Ground Station Deployment Based on Data Center-User Gravity Model in Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Networks

In recent years, research on satellite networks has gained significant attention, with their capability for seamless global coverage and meeting real-time communication demands serving as a key solution to address deficiencies in ground communication network coverage and to improve the real-time transmission of services. Traditional satellite networks, originally employed for singular purposes such as data relay, are gradually transitioning to satellite internet to support various Internet-based services. The integration of satellites with ground networks, known as the Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Network (STIN), has become an inevitable trend, making the deployment of ground stations (GSs) a critical issue in the STIN construction. Traditional GS deployment strategies are insufficient to meet the real-time demands of emerging services. In this context, a GS deployment strategy based on the data center-user gravity model (GSD-DG) is proposed, where the influence of all data center factors on GS deployment is considered. This approach takes into account constraints such as satellite connectivity, user traffic, and data center gravity. The integration of GS with data centers plays a pivotal role in enhancing the internet service latency performance. Simulation results indicate that the proposed strategy significantly reduces service latency by 24.5% compared to the benchmark, providing a more effective GS deployment solution to further optimize the STIN service latency performance.