Cross-layer protocols for satellite communication networks: part II

This issue presents the second of the two-part special topic series, ‘Cross-Layer Protocols for Satellite Communication Networks’. Cross-layer protocols for satellite networks is an emerging research area addressing the major issues of protocol design, analysis and optimization for efficient use of satellite resources and system deployment. The cross-layer design research is an interdisciplinary field, involving system engineering, adaptive coding and modulation, optimization techniques, queuing theory and network protocol design. Traditionally, satellite system architectures are based on layered protocols in which each layer is designed and operated independently with interfaces between layers. The system dynamics representing the interactions is fairly complex due to the existence of different parameters at the different layers. A strict modularity and layer independence may lead to non-optimal performance in IP-based satellite communication systems. Furthermore, the growth of heterogeneous networks entails the need of adaptive actions and a network optimization. This Part II of the special topic series of the International Journal of Satellite Communications and Networking, brings together (a) some of the best papers of the International Workshop on Satellite and Space Communications (IWSSC’05) held in Siena, Italy, during 8–9 September 2005 and (b) invited papers based on the projects, e.g. the Satellite Network of Excellence (SatNEx). All the papers were reviewed by experts in the appropriate areas. As we have received a number of excellent papers that cannot be accommodated in a single issue, it was decided to publish the articles in two parts. Part II of this two-part series consists of six articles covering various aspects of cross-layer protocol design for satellite communication networks. This first article, ‘Call Admission Control for Performance Evaluations for High Capacity GEO Satellite Networks with on Board Cross Connect’ by Rose Hu, Yi Qian, Sastri Kota addresses the cross-layer design of end-to-end call admission control and beam-to-beam connectivity provisioning for a high-capacity multi-beam GEO satellite network with on-board cross-connectivity. The simulation studies for such a satellite network with on-board cross-connect investigate important design and performance issues, e.g. connectivity provisioning, call blocking ratios, indirect call probability, and CAC commitments. The results demonstrate that the on-board cross-connect-based GEO satellite network with the proposed CAC algorithm can provide satisfactory CAC performance and it can be considered as a viable substitute to the on-board switching technique for the purpose of low risk and less complexity. The second article ‘Adaptive Satellite Systems to Support Internet Multimedia’ by Gorry Fairhurst, Matteo Berioli, Gerrit Renker describes a set of signalling methods that facilitate cross-layer interaction and assesses key architectural issues in cross-layer design. This paper includes analytical, simulation and evaluation data for a novel technique based on the UDP-Lite