Inter-Satellite Link Configuration for Fast Delivery in Low-Earth-Orbit Constellations

TL;DR

This paper presents an optimized inter-satellite link configuration method for LEO constellations that minimizes network diameter, reduces latency, and maintains link stability over orbital periods, enhancing communication efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a diameter-minimization algorithm for inter-satellite links in LEO constellations, balancing latency reduction with link stability and operational constraints.

Findings

Achieves low worst-case latency in simulations.

Maintains link stability over multiple orbital periods.

Provides a trade-off analysis between hop count and link stability.

Abstract

End-to-end latency in large low-Earth-orbit (LEO) constellations is dominated by propagation delay, making total delay roughly proportional to the network diameter, the longest shortest path in hops. Current inter-satellite link (ISL) layouts have rarely been optimized to minimize network diameter while simultaneously satisfying physical and operational constraints, including maximum link distance, line-of-sight, per-satellite hardware limits, and long-term link viability over orbital periods. In this study, the selection and assignment of inter-plane ISLs is formulated as a diameter-minimization problem on a Starlink-inspired Walker-Delta constellation in which each satellite is equipped with two fixed intra-plane links and may activate up to two inter-plane links. Beginning with a feasible baseline, the topology is iteratively refined by a local-search procedure that replaces or reinforces links to shrink the diameter. The resulting ISL configuration meets all geometric and hardware limits, preserves link stability across multiple orbital periods, and yields a sparse, diameter-aware graph with potential for centralized routing capabilities. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves low worst-case latency without compromising ISL stability, and the trade-off between hop count and long-term link stability is empirically measured for guidance of future LEO network deployments.