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Communications systems team has been working on LTE and 5G fully integrated products for many years

E-Space spent the last few months of 2022 evaluating technologies that could be seamlessly incorporated into its vertically integrated technology stack. And by the close of the year, E-Space had acquired CommAgility to advance these efforts. Having spent the first quarter of 2023 integrating the team and technology into its global portfolio, E-Space now has added communications system expertise in the 3GPP software, hardware and RF integration needed for cellular communications networks — particularly with the latest 5G standard.

This is particularly relevant for “private” cellular networks, which operate as a closed system. With satellites, for example, their high orbital speed means that communications systems must cope with the frequency changes known as Doppler shifts. It’s the same principle as when an ambulance’s siren changes pitch as it drives past or away from you. Another example is the large distances between a satellite and a base station on the ground, which introduces delays — or latency — that must be handled smoothly.

For these private networks, LTE has often been the wireless technology of choice due to its spectral efficiency, broadband capabilities, all-IP network, low power/low data rate capabilities and economies of scale. More recently, this is being replaced by 5G, especially where high data rates or low latency are key application requirements.

The communications system team has been working on innovative LTE and 5G fully integrated products for many years and has developed its own PHY/stack source code for commercial-grade 4G and 5G mobile networks, air-to-ground (ATG), satellite communications (satcom) and related applications. Today, E-Space’s proven software already drives over 50,000 terrestrial base stations and is used for ATG and commercial satellites. On the hardware side, the company is the largest stand-alone developer of embedded signal processing and Radio Frequency (RF) modules.

What does adding these capabilities mean for E-Space? Most importantly, the communications system team brings critical expertise in 4G, 5G, 5G-Advanced and 6G networks for ATG, NTN (non-terrestrial networks) and satcom. They can also customize solutions to meet requirements beyond the scope of the traditional mobile standards. Plus, the addition of this new team has added offices and team members in Germany, the UK and India.

Integrating custom 5G PHY/stack source code over dedicated hardware into E-Space’s vertically integrated capabilities will enable E-Space to innovate faster, and to accelerate its development of satellite payload and customer use cases. The addition of this new, high-energy mobile communications system team has allowed the company to move more rapidly into this fast-growing area of the satellite industry.

“This existing, proven and deep 5G PHY/stack code base along with their incredible team experience would have taken years to recreate,” said Greg Wyler, E-Space founder, chairman and CEO. “We will continue to invest heavily in this code base to enable 5G-Advanced and 6G technologies which will provide tremendous value to customers.”

E-Space

E-Space is a global space company focused on bridging Earth and space with the most sustainable low earth orbit (LEO) network that is expected to reach over one hundred thousand multi-application communication satellites to help businesses and governments securely and affordably access the power of space to solve problems on Earth.