Work

Satellite-Terrestrial Routing or Intersatellite Routing? A Stochastic Geometry Perspective

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The design and comparison of satellite-terrestrial routing (STR) and intersatellite routing (ISR) in low Earth orbit satellite constellations is a widely discussed topic. The signal propagation distance under STR is generally longer than that under ISR, resulting in greater path loss. The global deployment of gateways introduces additional costs for STR. In contrast, transmissions under ISR rely on the energy of satellites, which could be more costly. In addition, intersatellite links require more complex communication protocol design, extra hardware support, and increased computational power. To maximize energy efficiency, we propose two optimal routing relay selection algorithms for ISR and STR, respectively. Furthermore, we derive the analytical expressions for the routing availability probability and energy efficiency, quantifying the performance of the algorithms. The analyses enable us to assess the performance of the proposed algorithms against existing methods through numerical results, compare the performance of STR and ISR, and provide useful insights for constellation design.

Source: IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems

DOI: 10.1109/taes.2025.3544589

Authors: Ruibo Wang, Mustafa A. Kishk, Howard H. Yang, Mohamed-Slim Alouini

Institutions: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Zhejiang University

Language: English

Topic: Satellite Communication Systems

Subfield: Aerospace Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Southeast University