The time is coming when ordinary smartphones can become satellite phones

The satellite communication service, which enables comfortable communication even in areas where communication is not possible with existing communication networks by communicating directly with artificial satellites, is being prepared for widespread use on general smartphones. , IEEE Spectrum , a magazine published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a technical standardization organization.

Your Cellphone Will Be a Satphone - IEEE Spectrum
https://spectrum.ieee.org/satellite-cellphone

When satellite communication services appeared in the late 1990s, it was necessary to prepare large and expensive dedicated terminals to use them. However, at the time of article creation, such a huge dedicated terminal is no longer necessary.

In the second half of 2022, Huawei and Apple will release terminals compatible with satellite communication services . Huawei has not clarified when the satellite communication service will be available, but Apple has partnered with Globalstar , which is developing its own satellite communication service, to offer an ``emergency SOS service via artificial satellite'' from November 2022. doing. In December 2022, we expanded the service area.

Apple plans to expand the area of ``emergency SOS service via satellite'' in December 2022-GIGAZINE

In addition to Starlink , a satellite Internet service provided by SpaceX, companies such as AST SpaceMobile and Lynk Global are working to build satellite networks using low earth orbit (LEO) satellites .

Lynk Global, which plans to provide satellite 5G communication services for mobile phones by launching the world's first 5G network base station into space, plans to start commercial operation of its own service in 2023. We already have contracts with 23 telecom providers . AST SpaceMobile launched a satellite in September 2022 as a test for building satellite 5G communication services.

Furthermore, in August 2022, T-Mobile and SpaceX announced a plan to connect T-Mobile smartphones to the satellite communication service Starlink ' Coverage Above and Beyond ', and each company will use more convenient satellites. We are competing to establish communication services.

SpaceX and T-Mobile announce plans to enable direct communication between mobile phones and Starlink satellites - GIGAZINE

by Official SpaceX Photos

However, IEEE Spectrum points out that none of the satellite communications services are that sophisticated. Both Apple's and Huawei's satellite communication services initially connect to satellites in high orbit, which has the disadvantage that it may take more than 10 minutes to establish a connection. Satellite communication services using LEO such as Lynk Global are appealing that they can send text messages, but it is difficult to say that they are still compatible with the broadband data streaming required for voice and video calls.

Still, the future looks bright for the market, with several companies working to build communications satellite services. IEEE Spectrum cites two reasons for the development of satellite communication services: ``reduction in satellite manufacturing costs'' and ``reduction in size of satellites.'' Due to the cost reduction, the number of artificial satellites in operation has increased dramatically, and SpaceX, which has already deployed satellite Internet services, has not only launched 3,500 artificial satellites at the time of article creation, but also launched 7,500 more. I have obtained permission.

SpaceX led by Earon Mask gets permission from the authorities to launch 7,500 artificial satellites of the satellite Internet 'Starlink' - GIGAZINE

In addition, due to the cost reduction of artificial satellites, it is also possible to place artificial satellites in low orbit where the coverage area of the ground is small. The narrowness of the coverage area on the ground is covered by the number of artificial satellites.

Furthermore, communication chips mounted on artificial satellites required separate hardware to transmit and receive a wide range of different wavelengths, but with the development of digital signal processing technology, complex tasks can be processed on communication chips. It is possible to As a result, the satellite can pack the antenna function into a smaller space, and the miniaturization of the satellite is realized.

Even so, it seems that it is still difficult to make mobile phones communicate with satellites instead of base stations on the ground because there is a big obstacle of signal delay in communicating between satellites in orbit and terminals on the ground. Scott Wisniewski, chief strategy officer at AST SpaceMobile, said, 'Phones are built around time synchronization on the order of 5 to 10 milliseconds. There is no problem if it communicates with, but it will not work well when communicating with satellites in low earth orbit.' However, AST SpaceMobile is working with Nokia and Rakuten to develop a hardware solution to tell the core network how to wait longer for satellite signals.

Wisniewski said, ``In the past, network operators (MNOs) have asked, 'How is this possible?' Rather than asking what is the best market strategy for each market,' he said, revealing that the reaction in the market is also changing.