Leveraging Aerial Platforms for Downlink Communications in Sparse Satellite Networks

TL;DR

This paper investigates how aerial platforms can effectively replace dense satellite networks for downlink communications by enhancing coverage, connectivity, and throughput in sparse satellite scenarios using a stochastic geometry model.

Contribution

It introduces a stochastic geometry framework to evaluate aerial platforms' role in satellite networks and demonstrates their potential as a cost-effective alternative to dense satellite constellations.

Findings

Aerial platforms improve coverage and connectivity in sparse satellite networks.

They achieve comparable or superior performance to large satellite constellations.

Performance metrics like throughput and delay are significantly enhanced by aerial platforms.

Abstract

Although a significant number satellites are deemed essential for facilitating diverse applications of satellite networks, aerial platforms are emerging as excellent alternatives for enabling reliable communications with fewer satellites. In scenarios with sparse satellite networks, aerial platforms participate in downlink communications, serving effectively as relays and providing comparable or even superior coverage compared to a large number of satellites. This paper explores the role of aerial platforms in assisting downlink communications, emphasizing their potential as an alternative to dense satellite networks. Firstly, we account for the space-time interconnected movement of satellites in orbits by establishing a stochastic geometry framework based on an isotropic satellite Cox point process. Using this model, we evaluate space-and-time performance metrics such as the number of orbits, the number of communicable satellites, and the connectivity probability, primarily assessing the geometric impact of aerial platforms. Subsequently, we analyze signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) coverage probability, end-to-end throughput, and association delay. Through examination of these performance metrics, we explicitly demonstrate how aerial platforms enhance downlink communications by improving various key network performance metrics that would have been achieved only by many satellites, thereby assessing their potential as an excellent alternative to dense satellite networks.