3GPP 5G Non-Terrestrial Network Study and Work Items

The Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) New Radio (NR) and IoT (Internet of Things) work items in Rel-17 introduce new 5G network topologies into the 3GPP specifications. These topologies are designed based on high-altitude platforms, Low Earth Orbit (LEO),  Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO). The Rel-17 NTN NR and IoT work items are frozen in June 2022. The 3GPP Rel-17 specification covers eMTC and NB-IoT-based satellite access to address massive IoT use cases in transport, agriculture, and logistics areas.