Link-State Aware Hybrid Routing in the Terrestrial–Satellite Integrated Network

Abstract

In this paper, we study data transmission in the Terrestrial–Satellite Integrated Network (TSIN), where terrestrial networks and satellites are combined together to provide seamless global network services for ground users. However, efficiency of the data transmission is limited by the time-varying inter-satellite link connection and intermittent terrestrial–satellite link connection. Therefore, we propose a link-state aware hybrid routing algorithm, which selects the integrated data transmission path adaptively in this paper. First of all, a space–time topology model is constructed to represent the dynamic link connections in TSIN. Thus, the transmission delay can be analyzed accordingly, and the data transmission problem can then be formulated. To balance the effectiveness and accuracy of searching a hybrid path, we carefully discuss the optimization of space–time topology updating, and propose an inter-satellite link selection algorithm. For the terrestrial–satellite link in hybrid routing, the data transmission problem is transformed into a weighted bipartite graph matching problem and solved with a Kuhn–Munkres-based link selection algorithm. To verify the effectiveness of our proposed routing algorithm, extensive simulations are conducted based on a realistic Hongyun constellation project. Results show that the network performance is improved with respect to data transmission delay, packet loss rate, and throughput.