Cooperative User-Scheduling and Resource Allocation Optimization for Intelligent Reflecting Surface Enhanced LEO Satellite Communication

Lower Earth Orbit(LEO) satellite becomes an important part of complementing terrestrial communication due to its lower orbital altitude and smaller propagation delay than Geostationary satellite. However, the LEO satellite communication system cannot meet the requirements of users when the satellite-terrestrial link is blocked by obstacles. To solve this problem, we introduce Intelligent reflect surface(IRS) for improving the achievable rate of terrestrial users in LEO satellite communication. We investigated joint IRS scheduling, user scheduling, power and bandwidth allocation(JIRPB) optimization algorithm for improving LEO satellite system throughput.The optimization problem of joint user scheduling and resource allocation is formulated as a non-convex optimization problem. To cope with this problem, the nonconvex optimization problem is divided into resource allocation optimization sub-problem and scheduling optimization sub-problem firstly. Second, we optimize the resource allocation sub-problem via alternating direction multiplier method(ADMM) and scheduling sub-problem via Lagrangian dual method repeatedly.Third, we prove that the proposed resource allocation algorithm based ADMM approaches sublinear convergence theoretically. Finally, we demonstrate that the proposed JIRPB optimization algorithm improves the LEO satellite communication system throughput.

Satellite Communications with 5G, B5G, and 6G: Challenges and Prospects

Satellite communications, pivotal for global connectivity, are increasingly converging with cutting-edge mobile networks, notably 5G, B5G, and 6G. This amalgamation heralds the promise of universal, high-velocity communication, yet it is not without its challenges. Paramount concerns encompass spectrum allocation, the harmonization of network architectures, and inherent latency issues in satellite transmissions. Potential mitigations, such as dynamic spectrum sharing and the deployment of edge computing, are explored as viable solutions. Looking ahead, the advent of quantum communications within satellite frameworks and the integration of AI spotlight promising research trajectories. These advancements aim to foster a seamless and synergistic coexistence between satellite communications and next-gen mobile networks.

Covert LEO Satellite Communication Aided by Generative Adversarial Network Based Cooperative UAV Jamming

In this paper,we study the covert performance of the downlink low earth orbit(LEO)satellite communication,where the unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)is employed as a cooperative jammer.To maximize the covert rate of the LEO satellite transmission,a multi-objective problem is formulated to jointly optimize the UAV’s jamming power and trajectory.For practical consideration,we assume that the UAV can only have partial environmental information,and can’t know the detection threshold and exact location of the eavesdropper on the ground.To solve the multiobjective problem,we propose the data-driven generative adversarial network(DD-GAN)based method to optimize the power and trajectory of the UAV,in which the sample data is collected by using genetic algorithm(GA).Simulation results show that the jamming solution of UAV generated by DD-GAN can achieve an effective trade-off between covert rate and probability of detection errors when only limited prior information is obtained.

Coded Multicasting for Content Delivery over Predictable Time-Varying Satellite Communication Networks

With the development of astronautic technology, communication satellites now have a tremendous gain in both quantity and quality, and have already shown their capability on multi-functional converged communication other than telecommunication. Under this circumstance, increasing the transmission efficiency of satellite communication network becomes a top priority. In this paper, we focus on content delivery service on satellite networks, where each ground station may have prefetched some file fragments. We cast this problem into a coded caching framework so as to exploit the coded multicast gain for minimizing the satellite communication load. We first propose an optimization-based coded multicast scheme by considering the special property that the satellite network topology is predictable and timevariant. Then, a greedy based fast algorithm is proposed, which can tremendously reduce the computation complexity with a small loss in optimality. Simulation experiments conducted on two Walker constellation satellite networks show that our proposed coded multicast method can efficiently reduce the communication load of satellite networks.

