SUMMARYThis paper introduces architectures for next-generation high throughput satellite (HTS) systems comprising various satellite payload options, ground terminal advances, and scalable system-level software control and management techniques. It describes a model to estimate aggregate system capacity as a function of radio band, available spectrum, spot beams, waveforms, and payload capability, including antenna size, power, and digital/ analog connectivity across various links and availability objectives. This system model has been used to evaluate aggregate capacity of representative Ka-Band low earth orbit and geosynchronous orbit systems. A system implementation approach is described for next-generation HTS systems based on widely used Industry standards. Modulation and coding techniques are based on Digital Video Broadcasting -S2 extensions (DVB-S2X), which comprises spectrally efficient modulation schemes combined with low-rate codes. Several implementation technologies are analyzed related to configurable onboard payload and ground-based, software-defined resource control and management, key enablers of next-generation HTS systems. Basic architectural building blocks are introduced for design of end-to-end systems across low earth orbit, medium earth orbit, and geosynchronous orbit satellite constellations, with and without onboard processing and inter-satellite links, and including several efficient scenarios to achieve lossless handovers.
Mega satellite constellations in low earth orbit (LEO) will provide complete global coverage; rapidly enhance overall capacity, even for unserved areas; and improve the quality of service (QoS) possible with lower signal propagation delays. Complemented by medium earth orbit (MEO) and geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites and terrestrial network components under a hybrid communications architecture, these constellations will enable universal 5G service across the world while supporting diverse 5G use cases. With an unobstructed line-of-sight visibility of approximately 3 min, a typical LEO satellite requires efficient user terminal (UT), satellite, gateway, and intersatellite link handovers. A comprehensive mobility design for mega-constellations involves cost-effective space and ground phased-array antennas for responsive and seamless tracking. An end-to-end multilayer protocol architecture spanning space and terrestrial technologies can be used to analyze and ensure QoS and mobility. A scalable routing and traffic engineering design based on software-defined networking adequately handles continuous variability in network topology, differentiated user demands, and traffic transport in both temporal and spatial dimensions. The spacebased networks involving mega-constellations will be better integrated with their terrestrial counterparts by fully leveraging the multilayer 5G framework, which is the foundational feature of our hybrid architecture.
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