In a 6G-oriented scenario, where space network entities cooperate with terrestrial networks, the main goals of ITA NTN are:

  • Design of a 3D multi-layered communication architecture for integrated terrestrial/non-terrestrial networks;
  • Evaluation of the link budget of free-space, optical, and radiofrequency communication links;
  • Design of advanced transmission techniques;
  • Innovative methodologies for the orchestration of communication and computational resources;
  • Performance evaluation in some reference use cases through computer simulations and PoCs.

ITA NTN is parte of Spoke 2 – Integration of Networks and Services 

Project PI: Luigi Alfredo Grieco

From the scientific perspective, ITA-NTN project carried out the following main activities:
  • analysis of the state of the art and preliminary definition of integrated terrestrial and non-terrestrial network architectures with use cases and requirements;
  • design of free-space optical links for the link budget analysis;
  • research activities related to satellite communications optimization and preliminary investigation of orchestration strategies;
  • study of HW and SW platforms for emulation and simulation tests to realize Spoke 2 Laboratory.
Regarding the dissemination initiatives carried out by ITA-NTN, it is worth mentioning the successful organization of the ITA NTN workshop, co-located with the European Wireless 2023 conference, the seminar organization “Regulatory aspects of drones in telecommunications scenarios”, and the ITA NTN involvement in the organization of AIML ITA-NTN Workshop, co-located with the 2024 IEEE MeditCom conference. Moreover, for standardization activities, the ITA NTN staff started to dialogue with the main bodies, especially ETSI.
The ITA NTN project has made significant strides in integrating Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial networks, leading to robust scientific and technological advancements and by sharing the definition of architectures, use cases, and KPIs with the industrial partners of the project. The key results achieved in the first half of the project and their societal and economic impacts are detailed below.

Innovation and Scientific Results

Seamless Connectivity and Network Resilience: Development of architectures and orchestration techniques that ensure seamless connectivity and enhanced network resilience through the integration of Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial networks.
  • Societal Impact: This advancement ensures reliable communication services during natural disasters and emergencies, providing continuous connectivity in remote and underserved areas.
  • Economic Impact: Improved network resilience reduces downtime and associated costs, enhancing the efficiency and reliability of communication services for businesses and consumers.

Higher Throughput and Optimization Techniques: Introduction of new optimization techniques based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) that significantly increase network throughput.
  • Societal Impact: Enhanced network performance supports high-bandwidth applications such as telemedicine, remote education, and smart city initiatives, improving the quality of life.
  • Economic Impact: Higher throughput translates to better service offerings and increased revenue for network providers, fostering economic growth and technological innovation.

New Satellite Communication Standards: Contribution to the development of new satellite communication standards that facilitate integrated access and backhauling advancements.
  • Societal Impact: Standardization ensures interoperability and compatibility across different systems and devices, making advanced communication technologies accessible to a broader population.
  • Economic Impact: Adoption of new standards promotes market growth by enabling the development of new products and services, stimulating competition, innovation, and opportunities.

Innovative Access Techniques: Creation of innovative access techniques that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of network access, particularly in challenging environments.
  • Societal Impact: These techniques help bridge the digital divide by providing reliable and affordable internet access to rural and remote communities and enhance connectivity in underserved areas.
  • Economic Impact: Increased connectivity in underserved areas boosts local economies, enabling new business opportunities and enhancing access to global markets.

Alignment with the European Digital Strategy for innovation: The ITA NTN project supports the European Digital Strategy, aiming to make Europe the most connected continent by 2030.
  • Societal Impact: This alignment promotes digital inclusion and equity, ensuring that all citizens have access to high-quality digital services.
  • Economic Impact: Achieving the goals of the European Digital Strategy enhances Europe’s global competitiveness, fostering economic growth and job creation across the continent.

By pursuing these scientific and industrial goals, ITA NTN not only contributes to technological excellence but also delivers tangible benefits for societal well-being and economic prosperity.

