NYCU × HHRIPioneering Resilient LEO Satellite Networks
The Industry Academia Innovation School (IAIS) at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) has collaborated with the Next-generation Communications Research Center since 2021. Professor Kai-Ten Feng, Professor and Chair of the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering at NYCU, explains that the university established the IAIS with government support to cultivate semiconductor industry talent and promote co-creation between academia and industry. In pursuit of suitable industry partners, IAIS found an ideal match in the Next-generation Communication Research Center.
Professor Feng points out the differences in research thinking between academia and industry. Academia focuses on forward-looking research, while the industry emphasizes technologies that can be quickly implemented. However, the Hon Hai Research Institute occupies a unique position between academia and traditional industry: it not only emphasizes product development but also invests in the exploration of emerging technologies and evaluates how they might be applied across future business units. As a result, HHRI and IAIS share a similar mindset, enabling highly fluid and effective communication.
For Professor Feng's team, collaboration with HHRI has inspired a transformation in their research approach. He explains that past academic research often focused on specific technical breakthroughs, such as communication hardware or software innovation, with less attention to the practical application benefits after technology integration. Therefore, he hopes NYCU will not only pursue technical leadership but also view technology implementation as an important research goal.
Opening New Frontiers in Future Communications
The current collaboration focuses on advanced multi-beam technology for low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications. Professor Feng explains that LEO satellites operate at an altitude of approximately 500 kilometers. Compared to geostationary satellites, they offer higher-speed data transmission, not only effectively complementing terrestrial base station coverage but also enabling seamless global connectivity. This provides critical infrastructure for high-speed communications in applications such as autonomous vehicles and smart cities, while also offering backup communication capabilities when ground-based systems are damaged during emergencies.
Professor Fang emphasizes the technology's significance for the future of communications. To date, it has yielded impressive results, including reducing the required number of satellites by at least 20% and lowering the hardware complexity of communication payloads by over 50%. Most current LEO satellites have limited transmission speeds and rely on wide-beam transmission. To improve transmission rates, the emerging trend is toward narrow, high-speed multi-beam transmission. The challenge lies in how to enable a single satellite to emit dozens or even hundreds of beams while providing precise service to users in different regions.
To address this, NYCU and the Next-generation Communications Research Center, through innovative hardware and software design, reduced frontend hardware complexity on one hand, while developing technology enabling a single antenna array to emit multiple beams on the other. This not only improves transmission efficiency but also mitigates the growing challenges of space debris and inter-satellite signal interference by reducing the total number of satellites needed.
Test Data to Support Academic Research
Apart from technological breakthroughs, the collaboration also provides more sustainable and efficient solutions for future satellite communications. Professor Feng reflects that academic research institutions typically struggle to obtain first-hand satellite measurement data and usually must rely on simulations. However, HHRI has successfully launched satellites and operates ground receiving stations, enabling it to provide actual measurement data that serves as an invaluable validation platform for academic research.
Moving forward, Professor Feng hopes NYCU and the Next-generation Communications Research Center can continue to deepen their cooperation to advance satellite interconnection, energy efficiency, and self-healing capabilities. In the area of satellite interconnection, current systems are mostly limited to single-vendor architecture. Future research will explore how to enable effective interconnection among satellites from different manufacturers, creating more open and extensive networks. As for energy consumption and self-healing capabilities, since satellites cannot be recovered after launch, reducing energy consumption and enhancing resilience are critical. The two sides will investigate ways to lower the energy consumption of satellite communication payloads while enabling satellites to self-adjust and self-repair, thereby improving satellite network stability.
“HHRI grants research teams great freedom, allowing both sides to jointly explore long-term and forward-looking research topics,” says Professor Feng. “This kind of collaboration not only transforms academic results into real-world applications but also helps build highly resilient communication networks for the future.”