Home // SPACOMM 2019, The Eleventh International Conference on Advances in Satellite and Space Communications // View article

Interference-Free Store and Forward Communication in Low Earth Orbit Satellite Systems

Authors:
Andreas Freimann
Timon Petermann
Klaus Schilling

Keywords: Satellite Communication; Delay Tolerant Network; Medium Access Control; Satellite Formations

Abstract:
Multi-satellite systems in low Earth orbits based on nanosatellites can be used for Earth observation and global store-and-forward communication. The intersatellite links in these systems need to be coordinated in a way that avoids interference, and optimises throughput, delays and energy consumption. Existing contact plan design approaches do not prevent packet loss due to interference of nodes, and the use of additional Medium Access Control (MAC) schemes such as Carrier-sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) is inefficient in networks with high propagation time and dynamic topology. In this paper, a contact plan based design approach is presented that solves the MAC problem by predicting additive interference and scheduling interference-free inter-satellite links in advance. The presented approach is part of a Delay Tolerant Network (DTN) routing protocol for space-terrestrial networks. An improvement of the algorithm is also presented to reduce computational effort. Performance was evaluated for different orbit configurations using a satellite network simulation framework based on the Objective Modular Network Testbed in C++ (OMNeT++).

Pages: 34 to 35

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2019

Publication date: March 24, 2019

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4480

ISBN: 978-1-61208-694-1

Location: Valencia, Spain

Dates: from March 24, 2019 to March 28, 2019