Geosynchronous-Orbit-aided Low-Earth-Orbit Networking Management Mechanism for 6G Network Service Provisioning

Low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite networks have the advantages of low latency and high bandwidth compared to geosynchronous-orbit (GEO) satellites. However, their dynamic nature makes controlling satellite-terrestrial integration networks (STINs) a complex problem for 6G service. The traditional management architecture deploys SDN controllers in LEO satellites to realize multi-subdomain networking management. However, it is also challenging to guarantee latency and reliability of control message distribution due to the burstiness of network traffic and time-varying topology. To improve STIN’s control reliability and predictability, we propose a GEO-aided STIN management architecture, which can utilize the extensive coverage of GEO to achieve low-latency and high-reliability control. We built a STIN management simulation platform and conducted simulation validation in an LEO-GEO constellation network consisting of 144 LEO satellites and 3 GEO satellites. The results show that the proposed architecture can reduce the control latency and guarantee the stability of the control message under high-load cases.