Samsung NTN satellite communication for smartphones presented

After Apple, Qualcomm with Snapdragon Satellite and other manufacturers, Samsung has now also officially presented its satellite communication for smartphones, which was presented at the end of February 2023. The standardized 5G modem technology for non-terrestrial networks (NTN) is to be integrated into its own latest-generation Exynos modems.

Samsung unveils satellite communications for smartphones

Satellite communication for smartphones continues to be a hot topic. Now Samsung is also getting on board with a 5G NTN standard with its devices, enabling communication anywhere there is no network reception.

“Adhering to the latest 5G NTN standards defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP Release 17), Samsung’s NTN technology provides interoperability between and scalability of services offered by global telecom operators, along with mobile device and chip manufacturers,” the manufacturer said in the press release.

The communication takes place dabe with LEO satellites (Low Earth Orbit). The basis is Samsung’s own Exynos Modem 5300 modem platform, which it introduced at the end of February 2023.

It enables accurate communication with satellites and does so with low frequency deviations. Based on the technology, the new modems are capable of sending and receiving SMS and even support the exchange of high-resolution images and videos.

This extends the capabilities beyond those of other satellite Internet solutions. Furthermore, a standardized NB-IoT (NarrowBand-IoT) NTN technology is expected to be implemented in next-generation modem platforms, which could eliminate the need for a separate high-performance antenna chip in smartphones in the future.

Samsung hopes to be able to offer smartphone manufacturers more design flexibility in the future. However, the manufacturer did not reveal when this will happen. Concrete details about the 5G NTN modem are also missing.