Robust or nonrobust: On MC-DS-CDMA acquisition in LEO satellite communications

Low Earth Orbit(LEO)satellite communications can provide global coverage in the sixth generation communication(6G)networks.To combat the strong Partial Band Interferences(PBIs)and multipath fading in LEO satellite communication systems,the Multicarrier Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access(MC-DS-CDMA)technique is a promising alternative to the traditional Single-carrier Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access(SC-DS-CDMA)system for its advantages of high bandwidth efficiency,superior interference rejection capability,and low complexity of parallel signal processing.However,limited studies have been conducted on the performance analysis of MC-DS-CDMA acquisition systems in the presence of a large Doppler shift,a unique characteristic of LEO satellite communications.To bridge this gap,we investigate the performance of MC-DS-CDMA systems with two-dimensional acquisition and noncoherent equal gain combining over Rician fading channel in the presence of the Doppler shift and PBIs.The performance metrics are detection probability and Mean Square Error(MSE)of the Doppler factor and delay.Specifically,we derive the closed-form expressions for the MSE and the Probability Density Function(PDF)of the acquisition decision variable and obtain the detection probability.We conduct extensive numerical experiments to verify the theoretical analysis and performance gain of MC-DSCDMA over the SC-DS-CDMA.The results show that MC-DS-CDMA with two-dimensional acquisition is more robust to multipath Rician fading than SC-DS-CDMA.Moreover,MC-DS-CDMA outperforms SC-DS-CDMA regarding the detection probability and MSE when combating the strong PBIs.

Low Altitude Satellite Constellation for Futuristic Aerial-Ground Communications

This paper discusses the significance and prospects of low altitude small satellite aerial vehicles to ensure smooth aerial-ground communications for next-generation broadband networks.To achieve the generic goals of fifthgeneration and beyondwireless networks,the existing aerial network architecture needs to be revisited.The detailed architecture of low altitude aerial networks and the challenges in resource management have been illustrated in this paper.Moreover,we have studied the coordination between promising communication technologies and low altitude aerial networks to provide robust network coverage.We talk about the techniques that can ensure userfriendly control and monitoring of the low altitude aerial networks to bring forth wireless broadband connectivity to a new dimension.In the end,we highlight the future research directions of aerial-ground communications in terms of access technologies,machine learning,compressed sensing,and quantum communications.

Beam Position and Beam Hopping Design for LEO Satellite Communications

The numbers of beam positions(BPs)and time slots for beam hopping(BH)dominate the latency of LEO satellite communications.Aiming at minimizing the number of BPs subject to a predefined requirement on the radius of BP,a low-complexity user density-based BP design scheme is proposed,where the original problem is decomposed into two subproblems,with the first one to find the sparsest user and the second one to determine the corresponding best BP.In particular,for the second subproblem,a user selection and smallest BP radius algorithm is proposed,where the nearby users are sequentially selected until the constraint of the given BP radius is no longer satisfied.These two subproblems are iteratively solved until all the users are selected.To further reduce the BP radius,a duplicated user removal algorithm is proposed to decrease the number of the users covered by two or more BPs.Aiming at minimizing the number of time slots subject to the no co-channel interference(CCI)constraint and the traffic demand constraint,a low-complexity CCI-free BH design scheme is proposed,where the BPs having difficulty in satisfying the constraints are considered to be illuminated in priory.Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed schemes.

Learning-Based Admission Control for Low-Earth-Orbit Satellite Communication Networks

Satellite communications has been regarded as an indispensable technology for future mobile networks to provide extremely high data rates,ultra-reliability,and ubiquitous coverage.However,the high dynamics caused by the fast movement of low-earth-orbit(LEO)satellites bring huge challenges in designing and optimizing satellite communication systems.Especially,admission control,deciding which users with diversified service requirements are allowed to access the network with limited resources,is of paramount importance to improve network resource utilization and meet the service quality requirements of users.In this paper,we propose a dynamic channel reservation strategy based on the Actor-Critic algorithm(AC-DCRS)to perform intelligent admission control in satellite networks.By carefully designing the longterm reward function and dynamically adjusting the reserved channel threshold,AC-DCRS reaches a long-run optimal access policy for both new calls and handover calls with different service priorities.Numerical results show that our proposed AC-DCRS outperforms traditional channel reservation strategies in terms of overall access failure probability,the average call success rate,and channel utilization under various dynamic traffic conditions.

