Two New Media Access Control Schemes For Networked Satellite Communications

Abstract

This paper introduces a pair of new media access control (MAC) protocols for a broadcast satellite network. Specifically, it has been designed to efficiently utilize the available bandwidth over a single channel satellite environment. The protocol enables more efficient use of the bandwidth during low loading periods, and a more equitable distribution of the bandwidth during high loading periods. Determination of access and management of the bandwidth is decentralized; therefore, each terminal can independently determine and schedule bandwidth, which eliminates a single point of failure inherent to a centrally controlled network. In addition, the decentralized approach reduces setup delay for reserving bandwidth, and thus helps to minimize the required satellite resources. This paper describes the operating environment, the MAC protocols, conduct of the modeling and simulation that emulates the network, and results of the simulation analysis. A comparison is also made to a simulation model of a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network and the theoretical ALOHA and Slotted ALOHA throughputs. Observations are made on the simulation results of the protocol performance along with recommendations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 28, 2001
Accession Number
AD1133174

Entities

People

  • Jeffrey Heissler
  • Michael P. Snyder
  • Vicky Yu

Organizations

  • MITRE Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Satellites
  • Bandwidth
  • Computer Access Control
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Links
  • Multiple Access
  • Networks
  • Satellite Networks
  • Simulations
  • Terminals
  • Throughput
  • Time Division Multiple Access
  • Voice Over Internet Protocol

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Computer Networking

Technology Areas

  • Space