Papers:
M. P. Ninos, V. Spirito, G. Cossu and E. Ciaramella, "Outage Performance of Uplink Pre-Amplified FSO Links Over Turbulence, Beam Wander, and Pointing Errors," in IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 27, no. 12, pp. 3275-3279, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.1109/LCOMM.2023.3331510. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10313289  

G. Bacci, R. De Gaudenzi, M. Luise, E. Sebastiani, P. Angeletti and J. R. González, "Optimizing a Formation-of-Arrays (FoA) Satellite Antenna System for Very High-Throughput Communications," in IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 3348-3367, June 2024, doi: 10.1109/TAES.2024.3363674. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10428023   

A. Rago, A. Guidotti, G. Piro, E. Cianca, A. Vanelli-Coralli, S. Morosi, G. Virone, F. Brasca, M. Troscia, M. Settembre, L. Pierucci, F. Matera, M. De Sanctis, S. Pizzi, and L. A. Grieco, “Multi-layer NTN Architectures toward 6G: the ITA-NTN view,” Computer Networks (Elsevier), 254:110725, 2024. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2024.110725 
Innovation in terms of the participation of industrial partners in the ITA NTN project significantly accelerates and facilitates the achievement of the project goals. By leveraging their respective strengths, WindTre and Telespazio can drive advancements in connectivity, support critical applications, and contribute to the development of integrated and innovative network solutions.

WindTre is the first mobile operator in Italy and among the main fixed network operators (voice/data). Specifically, WindTre has a long-standing experience in fixed and mobile networks and wireless technologies and, with the major telco network manufacturers and ICT manufacturers, designed the 5G telco operators’ architecture and tested new services as in the 5G experimentation project. According to the future telco market, WindTre is supporting the next integrated Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial architecture design and the requirements definition, by integrating satellite communication with terrestrial networks to enhance coverage and reliability and develop hybrid network solutions that seamlessly switch between terrestrial and satellite networks to ensure continuous connectivity. It is also participating in the dissemination, standardization, and exploitation of the project’s results. 

Telespazio is a Leonardo and Thales company and one of the world’s biggest suppliers of satellite solutions and services. To this end, its participation to the ITA NTN project is essential to accelerate the deployment and management of satellite infrastructure or ground segment operations, by ensuring a full integration between Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial networks. In fact, Telespazio works to bring Space closer to Earth, benefitting citizens, institutions, and companies in a variety of sectors ranging from design and development of space systems to management of launch services and in-orbit satellite control, from Earth observation to integrated satellite communication, navigation, and localization services, and through to scientific programmes.

Thanks to the cascade call, also PICOSATS S.r.l. joined the ITA NTN project. It is a spin-off from the University of Trieste committed to the research, development, and commercialization of cutting-edge telecommunications systems for the small satellite market and beyond. PICOSATS will take benefit from the expertise from previous project activities as it is also involved in a LEO 5G NTN demonstrative mission in K/Ka band. Specifically, the company will contribute on: K/Ka band regenerative transponders for LEO/GEO applications, with state-of-art phase noise and other key parameters suitable for a 5G NTN application; Ku transponders with flight heritage in a GEO satellite; patch antennas in K/Ka band and horn antennas in Ku, K, Ka band.
Program partners: Cascade calls partners:
RESTART structural project S11 – ITA NTN works on the definition of the future integrated Terrestrial (T)/Non-Terrestrial (NT) networks, conceiving new physical transmission and channel access techniques, designing novel protocols and management facilities based on AI and network softwarization. 

The project aims at improving coverage, user experience, system capacity, service reliability & availability, and environmental sustainability. 

