The recent explosion in the number of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites launched to space allows to easily anticipate that the number of satellites in orbit will sustain a dramatic increase. As satellite components are integrated and unified with terrestrial cellular networks, they will play a key role in providing coverage and resilience for future cellular networks. We provide a brief overview of typical scenarios and network architectures for cellular-based LEO satellite communication systems. In addition, we outline 3GPP standardization trends in non-terrestrial networks and satellite access based on 5G/5G Advanced systems and analyze future evolution prospects of cellular-based satellite communication systems.

Positioning, navigation, and timing information has become a key element in the national core infrastructure and for emerging technologies, such as autonomous driving, lunar exploration, financial systems, and drones. Therefore, the provision of that information by navigation satellite systems is becoming increasingly important. Existing systems such as GPS (Global Positioning System), GLONASS (GLObal NAvigation Satellite System), and BDS (BeiDou Navigation Satellite System) also provide augmentation, safety-of-life, search & rescue and short message communication and authentication services to increase their competitiveness. Those services and the signals generated for their provision have their own purpose and requirements. This article presents an overview of existing or planned satellite navigation satellite system services and signals, aiming to help understand their current status.

Energy efficiency is an important factor toward sustainable future mobile network systems. As the size of the 5G mobile network system increases, the consumption and costs of energy increase. Accordingly, energy-saving optimization has become a major process in network systems, and various related technologies for energy saving are being developed. We provide a brief review of the technical trends in energy saving in 3GPP 5G & 5G Advanced systems and O-RAN systems. We focus on power models and energy-saving technologies in various resource domains of 3GPP 5G & 5G Advanced systems and energy-saving use cases of O-RAN systems.

Segment routing (SR) is a source-based routing architecture in which a node steers packets adhering to service and topological requirements. Using programmable segments, SR enables end-to-end service connectivity to satisfy the network constraints of various services. SR can be implemented with both MPLS and IPv6 dataplanes. This survey presents the overview of SR for IPv6 dataplane (SRv6), network programming technologies based on SRv6, and the SR deployment status.

Extended reality (XR) provides an immersive virtual experience by using various media. The XR virtual environment enables interactions between the real and virtual worlds in virtual, augmented, and mixed reality scenarios. XR is being used in various areas such as industry, medical care, road transportation, gaming, education, and culture. XR and multimedia enhancement are important business scenarios for fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks. As users' demand for emerging media services gradually increases, enhancements in networks should be implemented for delivering multimedia services such as XR. We describe related standardization trends and requirements of the XR service in 5G mobile networks. We also discuss technological enhancements for 5G mobile networks as specified by the 3GPP SA2 working group.

The combination between metaverse and non-fungible token (NFT), which opens up new opportunities for the media industry, raised expectations for a new economic system and business model. Of course, last year, various institutions and researchers continuously introduce representative metaverse services and business strategies such as Roblox, Fortnite, and ZEPETO. However, as 2022 progresses, the reaction to the metaverse is tepid than expected. Search volume on Google has been continuously decreasing. Furthermore, skepticism, regarded as one of the special phenomena caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, is expanding since December 2021. Nevertheless, analysis or contemplation of a new business model related to the metaverse, which is still ongoing, is essential for those who must prepare for the future. The reason is that even if without being activated now, advanced preparation can help when various problems arise. In this study, we look at the metaverse and NFT biz models and estimate a picture of the future. In other words, the social and economic problems that may arise when the business model is expanded are summarized, and technical and policy measures are derived as solutions.

Holography is the most promising 3D imaging technology to faithfully record and reproduce light information. In addition, it is widely explored in metrology for applications such as microscopy and tomography because it can accurately measure 3D shapes. However, the data size of a digital hologram is very large, and the data characteristics are notably different from those of conventional 2D images. The Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) is a group of experts from the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission. This group develops and maintains standards for still image compression. In 2014, the JPEG released a new standard for 3D image compression called JPEG Pleno to represent light fields, point clouds, and holograms. Among them, JPEG Pleno Holography is the first international standard for hologram compression. We review recent advances in JPEG Pleno Holography standardization and discuss future directions of development.

Metaverse is expected to bring many innovations to society, culture, and economy by providing realistic services in various fields while suppressing time and space constraints. However, unclear definitions owing to the high diversity of the metaverse add to the confusion of the ecosystem participants. The current metaverse service has many voices of concern owing to technical limitations and lack of a clear profit model. Nevertheless, given its high growth potential driven by the digital transformation, a solid and long-term technology development strategy seems to be necessary. Accordingly, we analyze development cases centering on the major metaverse service shapes presented in the Metaverse New Industry Leading Strategy announced by the Ministry of Science and ICT in January 2022. In addition, we study the characteristics and core technologies of each metaverse service for its realization and discuss future stages of technological development.

Space optical communication technology capable of large-capacity, high-speed, and low-latency communication can reduce the size, weight, and power consumption of radio frequency communications in existing satellite systems, thereby reducing launch costs, accommodating additional science instruments, and extending lifetime. Despite the high technical difficulty, various projects are being carried out in advanced countries regarding space technology for use in national security and defense, earth observation, and space communications. We review the advantages, key components, and development trends of space optical communication technology, which is attracting attention in applications such as satellite communications, intersatellite linking, and deep space communications.