A novel routing design in the IP‐based GEO/LEO hybrid satellite networks

Summary The past few years have witnessed the prosperity in the mobile Internet. The increased traffic with diverse QoS requirements calls for a more capable and flexible infrastructure. The satellite systems with global coverage capability can be used as the backbone network to interconnect autonomous systems worldwide. In this context, routing data in the satellite networks is of great importance considering the integration of the satellite networks with the terrestrial Internet protocol networks. This paper provides a systematic routing design in the geostationary orbit/low earth orbit (LEO) hybrid satellite networks. We first give the description of the architecture of the geostationary orbit/LEO satellite networks based on which the user mobility management mechanism is proposed. The core idea of the user mobility management mechanism lies in the division of the earth surface, which results in the separation of the user and the satellite segment along with the separation of the user identifier and locator. We then give an analysis of the division of the earth surface. Based on the separation of the user and the satellite segment, the hop‐constrained adaptive routing mechanism with load balancing capability is proposed. The simulations on an Iridium‐like LEO satellite network further document and confirm the positive characteristics of the proposed routing mechanism. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Based on the division of the Earth surface, the geostationary orbit/low earth orbit hybrid satellite network is able to achieve the separation of the user layer and the satellite segment along with the separation of the user identifier and locator, which greatly facilitates the user mobility management in the satellite networks. The proposed hop‐constrained adaptive routing mechanism can then be applied to realize the load balancing in the low earth orbit satellite segment.