6G & Beyond-6G High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) Networks for Sustainable and Smart Cities and Societies

在这项研究计划中，将提出一种新的面向2030年代(6G)及以后(B6G)的无线网络体系结构，其中将在卫星和地面网络之间引入由高海拔平台站(HAPS)星座组成的新接入层。HAPS可以被认为是一个位于平流层(海拔约20公里)的基站，位于相对于地球的特定、名义上的固定点。对于传统的地面无线网络来说，无论它发展到什么程度，都变得非常困难，以应对人类、机器和机器人不断增加并日益雄心勃勃的连接期望，这主要是由于基站(BSS)的固定位置，网络永远不足以灵活地处理空间和时间上高度动态(且越来越不可预测)的用户需求。目前盲目使用越来越多的BSS来加密网络的暴力解决方案是不可持续的，因为它会导致非常高的部署成本(这会影响连接费用)，并消耗过多的能源和高碳足迹。在未来综合地面-航空-卫星网络体系结构的框架内，人们对非地面网络(NTN)的兴趣迅速增长。在本提案中，我们将重点介绍设想架构HAP中的一种特定类型的空中接入节点，特别是对于人口稠密的大都市(市区和郊区)区域。其目的是构建一个紧密集成的三维异质网络，将地面小规模和宏观基础的BSS与基于HAPS的第三层超级宏观BSS组合在一起。早先的HAPS讨论几乎完全是在偏远和农村复盖的背景下进行的，可以说，卫星网络可以更有效地为这些复盖提供服务。另一方面，本研究计划将研究的新的HAPS愿景主要是针对城市地区走向未来的可持续和智慧城市和社会。通过鸟瞰整个大都市地区，HAPS具有为集成通信、计算、传感、定位等提供前所未有的机会的潜力，符合新兴的6G集成万物范式。先进的天线技术，如可控波束形成和超大容量MIMO，将是实现HAPS的关键技术之一。利用人工智能(AI)控制和管理综合HAPS-地面网络也将是至关重要的。凭借其连接、边缘计算、缓存、传感和本地化功能，前瞻性HAPS网络具有在本世纪30年代和40年代具有颠覆性和变革性的潜力。

In this research program, a novel wireless network architecture for 2030s (6G) and beyond (B6G) will be presented with a new access layer composed of HAPS (high altitude platform station) constellations between the satellite and terrestrial networks. A HAPS can be thought as a base station at stratosphere (at an altitude of around 20 km) at a specified, nominal, fixed point relative to the Earth. It is becoming exceedingly difficult for the legacy terrestrial wireless network, no matter how much it evolves, to cope with the continuously increasing and steadily becoming more ambitious connectivity expectations of humans, machines, and robots, mainly due to the fact that with the fixed locations of base station (BSs), the network is never agile enough to handle the highly dynamic (and increasingly unpredictable) user demand in space and time. The current brute-force solution of densifying the network blindly with more and more BSs is not sustainable, as it results in very high deployment cost (which impacts the connectivity fees) and consumes an excessive amount of energy with a high carbon footprint. There is a rapidly growing interest in non-terrestrial networks (NTN) within the framework of a futuristic integrated terrestrial-aerial-satellite network architecture. In this proposal, we will focus on a particular type of aerial access node within the envisioned architecture, HAPS, in particular for densely populated metro (urban and suburban) areas. The aim is to construct a tightly-integrated 3-dimensional heterogeneous network with terrestrial small and macro base BSs compounded with a third tier of HAPS-based super macro BSs. The earlier HAPS discussions have been occurring almost exclusively in the context of remote and rural coverage which can arguably be served more efficiently by satellite networks. The novel HAPS vision which will be studied in this research program, on the other hand, is mainly for urban areas towards the sustainable and smart cities and societies of the future. With its bird's-eye view of an entire metropolitan area, a HAPS has the potential of presenting unprecedented opportunities for integrated communications, computing, sensing, positioning, and so on, in line with the emerging 6G paradigm of integrated everything. Advanced antenna technologies in the form of steerable beamforming and ultra massive MIMO will be among the key enabling HAPS technologies. Utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) for the control & management of the integrated HAPS-terrestrial network will also be crucial. With their connectivity, edge computing, caching, sensing, and localization capabilities, the forward-looking HAPS networks have the potential of being disruptive and transformative in 2030s and 2040s.