Tunneling-based Multi-path Routing Mechanism in Packet-Switched Non-Geostationary Satellite Networks

A new tunneling-based multi-path routing mechanism tailored for the packet-switched non-geostationary (NGEO) satellite networks is proposed and evaluated. The proposed routing mechanism exploits both the predictable topology and inherent multi-path property of the NGEO satellite networks to construct the tunnels between satellites. The ingress satellite distributes the traffic along the tunnels to the egress satellite while the egress satellite sends the feedback packets periodically along the tunnels. The maximum link utilization along each tunnel is retrieved via the feedback packet, thus the ingress satellite could form a partial global view of the network congestion status and adaptively move the traffic from the over-utilized tunnels to the under-utilized tunnels. The simulation results corroborate the improved performance of the proposed mechanism compared with the existing in the literature, and also verify the proved convergence property corresponding to the Wardrop equilibria.