Load Balancing and QoS Supporting Access and Handover Decision Algorithm for GEO/LEO Heterogeneous Satellite Networks

Due to the uneven distribution of users, it is prone to network congestion when the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites pass through an area with heavy traffic. Therefore, GEO/LEO heterogeneous satellite networks integration is the development trend of satellite communications. For current studies of access and handover algorithms in satellite networks, the focus is concentrated on the single layer satellite network and the received signal strength (RSS) is selected as the decision criterion. However, the traditional RSS-based algorithm cannot guarantee the Quality of Service (QoS), and often results in load imbalance of the network. To solve these problems, this paper proposed a parameter adaptive SINR based multi-attributes decision (PASMAD) access and handover algorithm in GEO/LEO heterogeneous satellite networks. The SINR, users required bandwidth, traffic transmission cost and the load status of the satellite are comprehensively considered to ensure the QoS of multimedia service. And based on the prediction of the traffic distribution, the PASMAD algorithm defines an automatically adjusted parameter to further balance the network loads. The simulation results shows that compared with the traditional RSS-based decision algorithm, the proposed PASMAD algorithm can guarantee the multimedia required QoS and provide the maximum data rates to the user. Meanwhile compared with the fixed parameter SMAD algorithm, the PASMAD algorithm can improve the system performance in terms of higher throughput and lower connection blocking probability (CBP).