Hughes JUPITER System Ground
Platform is 5G Ready for Mobile Network Operators
Today
June 14, 2022
Hughes Network Systems,
LLC announced the successful testing of 5G
satellite backhaul with the company's JUPITER™
System ground platform. Over a series of tests at
its Germantown, MD, gateway, Hughes engineers
connected 5G smartphones to the internet with
JUPITER System infrastructure – including a very
small aperture terminal (VSAT), gateway and high
throughput satellite. The tests validated the
compatibility of the Hughes technology with a 5G
open radio access network (O-RAN) system,
representative of any 3GPP standards-based,
standalone 5G deployment.
"These interoperability tests
confirm the suitability and ease of employing the
JUPITER System for 5G cellular backhaul," said Bhanu
Durvasula, vice president, international division at
Hughes. "We've built our ground platform to be
future-proof, so customers have a roadmap to
transition from LTE traffic today to 5G tomorrow,
with the ease of a software update."
Around the world, mobile
network operators currently employ JUPITER System
equipment to power thousands of backhaul sites for
2G, 3G and LTE traffic – now with a clear path to
5G.
"In our ever-connected world,
satellite plays an essential role in helping mobile
network operators serve customers everywhere, even
in places where terrestrial solutions are not
feasible," continued Durvasula. "Satellite provides
resiliency for terrestrial networks during peak
hours and emergencies and, as part of the 5G network
of networks, will also fill the gaps in terrestrial
systems."
The tests were conducted across
the deployable, standards-based 5G Open
RAN-compliant system from COMSovereign, a U.S.-based
developer of 4G LTE advanced and 5G communication
systems and solutions. The same system is in use by
the National Institute of Standards and Technology
("NIST") for evaluation and demonstration of 5G
systems.
"We look forward to potential
opportunities to work with Hughes and to assist the
entire satellite communications industry in
harnessing state-of-the-art 5G and beyond
technology," said Dr. Dustin McIntire, CTO of
COMSovereign. "Satellite and mobile operators can
deploy our 5G solution on their existing hardware
without disrupting their architectures, along with
excellent quality of experience and maximum
utilization of available bandwidth."
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