mmSubArray: Enabling Joint Satellite and 5G Networks With Full-Spectrum Utilization in Millimeter-Wave Bands

Traditionally, satellite broadband services worldwide have relied on licensed spectrum, primarily utilizing the uplink 28 GHz band and downlink 18 GHz band. Concurrently, there has been a surge in millimeter-wave 5G deployment, particularly in the United States, Japan, and South Korea, leveraging frequencies around 28 GHz to enhance terrestrial connectivity and deliver faster data rates with lower latency. However, due to the significant spectrum overlap between 27.5 to 30.0 GHz, ground station uplink transmissions result in co-channel interference for 5G links, severely degrading 5G link efficiency or causing complete link failure. Current approaches, such as distance, frequency, and direction separation, often lead to spectrum inefficiencies and coverage gaps. In this paper, we propose a novel solution to connect both satellite and 5G networks by leveraging spectrum overlap for communication and data backhaul. We introduce mmSubArray: Array of Sub-band Phased Arrays, a system that utilizes commercial off-the-shelf phased arrays to enable interference-free and full-spectrum usage for both networks. Through extensive simulations and real-world measurements, we demonstrate the interference challenges in enabling the coexistence of satellite and terrestrial networks and evaluate the efficacy of our approach. Additionally, we have open-sourced our Python simulator and hardware datasets to further validate our approach and provide valuable tools for future research and development.