A Multi-objective based Inter-Layer Link Allocation Scheme for MEO/LEO Satellite Networks

Recently, there is a growing interest in Double-Layered Satellite Networks (DLSN) which integrate Medium-Earth-Orbit (MEO) and Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellites for provision of mobile and personal services. However, it is still in the early stage with several challenges unaddressed, and one of the key problems is the inter-layer link allocations between MEO and LEO satellites, as DLSN topology is dynamically changed over the time and satellites are with the limited number of connections onboard. To this end, we propose a corresponding Inter-layer Link Allocation (ILA) scheme in this paper, taking the visible duration between satellites, transmitting power consumed onboard and geographical distributions of user load into account, aiming to maximize the utilization efficiency of DLSN inter-layer links. Then, we formulate it as a constrained multi-objective linear programming problem and evaluate its performance with other three benchmarks. Numerical results have demonstrated that the proposed ILA scheme can decrease the number of ILL handovers and average inter-satellite distance, with load balanced between LEO and MEO satellites.