5G mobile networks will be soon fully available, handling all types of applications and providing services to massive number of users. In this complex and dynamic network ecosystem, an optimized end-to-end satellite support is key to manage requirements imposed by multiple vertical industries requiring full global connectivity. The European space sector acknowledged this as a key opportunity to expand its business towards the massive deployment of broadband services, what resulted in standardization efforts to adapt 5G to satellite needs. In this context, the aim of TRANTOR is to perform a significant step forward by paving the path for the 5G NTN evolution towards 6G. To do so, TRANTOR targets the in-orbit validation of a complete satellite value chain involving an automated management of satellite resources across multiple bands, satellites, and orbits, and a converged radio access network. Specifically, at the ground segment, TRANTOR targets the development of novel satellite network management solutions, fully integrated in the 3GPP management framework, which allow the significant scaling up of heterogeneous satellite traffic demands and capacities in a cost-effective, highly dynamic, band and orbit agnostic manner. AI governance will be a main pillar here enabling real time radio resource management across multiple satellite systems for efficiently and trustworthy addressing satellite client needs. In parallel, in the user segment, TRANTOR aims to radically increase the flexibility of access architecture by enabling pre-6G non-terrestrial multi-connectivity. It will be supported by the design of a multi-orbit and multi-band antenna for satellite UEs as well as by the development of gNB and UE 5G NTN equipment able to attend the multi-connectivity needs. Finally, TRANTOR aims to introduce security mechanisms to provide resilience to all types of cyber-threads, specially those emerging from the integrated management and multi-connectivity framework proposed.

Despite a number of software frameworks and reference architectures have made available for 5G enabling technologies, there is a clear gap to bridge towards 5G seamless application with a number of “vertical” sectors. Energy vertical represents undoubtedly one of the most significant “test cases” for 5G enabling technologies, due to the need of addressing a huge range of very diverse requirements to deal with across a variety of applications (stringent capacity for smart metering/AMI versus latency for supervisory control and fault localization).However, to effectively support energy utilities along their transition towards more decentralized renewable-oriented systems, several open issues still remain as to 5G networks management automation, security, resilience, scalability and portability. To face these issues, NRG-5 will research and develop a novel 5G PPP-compliant software framework specifically tailored to the energy domain, which combines i) trusted, scalable and lock-in free plug ‘n’ play support for a variety of constrained devices; ii) 5G devices’ abstractions to demonstrate mMTC, uMTC and xMBB communications coupled with partially distributed, trusted, end-to-end security and MCM to enable secure, scalable and energy efficient communications; iii) extended Mobile Edge Computing (xMEC) micro-clouds to reduce backhaul load, increase the overall network capacity and reduce delays, while facilitating the deployment of generic MTC-related NFVs and utility-centric VNFs; iv) an extended 5G ETSI-MANO predictive analytics framework to support automated, dynamic, elastic VNF reconfiguration. Extensive lab based validation will be complemented with real life demonstrations in two pilot sites (Italy, France) where proof-of-concept implementations for 5G-enabled electricity and gas distribution network optimized management will be offered, while offering support to 5G PPP phase III projects via demonstrating high replication potential towards other verticals.

Satellite communication networks in Europe have been in the market for more than 40 years with consolidated capacity to connect remote areas and represent an essential tool for state members. Therefore, it is evident that there is a need to allow the satellite operators to manage GOVSATCOM users efficiently with the overall available resources. This project aims to evolve the flagship European initiative “GOVSATCOM-HUB” to improve the flexibility of satellite network operators in allocating their resources to the needs of GOVSATCOM users. This goal will require the development of a new interface between the G-HUB and the 5G core network entities and microservice-based services interacting among them to provide network management tasks. Moreover, the 5G-HUB project will address the interoperability issues, allowing the GOVSATCOM user terminal to connect to different space assets, eventually including terrestrial systems. This project aims to validate the G-HUB functions in three trials with the initial development of a unified 5G NTN terminal in Ku and X bands. The trials will aim to verify the system performance in terms of resource allocation, quality of service provision, and capacity to switch communication (traffic steering) from the satellite network to the terrestrial network in a way that is unnoticeable to the user. These trials will be based on critical scenarios of emergency management where there is the need to coordinate teams in remote areas where satellite systems mainly provide connectivity. The interoperability of different satellite operators will also be investigated in this context.