The Impact of Satellite Communications on Environmental Hazard Control: Tool for the Realization of African Union Agenda 2063 Aspirations

Africa is a developing economy and as such, emphasis has been placed on the achievement of revolutionary goals that will place her on a similar rank as the developed economies. Pertaining to this objective, Heads of States and government all over Africa instigated the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063, which is a framework put in place to achieve a continental transformation over the next 40 years. The use of satellites has been proven to be a major influence on economic growth since it facilitates the exchange of information. Environmental hazards such as climate changes, pollution, and inefficient waste management can be classified as one of the drawbacks to achieving this economic growth we hope to accomplish. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and examine satellite communication as a tool for the attainment of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa by means of combatting environmental hazards in the continent.

Power Allocation Optimization of Multibeam High-Throughput Satellite Communication Systems

The increasing demands in terms of high data rate and quality of services over the hybrid satellite-terrestrial relay networks(HSTRN)have pushed for the development of millimeter-wave(mmWave)band high-throughput satellites(HTS)with multibeams.The next generation of mmWave multibeam HTS communication systems(HTSCS)is viewed as the backbone network to enhance the throughput of the HSTRN.The article first investigates the basic backbone topology architecture of HTSCS,and an M-state Markov channel for the Ka/Q/V band mmWave systems is reviewed.Then,we propose a long-term optimal power allocation scheme over two in-dependent and identical spot beams based on the partially observable Markov decision process(POMDP),which can partly mitigate the negative effects of severe weather conditions.The key conditions for selecting the optimal power allocation action in the multibeam HTSCS are given.Simulation results show that our POMDP-based power allocation scheme can enhance the long-term throughput of the HTSCS.

Satellite and high altitude platform-based inter-vehicle communications in vast and desolate areas

In order to solve the problem of inter-vehicle communication （IVC） in vast and desolate areas such as the desert and the Gobi, two vehicle network models are proposed. One is based on satellite communication and the other is based on high altitude platform （ HAP ） communication. The system outline and networking modes of the two models are described. In the satellite communication based model, all the vehicles are equipped with vehicle-bone satellite communication on the move terminals and the communication signals between vehicles are forwarded by satellite. In the high altitude platform-based model, the HAPs are equipped with base station facilities to form aerial base stations, and vehicles can communicate with each other via common terrestrial mobile communication devices. Some key parameters such as path loss, link loss and system capacity are also computed. The analysis shows that both the two models can satisfy the requirement of IVC in the descriptive environment.

China Launches Its First High-Throughput Communications Satellite

China launched the SJ-13(ChinaSat-16)satellite at 7:04 p.m.on April12 on a LM-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.The satellite was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology(CAST)with a design lifetime of 15 years.SJ-13,China’s first high-throughput communications satellite that applies electric propulsion technology,is the first satellite based on the DFH-4S platform and will conduct high speed laser communications tests for the first time in China.

Blockchain-Based MCS Detection Framework of Abnormal Spectrum Usage for Satellite Spectrum Sharing Scenario

In this paper, the problem of abnormal spectrum usage between satellite spectrum sharing systems is investigated to support multi-satellite spectrum coexistence. Given the cost of monitoring, the mobility of low-orbit satellites, and the directional nature of their signals, traditional monitoring methods are no longer suitable, especially in the case of multiple power level. Mobile crowdsensing(MCS), as a new technology, can make full use of idle resources to complete a variety of perceptual tasks. However, traditional MCS heavily relies on a centralized server and is vulnerable to single point of failure attacks. Therefore, we replace the original centralized server with a blockchain-based distributed service provider to enable its security. Therefore, in this work, we propose a blockchain-based MCS framework, in which we explain in detail how this framework can achieve abnormal frequency behavior monitoring in an inter-satellite spectrum sharing system. Then, under certain false alarm probability, we propose an abnormal spectrum detection algorithm based on mixed hypothesis test to maximize detection probability in single power level and multiple power level scenarios, respectively. Finally, a Bad out of Good(BooG) detector is proposed to ease the computational pressure on the blockchain nodes. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed framework.

