Low-Altitude Platform Stations for Dense Urban Connectivity

Abstract

This paper evaluates the downlink performance of 5G non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) realized via low-altitude platform station (LAPS)-mounted base stations, and compares it against conventional 5G terrestrial network (TN) in a realistic dense urban scenario. Using a 3GPP-compliant multi-cell hexagonal layout with 19 sites and 57 sectors, we model LAPS altitudes ranging from 100 to 1000 m and evaluate the average effective signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio and user throughput via system-level simulations. Results show that LAPS-based NTN deployments can significantly outperform terrestrial 5G in per-user throughput, provided the LAPS altitude is properly chosen to balance increased line-of-sight probability against inter-beam interference.