5GMed brings together key stakeholders of the “Barcelona – Perpignan” cross-border section of the Mediterranean corridor including MNOs, road and rail operators and neutral hosts, complemented with innovative SMEs developing AI functions, and selected R&D centers with a proven track record in 5G research and innovation. Given the proximity of the E15 highway and the high-speed rail track in the considered cross-border section, the 5GMed consortium will demonstrate how a multi-stakeholder 5G infrastructure featuring a variety of technologies, including Rel.16 5GNR at 3.5 GHz, Rel.16 NR-V2X at 5.9 GHz, unlicensed mm-wave, network slicing and service orchestration, can be used to jointly deliver CCAM and FRMCS services. The considered CCAM use cases include Remote Driving in cross-border open roads to enable safe fallback operation in Level 4 autonomous driving, and the massive sensorization of road infrastructures enabling AI-powered traffic management algorithms in the presence of legacy vehicles. The considered FRMCS use cases include performance services where AI-functions running on the infrastructure side analyze camera feeds from high speed trains in real-time, and business services providing high-speed internet to passengers and in-train neutral hosting capabilities to MNOs. A Follow Me Infotainment use case will demonstrate live migration of media functions across cross-border scenarios both in automotive and railways environments. The technical activities of 5GMed are complemented by a carefully designed impact maximization strategy including: i) demonstrations in key industrial events, ii) concrete measures to influence standardization and policy makers, iii) cost-benefit analysis of the 5GMed deployment models, and iv) joint exploitation and business modes. 5GMed ambitions to become the lighthouse project for CCAM and FRMCS deployment in cross-border scenarios that can be replicated across Europe and trigger further investments through the CEF2 program.

5G evolution is expected to deliver services to a diverse gamma of verticals and to the overall society according to a anywhere, anytime, anydevice paradigm, hence calling for a polymorphic and flexible architecture. Such an ambitious deployment plan calls for the convergence of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, especially for providing connectivity to un(der)served areas, which is the motivation of 5G-STARDUST. 5G-STARDUST’s ambition is to is to deliver a fully integrated 5G-NTN autonomous system with novel self-adapting end-to-end connectivity model for enabling ubiquitous radio access, importantly leveraging on 1) new highly flexible multi-constellation (multi-orbit) architectures integrated with 5G terrestrial segments, 2) fully 5G-compliant regenerative SatCom capabilities, 3) unified radio interfaces 4) data driven AI-based techniques for multi-connectivity and radio resource management tasks 5) 3GPP and O-RAN architecture and concepts. To this aim 5G-STARDUST will design, develop, and demonstrate, up to TRL 5, a flexible satellite system integrated with the terrestrial infrastructure by means of self-organised network architecture. This allows for autonomous and intelligent multi-connectivity framework able to adapt to diverse vertical requirements. This innovative framework will also support the operation of multi-orbit constellations, with transparent and regenerative space nodes, to deliver 5G/6G NTN services. 5G-STARDUST positions itself in the worldwide 5G/6G ecosystem timeline development, both from the standardization and market perspective. From the global standardization perspective, 5G-STARDUST results are planned to support Non-Terrestrial Network inclusion in the 3GPP Release 19 on the basis of the results of Release 18 and to influence initiation of activities in 3GPP Release 20 and 21. From the deployment and market perspective, 5G-STARDUST lines up with the market introduction, i.e., deployment by MNOs, of the 3GPP release 16, 17 and 18.