Timing advance for satellite-based communications using a satellite with enhanced processing capabilities

A system for satellite-based communications, the system comprising:

• a device, comprising:
• a satellite antenna for communicating directly with a communication satellite that relays communications to a satellite gateway system;
• and
• one or more processors in communication with the satellite antenna, the one or more processors configured to:
• determine a location of the device;
• calculate an estimated distance between the device and the communication satellite using the determined location of the device and an estimated satellite location, wherein:
• the communication satellite is functioning as a distributed unit (DU) that performs one or more gNodeB functions on data received from the device, the one or more gNodeB functions comprising medium access control (MAC) layer functionality, radio link control (RLC) layer functionality, or both;
• and
• the satellite gateway system is functioning as a centralized unit (CU) that communicates with the distributed unit and performs one or more additional gNodeB functions on data received from the device via the communication satellite, the one or more additional gNodeB functions comprising packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer functionality, service data adaption protocol (SDAP) layer functionality, or both;
• calculate an estimated timing offset using the calculated estimated distance;
• cause an uplink data frame to be transmitted to the communication satellite such that a timing of transmission of the uplink data frame is based on the calculated estimated timing offset;
• receive a timing advance (TA) command that comprises a TA value that indicates an amount of timing error due to the estimated distance being estimated;
• adjust the calculated estimated timing advance based on the received TA value to create a corrected TA value;
• and
• cause data to be transmitted to the communication satellite such that a timing of transmission of the data is based on the corrected TA value.

A non-transitory processor-readable medium for a device, comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to:

• calculate an estimated distance between the device and a communication satellite using a location of the device and an estimated satellite location, wherein:
• the communication satellite is functioning as a distributed unit (DU) that performs one or more gNodeB functions on data received from the device, the one or more gNodeB functions comprising medium access control (MAC) layer functionality, radio link control (RLC) layer functionality, or both;
• and
• a satellite gateway system is functioning as a centralized unit (CU) that communicates with the distributed unit and performs one or more additional gNodeB functions on data received from the device via the communication satellite, the one or more additional gNodeB functions comprising packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer functionality, service data adaption protocol (SDAP) layer functionality, or both;
• calculate an estimated timing offset using the calculated estimated distance;
• cause an uplink data frame to be transmitted to the communication satellite such that a timing of transmission of the uplink data frame is based on the calculated estimated timing offset;
• receive a timing advance (TA) command that comprises a TA value that indicates an amount of timing error due to the estimated distance being estimated;
• adjust the calculated estimated timing advance based on the received TA value to create a corrected TA value;
• and
• cause data to be transmitted to the communication satellite such that a timing of transmission of the data is based on the corrected TA value.