269 research outputs found
Satellite-Based Communications Security: A Survey of Threats, Solutions, and Research Challenges
Satellite-based Communication systems are gaining renewed momentum in
Industry and Academia, thanks to innovative services introduced by leading tech
companies and the promising impact they can deliver towards the global
connectivity objective tackled by early 6G initiatives. On the one hand, the
emergence of new manufacturing processes and radio technologies promises to
reduce service costs while guaranteeing outstanding communication latency,
available bandwidth, flexibility, and coverage range. On the other hand,
cybersecurity techniques and solutions applied in SATCOM links should be
updated to reflect the substantial advancements in attacker capabilities
characterizing the last two decades. However, business urgency and
opportunities are leading operators towards challenging system trade-offs,
resulting in an increased attack surface and a general relaxation of the
available security services. In this paper, we tackle the cited problems and
present a comprehensive survey on the link-layer security threats, solutions,
and challenges faced when deploying and operating SATCOM systems.Specifically,
we classify the literature on security for SATCOM systems into two main
branches, i.e., physical-layer security and cryptography schemes.Then, we
further identify specific research domains for each of the identified branches,
focusing on dedicated security issues, including, e.g., physical-layer
confidentiality, anti-jamming schemes, anti-spoofing strategies, and
quantum-based key distribution schemes. For each of the above domains, we
highlight the most essential techniques, peculiarities, advantages,
disadvantages, lessons learned, and future directions.Finally, we also identify
emerging research topics whose additional investigation by Academia and
Industry could further attract researchers and investors, ultimately unleashing
the full potential behind ubiquitous satellite communications.Comment: 72 page
NGSO Constellation Design for Global Connectivity
Non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite constellations represent a
cornerstone in the NewSpace paradigm and thus have become one of the hottest
topics for the industry, academia, but also for national space agencies and
regulators. For instance, numerous companies worldwide, including Starlink,
OneWeb, Kepler, SPUTNIX, and Amazon have started or will soon start to deploy
their own NGSO constellations, which aim to provide either broadband or IoT
services. One of the major drivers for such a high interest on NGSO
constellations is that, with an appropriate design, they are capable of
providing global coverage and connectivity.Comment: Book chapter submitted to IET Non-Geostationary Satellite
Communications System
Communication Networks in CubeSat Constellations: Analysis, Design and Implementation
CubeSat constellations are redefining the way we approach to space missions, from
the particular impact on scientific mission possibilities, constellations potential is
growing with the increasing accessibility in terms of low development and launch
costs and higher performances of the available technologies for CubeSats.
In this thesis we focus on communication networks in CubeSat constellations: the
project consist of developing a clustering algorithm able to group small satellites
in order to create an optimized communication network by considering problems
related to mutual access time and communication capabilities we reduce the typical
negative effects of clustering algorithms such as ripple effect of re-clustering and
optimizing the cluster-head formation number.
The network creation is exploited by our proposed hardware system, composed
by a phased array with up to 10dB gain, managed by a beamforming algorithm,
to increase the total data volume transferable from a CubeSat constellation to the
ground station. The total data volume earned vary from 40% to a peak of 99% more,
depending on the constellation topology analyzed
Prediction-enhanced Routing in Disruption-tolerant Satellite Networks
This thesis introduces a framework for enhancing DTN (Delay-/Disruption-Tolerant Networking) routing in dynamic LEO satellite constellations based on the prediction of contacts.
The solution is developed with a clear focus on the requirements imposed by the 'Ring Road' use case, mandating a concept for dynamic contact prediction and its integration into a state-of-the-art routing approach.
The resulting system does not restrict possible applications to the 'Ring Road,' but allows for flexible adaptation to further use cases.
A thorough evaluation shows that employing proactive routing in concert with a prediction mechanism offers significantly improved performance when compared to alternative opportunistic routing techniques
Performance Analysis of Protocol Independent Multicasting-Dense Mode in Low Earth Orbit Satellite Networks
This research explored the implementation of Protocol Independent Multicasting - Dense Mode (PIM-DM) in a LEO satellite constellation. PIM-DM is a terrestrial protocol for distributing traffic efficiently between subscriber nodes by combining data streams into a tree-based structure, spreading from the root of the tree to the branches. Using this structure, a minimum number of connections are required to transfer data, decreasing the load on intermediate satellite routers. The PIM-DM protocol was developed for terrestrial systems and this research implemented an adaptation of this protocol in a satellite system. This research examined the PIM-DM performance characteristics which were compared to earlier work for On- Demand Multicast Routing Protocol (ODMRP) and Distance Vector Multicasting Routing Protocol (DVMRP) - all in a LEO satellite network environment. Experimental results show that PIM-DM is extremely scalable and has equivalent performance across diverse workloads. Three performance metrics are used to determine protocol performance in the dynamic LEO satellite environment, including Data-to- Overhead ratio, Received-to-Sent ratio, and End-to-End Delay. The OPNET® simulations show that the PIM-DM Data-to-Overhead ratio is approximately 80% and the protocol reliability is extremely high, achieving a Receive-to-Sent ratio of 99.98% across all loading levels. Finally, the PIM-DM protocol introduces minimal delay, exhibiting an average End-to-End Delay of approximately 76 ms; this is well within the time necessary to support real-time communications. Though fundamental differences between the DVMRP, ODMRP, and PIM-DM implementations precluded a direct comparison for each experiment, by comparing average values, PIM-DM generally provides equivalent or better performance
Localization Enhanced Mobile Networks
The interest in mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) and often more precisely vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) is steadily growing with many new applications, and even anticipated support in the emerging 5G networks. Particularly in outdoor scenarios, there are different mechanisms to make the mobile nodes aware of their geographical location at all times. The location information can be utilized at different layers of the protocol stack to enhance communication services in the network. Specifically, geographical routing can facilitate route management with smaller overhead than the traditional proactive and reactive routing protocols. In order to achieve similar advantages for radio resource management (RRM) and multiple access protocols, the concept of virtual cells is devised to exploit fully distributed knowledge of node locations. The virtual cells define clusters of MANET nodes assuming a predefined set of geographically distributed anchor points. It enables fast response of the network to changes in the nodes spatial configuration. More importantly, the notion of geographical location can be generalized to other shared contexts which can be learned or otherwise acquired by the network nodes. The strategy of enhancing communication services by shared contexts is likely to be one of the key features in the beyond-5G networks
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