Thanks to architectural analysis, optical link design, and Artificial Intelligence-based optimizations, it will be possible to ensure seamless connectivity and enhance network resilience, achieving new standards, improved access, and bridging the digital divide.
Publications 
  • Expected: at least 60 in 36 months
  • Accomplished (M24): 58
  • Readiness Level: 97%
Joint Publications 
  • Expected: around 18 in 36 months (i.e., 30% of the total Publications)
  • Accomplished (M24): 11
  • Readiness Level: 61%
Talks/Dissemination events 
  • Expected: around 20 in 36 months
  • Accomplished (M24): 24
  • Readiness Level: >100%
Demo/PoC
  • Expected: 3 demos
  • Accomplished: 0 (in the setup phase)
Most of the prototypes, demonstrations, and tests will be conducted at the Spoke 2 laboratory namely "Experimental lab of integrated terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks and services" (iTNT-NS), which now has some specific hardware devices and software tools.
  • Readiness Level: around 40%
    • Emulation of integrated Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial Networks
    • Internet of Drones scenarios
    • Advanced services offered via 5G and Beyond
Project Meetings
  • Expected: 1 telematic meeting for each WP in any Quarter, 2 ITA-NTN Progress Plenary meeting per year
  • Accomplished: around 35 (4 ITA-NTN Progress Plenary meetings, regular meetings for each WP)
  • Readiness Level: around 65%
Patents/Innovations
  • Expected: possibly 1 patent, also in collaboration with other projects, if there will be the possibility in the future
  • Accomplished: 0
  • Readiness Level: -
Open-source contributions
  • Expected: Open-source simulator and ns3 modules
  • Accomplished: around 40% of Expected
  • IoD_Sim
    • IoD_Sim is an open source and system-level simulator for the IoD (Internet of Drones). Developed on top of the well-known ns-3 (Network Simulator 3), it implements the key networking elements (drones, network access points, and Zone Service Provider), a standard-compliant communication stack based on the IEEE 802.11 technology, and scenarios with various mobility models.
  • Readiness Level: 40%
Standardization contributions
  • Expected: 3 participations at the Standardization Organization Meetings, Collaboration with the standardization organizations, Possible writing of white papers
  • Accomplished:
    • 1 participation at the Standardization Organization Meeting ITU, 1 participation at the ETSI Conference
    • ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23) (3 FUB persons took part)
    • ETSI Conference “Non-Terrestrial Networks, a Native Component of 6G", 4 April 2024, Sophia Antipolis, France (Vice PI presented the ITA NTN project)
  • Readiness Level: around 50%
MS1 - Final definition of project vision and WP activities (WP2)
  • Due date: M6
  • Means of verification: Release of D2.1, first full report
  • Accomplished
  • Readiness level: 100%
MS2 - Preliminary definition of use cases, requirements and ITA NTN architecture (WP2)
  • Due date: M10
  • Means of verification: Release of D2.2
  • Accomplished
  • Readiness level: 100%
MS3 - Preliminary technical discussion on advanced transmission techniques (WP3)
  • Due date: M12
  • Means of verification: Release of D3.1
  • Accomplished
  • Readiness level: 100%
MS4 - Preliminary technical discussion on T/NT network management (WP4)
  • Due date: M15
  • Means of verification: Release of D4.1
  • Accomplished
  • Readiness level: 100%
MS5 - Definition of Testing Guidelines and KPIs (WP5) 
  • Due date: M18
  • Means of verification: Release of D5.1
  • Accomplished
  • Readiness level: 100%
MS6 - Final definition of use cases, requirements and ITA NTN architecture (WP2)
  • Due date: M27
  • Means of verification: Release of D2.3
  • Expected
  • Readiness level: 60%
MS7 - Final definition of technical solutions and methodologies (WP3, WP4) 
  • Due date: M34
  • Means of verification: Release of D3.3, D4.3
  • Expected
  • Readiness level: 47%
MS8 - Demonstrations, Assessment Results, and Impact creation (WP5, WP6) 
  • Due date: M36
  • Means of verification: Release of D5.3, D6.2
  • Expected
  • Readiness level: 45%

Collaboration proposals: 

ITA-NTN fosters possible collaborations across a spectrum of cutting-edge technological areas, reflecting the diverse and complementary nature of ITA NTN’s interactions with these projects.

This includes:

  • mm-wave systems
  • THz and sub-THz communications
  • AI-driven strategies
  • 3D architecture
  • V2X and drone solutions
  • higher-frequency data connections
  • 6G mobile communication
  • satellite networks
  • network digital twins
  • integrated access
  • backhaul
  • intelligent services.

For any proposal of collaboration within the project please contact  simone.morosi at unifi.it

ITA NTN News: