Direct-to-Cell Technology: Enabling Satellite Connectivity for Legacy Devices

Direct-to-cell uses LEO satellites with regenerative LTE eNodeB payloads and quasi-earth-fixed multi-beam antennas to provide LTE to unmodified smartphones. Key challenges include Doppler shift and round-trip delay, addressed with network-side compensation though residual Doppler can remain at cell edges. Deployment depends on spectrum sharing and regulation, and DTC is positioned as a bridge to 5