Heterogeneous Non-Terrestrial Networks: Multi-Orbit Federation & Layered Topologies
NonTerrestrialNetworks defines cross-layer routing, dynamic spectrum coordination, and inter-orbital handoffs across mixed satellite fleets and stratospheric pseudo-satellites.
NonTerrestrialNetworks System Architecture
Core architectural topology and protocol interaction of nonterrestrialnetworks.com
Central System: Multi-Orbit Fabric - Layered Routing
Network Nodes
- LEO 600km
- MEO 8000km
- GEO 35786km
- HAPS 20km
- SDN Ground
Architectural Protocol Layers
- User & Terminal Access Layer (3GPP Rel-17/18 NR-NTN & IoT-NTN): Direct communication from smartphones and IoT sensors to satellites
- Space-Borne Radio Access (gNodeB / Transponder) (Regenerative Digital Payloads & Bent-Pipe Transparent Processing): In-orbit demodulation, digital beamforming, and spectrum channelization
- Inter-Satellite Mesh & Space Transport (Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISL) & 60 GHz V-Band Cross-Links): Autonomous multi-hop laser packet routing in vacuum at the speed of light
- Ground Teleport & Core Cloud Ingress (High-Throughput Q/V-Band Gateways & Optical Ground Stations): Terabit feeder link downlinks connected directly to cloud hyperscalers
Key Metrics: 100 Gbps+ (Optical Cross-Link Bandwidth) | <25 ms (LEO Propagation Latency) | ±50 kHz (Doppler Shift Compensation) | 99.999% (Constellation Transport SLA)
Unifying Layered Orbital Planes for Resilient Communication
Core Engineering Areas
Technical Articles