Rethinking Satellite Networks: When Navigation Meets Communications
For satellite system designers, it provides a conceptual framework for INAC systems, but the contribution is incremental as it primarily reviews and synthesizes existing ideas without presenting new results.
This paper explores integrated navigation and communication (INAC) systems for LEO and MEO satellites, showing that they improve functionality through efficient signal multiplexing and multiple access, and introduces 6G-enabled frontiers that cannot be achieved by extending existing techniques.
This paper investigates satellite navigation and communication systems in both low-Earth-orbit (LEO) and medium-Earth-orbit (MEO) satellites, which systematically outlines the fundamental principles of satellite navigation systems (SNS), satellite communication systems (SCS), and integrated navigation and communication (INAC) systems. By exploring the enhanced capabilities of satellite systems, the article emphasizes how INAC systems improve overall functionality by enabling efficient signal multiplexing and multiple access, positioning multi-functional satellites as promising alternatives to traditional architectures. Moreover, it introduces emerging frontiers for LEO-based SNS and MEO-based SCS through the integration of advanced sixth-generation (6G) wireless technologies, which cannot be realized through mere extensions of existing communication or navigation techniques. Motivated by these insights, the article further discusses various conceptual transitions required to unlock the full potential of INAC systems, with particular focus on channel capacity, positioning accuracy, and artificial intelligence-enabled waveform design.