홈으로
Community / News
NEWS

NEWS

Prof. Wonjae Shin’s Research Team at Korea University School of Electrical Engineering Conducts Joint Research with Princeton University, Develops 6G LEO Satellite Communication Technology Leveraging ‘Beam Squint’ and Publishes Findings in a World-Leading Journal

관리자 2026.05.19 Views 23


▲ Prof. Wonjae Shin of Korea University (left), Juha Park, M.S. student at Korea University (center), and Prof. H. Vincent Poor of Princeton University (right)

As global big tech companies, led by Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink, accelerate the commercialization of satellite direct-to-device communication services utilizing outer space, competition to dominate next-generation 6G mobile communications is intensifying worldwide. Amid this race, a Korean research team has become the first in the world to develop a breakthrough core technology that dramatically improves communication performance by leveraging, rather than correcting, a physical phenomenon previously regarded as a major limitation in low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications. Korea University (President Dong-One Kim) announced on the 19th that Professor Wonjae Shin’s research team from the School of Electrical Engineering, in collaboration with world-renowned scholar Professor H. Vincent Poor of Princeton University, has developed an innovative technology that overcomes hardware limitations in LEO satellite communications and improves transmission efficiency by up to 2.8 times. The study is being recognized as a major turning point that could help Korea secure technological leadership in the next-generation space internet infrastructure market. By transforming a signal distortion phenomenon long considered a nuisance in antenna engineering into a new communication resource, the research presents a striking example of unconventional innovation.

LEO satellite communications, which deploy thousands of small satellites at altitudes of 300 to 2,000 kilometers above the Earth to create ultra-high-speed, ultra-low-latency networks without coverage gaps, are considered a key infrastructure technology for realizing 6G. Such systems enable smartphones to connect directly to satellites even in remote mountainous regions, over oceans, or in the air where terrestrial base stations cannot be installed. However, commercialization has faced major challenges due to the harsh conditions of space. Satellite size and power supply are highly constrained, while the long distance between satellites and Earth causes severe signal loss and transmission delays. Conventional satellite communication systems have primarily relied on a “Beam Hopping” method, in which radio beams are sequentially allocated to different regions over time, much like stamping one area after another. As a result, the system struggles to support large numbers of simultaneous users. Furthermore, when satellites travel at speeds exceeding 7.5 kilometers per second, severe communication interruptions and latency occur during uplink transmission from ground terminals to satellites.

To overcome these challenges, Professor Shin’s research team focused on “Beam Squint,” a physical phenomenon in which radio waves at different frequencies slightly diverge and propagate in different directions. While conventional research regarded beam squint as a distortion that must be corrected or eliminated, the team instead utilized it as a type of guideline that precisely disperses signals in different directions according to frequency. Based on this idea, the researchers developed a new technology called “3D Rainbow Beamforming.” The concept allows radio waves emitted from an antenna to spread widely across the service area, much like sunlight dispersing into a rainbow through a prism, so that different frequency components can simultaneously reach the entire coverage region. Unlike conventional beam hopping, which sequentially serves specific regions, this approach enables uninterrupted, simultaneous, high-speed uplink communication across the entire service area.

Simulation results conducted in a realistic three-dimensional satellite orbital environment demonstrated that the new technology increased uplink data transmission rates by up to 2.8 times compared to conventional beam hopping systems. In effect, the technology creates a highly efficient communication “highway” capable of supporting thousands of simultaneous users using only limited satellite battery power and antenna resources.

Professor Wonjae Shin of Korea University stated, “This research is academically and industrially significant because it redefines beam squint, previously regarded solely as a technical defect and obstacle, as a new communication resource in the frequency domain. Our work demonstrates how software-based algorithms can overcome the limitations of constrained space hardware resources, and it may serve as a key catalyst in reshaping standards for Direct-to-Cell satellite communications, an area where global telecom companies are heavily investing.”

The achievement is also drawing attention as a successful outcome of long-term investment in future technologies by a major Korean corporation. The research was conducted with substantial support from the Samsung Science and Technology Foundation, which was established by Samsung Electronics to foster scientific and technological innovation. The global academic community has also responded positively to the Korean team’s unconventional approach. The research findings were officially published online in the internationally renowned journal IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications (Impact Factor: 10.7), one of the world’s leading journals in electrical engineering, electronics, and information communications, further validating the originality and innovation of the technology on the global stage.

Daily Smart News link: https://www.dailysmart.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=124288
File
Professors Choon Ki Ahn and Joongheon Kim of Korea University School of Electrical Engineering Receive Seoktap Research Award
2026.05.06
2026.05.06
No next post.
List