Multi-network-region traffic cooperative scheduling in large-scale LEO satellite networks

A low-Earth-orbit(LEO)satellite network can provide full-coverage access services worldwide and is an essential candidate for future 6G networking.However,the large variability of the geographic distribution of the Earth’s population leads to an uneven service volume distribution of access service.Moreover,the limitations on the resources of satellites are far from being able to serve the traffic in hotspot areas.To enhance the forwarding capability of satellite networks,we first assess how hotspot areas under different load cases and spatial scales significantly affect the network throughput of an LEO satellite network overall.Then,we propose a multi-region cooperative traffic scheduling algorithm.The algorithm migrates low-grade traffic from hotspot areas to coldspot areas for forwarding,significantly increasing the overall throughput of the satellite network while sacrificing some latency of end-to-end forwarding.This algorithm can utilize all the global satellite resources and improve the utilization of network resources.We model the cooperative multi-region scheduling of large-scale LEO satellites.Based on the model,we build a system testbed using OMNET++to compare the proposed method with existing techniques.The simulations show that our proposed method can reduce the packet loss probability by 30%and improve the resource utilization ratio by 3.69%.

For LEO Satellite Networks: Intelligent Interference Sensing and Signal Reconstruction Based on Blind Separation Technology

In LEO satellite communication networks,the number of satellites has increased sharply, the relative velocity of satellites is very fast, then electronic signal aliasing occurs from time to time. Those aliasing signals make the receiving ability of the signal receiver worse, the signal processing ability weaker,and the anti-interference ability of the communication system lower. Aiming at the above problems, to save communication resources and improve communication efficiency, and considering the irregularity of interference signals, the underdetermined blind separation technology can effectively deal with the problem of interference sensing and signal reconstruction in this scenario. In order to improve the stability of source signal separation and the security of information transmission, a greedy optimization algorithm can be executed. At the same time, to improve network information transmission efficiency and prevent algorithms from getting trapped in local optima, delete low-energy points during each iteration process. Ultimately, simulation experiments validate that the algorithm presented in this paper enhances both the transmission efficiency of the network transmission system and the security of the communication system, achieving the process of interference sensing and signal reconstruction in the LEO satellite communication system.

System Integration of Terrestrial Mobile Communication and Satellite Communication——The Trends, Challenges and Key Technologies in B5G and 6G

Mobile communication standards have been developed into a new era of B5G and 6G.In recent years,low earth orbit(LEO)satellites and space Internet have become hot topics.The integrated satellite and terrestrial systems have been widely discussed by industries and academics,and even are expected to be applied in those huge constellations in construction.This paper points out the trends of two stages towards system integration of the terrestrial mobile communication and the satellite communications:to be compatible with 5G,and to be integrated within 6G.Based on analysis of the challenges of both stages,key technologies are thereafter analyzed in detail,covering both air interface currently discussed in 3GPP for B5G and also novel network architecture and related transmission technologies toward future 6G.

A Positioning System based on Communication Satellites and the Chinese Area Positioning System(CAPS)

