Abstract:

A number of satellite communication systems have been proposed using geosynchronous (GEO) satellites, medium earth orbit (MEO) and low earth orbit (LEO) constellations operating in the Ka-band and above. The next generation broadband satellite systems will use fast packet switching with onboard processing to provide full two-way services to and from earth stations. New services gaining momentum include mobile services and high data rate internet access carried over integrated satellite-fiber networks. Provisioning of quality of service (QoS) within the advanced satellite systems is the main requirement. Currently, Internet Protocol (IP) only has minimal traffic management capabilities and provides best effort services. In this paper, we present broadband LEO satellite network QoS model and simulated performance results. In particular, we discuss the TCP flow aggregates performance for their good behavior in the presence of competing UDP flow aggregates in the same assured forwarding. We identify several factors that affect the performance in the mixed environments and quantify their effects using a full factorial design of experiment methodology.

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