SPACE 2026 — IEEE SPace, Aerospace and defenCE Conference

Space-Air-Ground Integrated Networks for Autonomous Air Mobility Services

July 19, 2026 • 2 hours

Speakers

Kamesh Namuduri

University of North Texas

Sai Prakash Sakuru

National Institute of Warangal

Arun Sampath

Tata Consultancy Services

Abstract

The tutorial will begin by motivating Space–Air–Ground Integrated Networks (SAGINs) as a communication backbone for Autonomous Air Mobility (AAM) services, explaining how LEO satellites, UAV/HAPS platforms, and 5G/6G terrestrial networks are integrated into a unified multi-tier architecture for resilient command-and-control and payload connectivity. It will articulate the specific requirements of AAM scenarios such as drone deliveries, air ambulances, and air taxis across urban, rural, and tribal environments, and introduce the three core networking themes that structure the tutorial: OTFS-based modulation, advanced resource allocation, and trajectory-aware handover management.

The first part will cover the space layer, focusing on how LEO satellites act as a low-latency backbone within SAGIN for AAM. This portion will discuss waveform design and evaluation for Doppler-rich LEO channels, with particular emphasis on OTFS versus OFDM, and will present models and techniques for joint satellite–air–ground resource allocation under QoS and power constraints. It will also outline how these physical- and link-layer designs can meet the reliability and latency requirements of safety-critical AAM communications.

The second part will address the air layer, concentrating on heterogeneous autonomous aerial platforms ranging from low-altitude drones to higher-altitude air taxis operating in AAM corridors. This segment will cover 3D channel characterization for mid-band 5G and satellite links at different heights and velocities, and then move to trajectory-aware handover management, including both horizontal and vertical handovers between space and ground anchors. The tutorial will show how mobility management algorithms can incorporate flight paths, network topology, and traffic demands to minimize outages and ping-pong events while honoring strict latency and reliability guarantees.

The final part will focus on the ground layer and its role in supporting AAM within SAGIN. It will describe how terrestrial 5G/6G infrastructure is extended to high-altitude, high-mobility users and how it coordinates with the LEO space segment for coverage, redundancy, and load balancing. This section will present resource allocation schemes that jointly determine subcarrier assignment and power allocation in OFDMA/OTFS-based systems to meet heterogeneous QoS targets for both aerial and ground users and will discuss how these mechanisms tie into emerging standards for integrated space–air–ground networks.