NTN Stack: Comprehensive 3GPP Release 17/18 Protocol Stack for Non-Terrestrial Radio
NTNStack is the engineering reference for building, benchmarking, and certifying compliant 3GPP NTN protocol stacks, providing modular C++ and Rust implementations across user terminals and orbital gNodeBs.
NTNStack System Architecture
Core architectural topology and protocol interaction of ntnstack.com
Central System: NTN Radio Stack - 3GPP Rel-17/18
Network Nodes
- NTN-PHY
- NTN-MAC RACH
- RLC 18-Bit SN
- PDCP Huge Buff
- RRC Orbit State
Architectural Protocol Layers
- User & Terminal Access Layer (3GPP Rel-17/18 NR-NTN & IoT-NTN): Direct communication from smartphones and IoT sensors to satellites
- Space-Borne Radio Access (gNodeB / Transponder) (Regenerative Digital Payloads & Bent-Pipe Transparent Processing): In-orbit demodulation, digital beamforming, and spectrum channelization
- Inter-Satellite Mesh & Space Transport (Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISL) & 60 GHz V-Band Cross-Links): Autonomous multi-hop laser packet routing in vacuum at the speed of light
- Ground Teleport & Core Cloud Ingress (High-Throughput Q/V-Band Gateways & Optical Ground Stations): Terabit feeder link downlinks connected directly to cloud hyperscalers
Key Metrics: 100 Gbps+ (Optical Cross-Link Bandwidth) | <25 ms (LEO Propagation Latency) | ±50 kHz (Doppler Shift Compensation) | 99.999% (Constellation Transport SLA)
Modular Multi-Layer Radio Software for Space
Core Engineering Areas
Technical Articles
Related Cluster Architecture Specifications
- NonTerrestrialNetwork — 3GPP 5G/6G NTN Satellite Architecture, Direct-to-Cell & Non-Terrestrial Infrastructure
- NonTerrestrialNetworks — Multi-Orbit Heterogeneous Constellation Interworking (LEO / MEO / GEO / HAPS)
- AirspaceSync — Doppler Compensation, Relativistic Timing & Airspace-Space Synchronization
- FSOComm — Free Space Optics, High-Bandwidth Space Laser Communications & Atmospheric Mitigation