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Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (14): 333591.doi: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2026.33591

• Electronics and Electrical Engineering and Control • Previous Articles    

Empowering low-altitude economy with BDS/5G integrated spatiotemporal network: Technical architecture, application practice and future prospect

Chuang SHI1,2,3,4, Kunlei LI2,3, Jiale WANG1,3,4,5(), Ming XIA1,3,4, Shijun CHEN3,6, Xin JIANG3,7, Xiayu LI3,8, Yi WAN3,8, He ZHANG3,9, Yao JIN3,9   

  1. 1.School of Space and Earth Sciences,Beihang University,Beijing 100191,China
    2.School of Electronic Information Engineering,Beihang University,Beijing 100191,China
    3.Key Laboratory of Satellite Navigation and Mobile Communication Fusion Technology,Ministry of Industry and Information Technology,Beijing 100191,China
    4.State Key Laboratory of CNS/ATM,Beijing 100191,China
    5.Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics,The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,Hong Kong 999077,China
    6.ZTE Corporation,Shenzhen 518055,China
    7.China Mobile (Shanghai) Industrial Research Institute,Shanghai 201206,China
    8.Technology and Standards Research Institute,China Academy of Information and Communications Technology,Beijing 100083,China
    9.China Unicom Research Institute,Beijing 100176,China
  • Received:2026-03-19 Revised:2026-04-13 Accepted:2026-05-29 Online:2026-06-24 Published:2026-06-23
  • Contact: Jiale WANG E-mail:wang_jiale@buaa.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Beijing Natural Science Foundation(3264040);National Key Research and Development Program of China(2024YFB3910103);China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2025M784291)

Abstract:

As a new pillar of China’s economic growth, the booming low-altitude economy hinges on core enabling technologies including positioning, navigation and wireless communication. The Beidou-5G integrated spatiotemporal network, a novel infrastructure combining the Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) and 5G, delivers integrated communication and navigation services essential to low-altitude operations and fuels sound development of the low-altitude economy.Centered on this network and taking Beidou-5G integrated base stations as core nodes, this paper systematically investigates low-altitude UAV communication-navigation integration basics. It compares native BDS and 5G features, exposes drawbacks of standalone deployment, and presents the network’s overall framework. Key discussions cover integrated base station hardware, 5G control-plane broadcast technology and network layout schemes. Benchmarking rival base station designs proves 5G control-plane broadcast excels in low latency, massive concurrency and robust security.This paper assesses the network’s support for low-altitude scenarios from five perspectives: full-coverage high-precision time synchronization, centimeter-level positioning improvement, multi-aircraft collaborative sensing, low-altitude weather and interference surveillance, and upgraded communication performance. It further discusses integration and construction hurdles, then forecasts trends such as communication-sensing-navigation fusion, advanced Positioning, Navigation and Timing(PNT) services and innovative network operation modes.The final conclusion: large-scale rollout of Beidou-5G integrated base stations fixes key low-altitude bottlenecks-unreliable positioning, weak airspace oversight and safety risks-by establishing a converged digital spatiotemporal platform. This research offers valuable guidance for technical tuning and industrial rollout of the low-altitude economy.

Key words: integrated spatiotemporal network, BDS/5G integrated base station, low-altitude economy, integrated communication and navigation, 5G control plane, low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle

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