_offset_max

The offset to the frequency Δf_OBUE outside the downlink operating band.

F_REF

RF reference frequency.

F_REF-Offs

Offset used for calculating FREF.

F_UL,low

The lowest frequency of the uplink operating band.

F_UL,high

The highest frequency of the uplink operating band.

n_PRB

Physical resource block number.

N_RB

Transmission bandwidth configuration, expressed in resource blocks.

N_REF

NR Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (NR-ARFCN).

N_REF-Offs

Offset used for calculating NREF scaling per cell, as calculated in clause 6.1.

P_EIRP,N

EIRP level for channel N.

P_max,c,TABC

The maximum carrier output power per TAB connector.

P_max,c,TRP

Maximum carrier TRP output power measured at the RIB(s), and corresponding to the declared rated carrier TRP output power (P_rated,c,TRP).

P_max,c,EIRP

The maximum carrier EIRP when the SAN is configured at the maximum rated carrier output TRP (P_rated,c,TRP).

P_rated,c,sys

P_{rated,c,sys,GEO} for SAN GEO class or P_{rated,c,sys,LEO} for SAN LEO class.

P_{rated,c,sys,GEO}

The sum of P_rated,c,TABC for all TAB connectors for a single carrier of the SAN GEO class.

P_{rated,c,sys,LEO}

The sum of P_rated,c,TABC for all TAB connectors for a single carrier of the SAN LEO class.

P_rated,c,TABC

P_{rated,c,TABC,GEO} for SAN GEO class or Prated,c,TABC,LEO for SAN LEO class.

P_{rated,c,TABC,GEO}

The rated carrier output power per TAB connector of the SAN GEO class.

P_{rated,c,TABC,LEO}

The rated carrier output power per TAB connector of the SAN LEO class.

P_rated,c,TRP

Rated carrier TRP output power declared per RIB.

P_rated,t,TABC

The rated total output power declared at TAB connector.

P_rated,t,TRP

Rated total TRP output power declared per RIB.

P_rated,t,sys

The sum of Prated,t,TABC for all TAB connectors.

P_REFSENS

Conducted Reference Sensitivity power level.

SS_REF

SS block reference frequency position.

3.3 Abbreviations p. 22

For the purposes of the present document, the abbreviations given in TR 21.905 and the following apply. An abbreviation defined in the present document takes precedence over the definition of the same abbreviation, if any, in TR 21.905.

Antenna Array

ACLR

Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio

ACS

Adjacent Channel Selectivity

AoA

Angle of Arrival

AWGN

Additive White Gaussian Noise

Bandwidth

Carrier Aggregation

CP-OFDM

Cyclic Prefix-OFDM

Continuous Wave

DFT-s-OFDM

Discrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM

DM-RS

Demodulation Reference Signal

EIRP

Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power

EIS

Equivalent Isotropic Sensitivity

ESOMP

Earth Station On Mobile Platform

EVM

Error Vector Magnitude

Frequency Range

FRC

Fixed Reference Channel

GEO

Geostationary Earth Orbiting

GSCN

Global Synchronization Channel Number

ICS

In-Channel Selectivity

LEO

Low Earth Orbiting

MCS

Modulation and Coding Scheme

New Radio

NR-ARFCN

NR Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number

NTN

Non-Terrestrial Network

OOB

Out-of-band

OOBE

Out-of-band Emissions

OSDD

OTA Sensitivity Directions Declaration

OTA

Over-The-Air

PRB

Physical Resource Block

PT-RS

Phase Tracking Reference Signal

QAM

Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

Resource Block

RDN

Radio Distribution Network

Resource Element

REFSENS

Reference Sensitivity

Radio Frequency

RIB

Radiated Interface Boundary

RMS

Root Mean Square (value)

RoAoA

Range of Angles of Arrival

Receiver

SAN

Satellite Access Node

SCS

Sub-Carrier Spacing

SSB

Synchronization Signal Block

TAB

Transceiver Array Boundary

TRP

Total Radiated Power

Transmitter