Evaluation of delay tolerant network routing protocols for data streaming through LEO constellation

In the Era of Mega Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, the efficient networking through Inter Satellite Links (ISLs) plays a vital role in its mission success. The deployed networking resources must be justified regarding the feasibility, reliability, and Quality of Service (QoS). The main challenge of such networks is the ISLs intermittence due to the dynamic nature of the constellation topology. In addition to the space environment. From this perspective, Delay Tolerant Network (DTN) protocols were proposed for alleviating the events of intermittence. This paper introduces a technique for using the discrete-event network simulator (NS3) for the simulation of LEO constellation networks. This technique considers the dynamic nature of network's nodes in data streaming through ISLs. The paper presents a performance assessment of LEO constellation networks dedicated for forwarding the payload data through ISLs. The performance measures include both the delay and delivery ratio. The assessment considers different local resources such as transmitted power, Queue size, and transmission rate. The performance measures were applied for some selected DTN protocols such as Epidemic and Spray and Wait. The results illustrate the effects of different network resources and configurations that may affect the constellation mission.& COPY; 2023 National Authority of Remote Sensing & Space Science. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

In the era of Mega LEO satellite constellation, efficient networking through ISLs is crucial for mission success. The intermittent nature of ISLs due to the dynamic topology is a major challenge. DTN protocols are proposed to alleviate intermittence. This paper presents a technique using NS3 for simulating LEO constellation networks and assesses their performance in terms of delay and delivery ratio.