Survey of Inter-satellite Communication for Small Satellite Systems: Physical Layer to Network Layer View

Small satellite systems enable whole new class of missions for navigation, communications, remote sensing and scientific research for both civilian and military purposes. As individual spacecraft are limited by the size, mass and power constraints, mass-produced small satellites in large constellations or clusters could be useful in many science missions such as gravity mapping, tracking of forest fires, finding water resources, etc. Constellation of satellites provide improved spatial and temporal resolution of the target. Small satellite constellations contribute innovative applications by replacing a single asset with several very capable spacecraft which opens the door to new applications. With increasing levels of autonomy, there will be a need for remote communication networks to enable communication between spacecraft. These space based networks will need to configure and maintain dynamic routes, manage intermediate nodes, and reconfigure themselves to achieve mission objectives. Hence, inter-satellite communication is a key aspect when satellites fly in formation. In this paper, we present the various researches being conducted in the small satellite community for implementing inter-satellite communications based on the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model. This paper also reviews the various design parameters applicable to the first three layers of the OSI model, i.e., physical, data link and network layer. Based on the survey, we also present a comprehensive list of design parameters useful for achieving inter-satellite communications for multiple small satellite missions. Specific topics include proposed solutions for some of the challenges faced by small satellite systems, enabling operations using a network of small satellites, and some examples of small satellite missions involving formation flying aspects.Comment: 51 pages, 21 Figures, 11 Tables, accepted in IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorial

Linear Precoders for Non-Regenerative Asymmetric Two-way Relaying in Cellular Systems

Two-way relaying (TWR) reduces the spectral-efficiency loss caused in conventional half-duplex relaying. TWR is possible when two nodes exchange data simultaneously through a relay. In cellular systems, data exchange between base station (BS) and users is usually not simultaneous e.g., a user (TUE) has uplink data to transmit during multiple access (MAC) phase, but does not have downlink data to receive during broadcast (BC) phase. This non-simultaneous data exchange will reduce TWR to spectrally-inefficient conventional half-duplex relaying. With infrastructure relays, where multiple users communicate through a relay, a new transmission protocol is proposed to recover the spectral loss. The BC phase following the MAC phase of TUE is now used by the relay to transmit downlink data to another user (RUE). RUE will not be able to cancel the back-propagating interference. A structured precoder is designed at the multi-antenna relay to cancel this interference. With multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) nodes, the proposed precoder also triangulates the compound MAC and BC phase MIMO channels. The channel triangulation reduces the weighted sum-rate optimization to power allocation problem, which is then cast as a geometric program. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed protocol over conventional solutions.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figures, submitted to IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communication

Dynamic Time-domain Duplexing for Self-backhauled Millimeter Wave Cellular Networks

Millimeter wave (mmW) bands between 30 and 300 GHz have attracted considerable attention for next-generation cellular networks due to vast quantities of available spectrum and the possibility of very high-dimensional antenna ar-rays. However, a key issue in these systems is range: mmW signals are extremely vulnerable to shadowing and poor high-frequency propagation. Multi-hop relaying is therefore a natural technology for such systems to improve cell range and cell edge rates without the addition of wired access points. This paper studies the problem of scheduling for a simple infrastructure cellular relay system where communication between wired base stations and User Equipment follow a hierarchical tree structure through fixed relay nodes. Such a systems builds naturally on existing cellular mmW backhaul by adding mmW in the access links. A key feature of the proposed system is that TDD duplexing selections can be made on a link-by-link basis due to directional isolation from other links. We devise an efficient, greedy algorithm for centralized scheduling that maximizes network utility by jointly optimizing the duplexing schedule and resources allocation for dense, relay-enhanced OFDMA/TDD mmW networks. The proposed algorithm can dynamically adapt to loading, channel conditions and traffic demands. Significant throughput gains and improved resource utilization offered by our algorithm over the static, globally-synchronized TDD patterns are demonstrated through simulations based on empirically-derived channel models at 28 GHz.Comment: IEEE Workshop on Next Generation Backhaul/Fronthaul Networks - BackNets 201

Multipacket reception in the presence of in-band full-duplex communication

In-Band Full-DupleX (IB-FDX) is defined as the ability for nodes to transmit and receive signals simultaneously on the same channel. Conventional digital wireless networks do not implement it, since a node’s own transmission signal causes interference to the signal it is trying to receive. However, recent studies attempt to overcome this obstacle, since it can potentially double the spectral efficiency of current wireless networks. Different mechanisms exist today that are able to reduce a significant part of the Self- Interference (SI), although specially tuned Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols are required to optimize its use. One of IB-FDX’s biggest problems is that the nodes’ interference range is extended, meaning the unusable space for other transmissions and receptions is broader. This dissertation proposes using MultiPacket Reception (MPR) to address this issue and adapts an already existing Single-Carrier with Frequency-Domain Equalization (SC-FDE) receiver to IB-FDX. The performance analysis suggests that MPR and IB-FDX have a strong synergy and are able to achieve higher data rates, when used together. Using analytical models, the optimal transmission patterns and transmission power were identified, which maximize the channel capacity with the minimal energy consumption. This was used to define a new MAC protocol, named Full-duplex Multipacket reception Medium Access Control (FM-MAC). FM-MAC was designed for a single-hop cellular infrastructure, where the Access Point (AP) and the terminals implement both IB-FDX and MPR. It divides the coverage range of the AP into a closer Full-DupleX (FDX) zone and a farther Half-DupleX (HDX) zone and adds a tunable fairness mechanism to avoid terminal starvation. Simulation results show that this protocol provides efficient support for both HDX and FDX terminals, maximizing its capacity when more FDX terminals are used

Throughput optimization in MPR-capable multi-hop wireless networks

Recent advances in the physical layer have enabled the simultaneous reception of multiple packets by a node in wireless networks. This capability has the potential of improving the performance of multi-hop wireless networks by a logarithmic factor with respect to current technologies. However, to fully exploit multiple packet reception (MPR) capability, new routing and scheduling schemes must be designed. These schemes need to reformulate a historically underlying assumption in wireless networks which states that any concurrent transmission of two or more packets results in a collision and failure of all packet receptions. In this work, we present a generalized model for the throughput optimization problem in MPR-capable multi-hop wireless networks. The formulation incorporates not only the MPR protocol model to quantify interference, but also the multi-access channel. The former is related with the MAC and routing layers, and considers a packet as the unit of transmission. The latter accounts for the achievable capacity of links used by simultaneous packet transmissions. The problem is modeled as a joint routing and scheduling problem. The scheduling subproblem deals with finding the optimal schedulable sets, which are defined as subsets of links that can be scheduled or activated simultaneously. Among other results, we demonstrate that any solution of the scheduling subproblem can be built with |E| + 1 or fewer schedulable sets, where |E| is the number of links of the network. This result contrasts with a conjecture that states that a solution of the scheduling subproblem, in general, is composed of an exponential number of schedulable sets. The model can be applied to a wide range of networks, such as half and full duplex systems, networks with directional and omni-directional antennas with one or multiple transmit antennas per node. Due to the hardness of the problem, we propose several polynomial time schemes based on a combination of linear programming, approximation algorithm and greedy paradigms. We illustrate the use of the proposed schemes to study the impact of several design parameters such as decoding capability and number of transmit antennas on the performance of MPR-capable networks