Experimental Validation of a Distributed 5G Core with Store-and-Forward for IoT Sensing over LEO Non-Terrestrial Networks
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) are emerging as a promising connectivity solution for Internet of Things (IoT) sensing applications deployed in remote, isolated, or infrastructure-limited environments. However, sparse LEO constellations inherently lead to intermittent connectivity, long service gaps, and frequent disruptions, challenging conventional 5G architectures that assume continuous end-to-end availability. This paper presents and experimentally validates a distributed 5G Core architecture enhanced with Store-and-Forward (S&F) capabilities to enable reliable delivery of IoT sensing data over intermittently connected LEO-NTN scenarios. The proposed architecture distributes selected 5G Core functions between ground and satellite nodes and introduces an S&F module capable of locally buffering uplink IoT data during periods without feeder-link connectivity and forwarding them once the ground connection is restored. A functional prototype is implemented using Open5GS, UERANSIM, and an emulated satellite node, and experimentally evaluated under representative intermittent-connectivity conditions. The results demonstrate that the proposed architecture successfully preserves and delivers IoT sensing data across temporary link disruptions. The experimental findings confirm the feasibility of integrating S&F mechanisms into distributed 5G Core architectures and provide practical insights into the design of resilient IoT sensing services over sparse LEO constellations.