The Chinese Area Positioning System （CAPS） is a positioning system based on satellite communication that is fundamentally different from the 3＂G＂ （GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO） systems. The latter use special-purpose navigation satellites to broadcast navigation information generated on-board to users, while the CAPS transfers ground-generated navigation information to users via the communication satellite. In order to achieve accurate Positioning, Velocity and Time （PVT）, the CAPS employs the following strategies to over- come the three main obstacles caused by using the communication satellite： （a） by real-time following-up frequency stabilization to achieve stable frequency; （b） by using a single carrier in the transponder with 36 MHz band-width to gain sufficient power; （c） by incorporating Decommissioned Geostationary Orbit communication satellite （DGEO）, barometric pressure and Inclined Geostationary Orbit communication satellite （IGSO） to achieve the 3-D posi- tioning. Furthermore, the abundant transponders available on DGEO can be used to realize the large capacity of communication as well as the integrated navigation and communication. With the communication functions incorporated, five new functions appear in the CAPS： （1） combination of navigation and communication; （2） combination of navigation and high accu- racy orbit measurement; （3） combination of navigation message and wide/local area differen- tial processing; （4） combination of the switching of satellites, frequencies and codes; and （5） combination of the navigation message and the barometric altimetry. The CAPS is thereby labelled a PVT5C system of high accuracy. In order to validate the working principle and the performance of the CAPS, a trial system was established in the course of two years at a cost of about 20 million dollars. The trial constellation consists of two GEO satellites located at E87.5° and E110.5°, two DGEOs located at E130° and E142°, as well as barometric altimetry as a virtual satellite. Static and dynamic performance tests were completed for the Eastern, the Western, the Northern, the Southern and the Middle regions of China. The evaluation results are as follows： （1） land static test, plane accuracy range： C/A code, 15-25 m; P code, 5-10 meters; altitude accuracy range, 1- m; （2） land dynamic test, plane accuracy range, C/A code, 15-25 m; P code, 8-10m; （3） velocity accuracy, C/A code, 0.13-0.3 m s-1, P code, 0.15-0.17 m s- 1; （4） timing accuracy, C/A code, 160 ns, P code, 13 ns; （5） timing compared accuracy of Two Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer （TWSTFT）, average accuracy, 0.068 ns; （6） random error of the satellite ranging, 10.7 mm; （7） orbit determination accuracy, better than 2 m. The above stated random error is 1σ error. At present, this system is used as a preliminary operational system and a complete system with 3 GEO, 3 DGEO and 3 IGSO is being established.

Joint Computing and Communication Resource Allocation for Satellite Communication Networks with Edge Computing

Benefit from the enhanced onboard processing capacities and high-speed satellite-terrestrial links,satellite edge computing has been regarded as a promising technique to facilitate the execution of the computation-intensive applications for satellite communication networks(SCNs).By deploying edge computing servers in satellite and gateway stations,SCNs can achieve significant performance gains of the computing capacities at the expense of extending the dimensions and complexity of resource management.Therefore,in this paper,we investigate the joint computing and communication resource management problem for SCNs to minimize the execution latency of the computation-intensive applications,while two different satellite edge computing scenarios and local execution are considered.Furthermore,the joint computing and communication resource allocation problem for the computation-intensive services is formulated as a mixed-integer programming problem.A game-theoretic and many-to-one matching theorybased scheme(JCCRA-GM)is proposed to achieve an approximate optimal solution.Numerical results show that the proposed method with low complexity can achieve almost the same weight-sum latency as the Brute-force method.

A Stackelberg Differential Game Based Bandwidth Allocation in Satellite Communication Network

In this paper, a Stackelberg differential game based approach is proposed to solve the bandwidth allocation problems in satellite communication network. All the satellites are divided into two groups, one has high download requirements, and the other one has low download requirements. Each satellites group has its own controller for bandwidth allocation, and can get payments from the satellites for the allocated resources. The relationships between the controllers and satellites are formed as a Stackelberg game. In our model, differential equation is introduced to describe the bandwidth dynamics for the whole satellite communication network. Combine the differential equation and Stackelberg game together, we can formulate the bandwidth allocation problems in satellite communication network as a Stackelber differential game. The solutions to the proposed game is solved based the Bellman dynamic equations. Numerical simulations are given to prove the effeteness and correctness of the proposed approach.

Dual loop feedback pre-distortion in satellite communication

Since the satellite communication goes in the trend of high-frequency and fast speed, the coefficients updating and the precision of the traditional pre-distortion feedback methods need to be further improved. On this basis, this paper proposes dual loop feedback pre-distortion, which uses two first-order Volterra filter models to reduce the computing complexity and a dynamic error adjustment model to construct a revised feedback to ensure a better pre-distortion performance. The computation complexity, iterative convergence speed and precision of the proposed method are theoretically analyzed. Simulation results show that this dual loop feedback pre-distortion can speed the updating of coefficients and ensure the linearity of the amplifier output.