Load Balancing and Remaining Visible Time based Handover Algorithm for LEO Satellite Network

The massive LEO satellite constellation communication is an important trend of B5G and 6G systems. But due to the characteristics and limitations of LEO satellites Base Stations (LEO-BSs), the implementation of the inter-satellite handover decision is a severe challenge. This paper proposes an simple and practical handover algorithm named as Load Balancing and Remaining Visible Time based Handover (LBRVTH) in LEO satellite network serving the Ground Users (GUs) multimedia services. The quality of transmission link, the load balancing degree of LEO-BS and the remaining coverage time of LEO-BS are used to design the handover decision metric. The performance of the proposed LBRVTH algorithm is evaluated through simulation which is conducted using STK simulator and Matlab. Compared with the existing handover algorithm, it is found that the LBRVTH algorithm can effectively reduce the average handover times of GUs while ensuring a slightly better Quality of Service (QoS) in terms of system throughput, data package latency and system load balance indicator.