SIGMA for Seamless Handover in Space

NASA has been interested in having Internet connectivity in space for quite some time. This would allow scientists with direct Internet access to data and devices on the satellites. The rotation of Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites around the Earth result in handover of satellites between ground stations. Two types of handover can be observed in space: Link layer and Network layer. Researchers at The University of Oklahoma and NASA Glenn Research Center have been developing a Seamless IP diversity-based Generalized Mobility Architecture (SIGMA) to ensure smooth handovers of end to end connections between nodes on Earth and satellites. In this paper, we provide a survey of the various types of handovers in the space environment, followed by simulation results of SIGMA handover performance in a space environment.