Load Balancing Routing Algorithm for <scp>LEO</scp> Satellite Networks Based on Ant Colony Optimization

ABSTRACT To address the problem of the unbalanced load and optimize the traffic distribution of large‐scale low earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks, this paper proposes a load‐balancing routing algorithm for LEO satellite networks based on ant colony optimization. The algorithm establishes the global optimal initial path through the improved ant colony algorithm to bypass the network bottleneck, makes local adjustments to cope with burst traffic changes to avoid congestion, and optimizes the “inferior” paths through regular rerouting to improve the overall network performance. The results show that the algorithm performs well in terms of packet loss rate, throughput, and load balancing, which can effectively alleviate the link utilization imbalance problem and provide a more stable and efficient service for the satellite network. Among them, the packet loss rate is reduced by 7.8%, and the load distribution index is improved by 30%.