LEO 5G及以后卫星星座:它们如何重塑垂直域? (LEO Satellite Constellations for 5G and Beyond: How Will They Reshape Vertical Domains?)

The rapid development of communication technologies in the past decades has provided immense vertical opportunities for individuals and enterprises. However, conventional terrestrial cellular networks have unfortunately neglected the huge geographical digital divide, since high bandwidth wireless coverage is concentrated to urban areas. To meet the goal of ``connecting the unconnected'', integrating low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites with the terrestrial cellular networks has been widely considered as a promising solution. In this article, we first introduce the development roadmap of LEO satellite constellations (SatCons), including early attempts in LEO satellites with the emerging LEO constellations. Further, we discuss the unique opportunities of employing LEO SatCons for the delivery of integrating 5G networks. Specifically, we present their key performance indicators, which offer important guidelines for the design of associated enabling techniques, and then discuss the potential impact of integrating LEO SatCons with typical 5G use cases, where we engrave our vision of various vertical domains reshaped by LEO SatCons. Technical challenges are finally provided to specify future research directions.

翻译：在过去几十年中,通信技术的迅速发展为个人和企业提供了巨大的纵向机会,但不幸的是,传统的地面蜂窝网络忽视了巨大的地理数字鸿沟,因为高带宽无线覆盖集中在城市地区;为了实现“连接不连接的”目标,将低地轨道卫星与地面蜂窝网络相结合被广泛视为一个有希望的解决办法;在本篇文章中,我们首先介绍了低地轨道卫星星座(卫星群)的开发路线图,包括利用新兴的低地轨道卫星群对低地轨道卫星群进行早期尝试;此外,我们讨论了利用低地轨道卫星群提供5G网络一体化的独特机会;具体地说,我们介绍了这些关键业绩指标,为设计相关赋能技术提供了重要的指导方针,然后讨论了将低地轨道卫星群与典型的5G使用案例相结合的潜在影响,我们在此过程中,我们仔细研拟了我们对由低地轨道卫星群改造的各种纵向领域的看法;最后,我们提出了技术挑战,以确定未来的研究方向。