Implementation of an Alternative LEO Satellite Orbit Model in space_Veins

In order to provide low-latency high-throughput Internet access all over the world, companies like SpaceX, Amazon, and OneWeb currently deploy and maintain Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations. Thousands of small satellites orbit Earth at an altitude of roughly 500km. Such a system is perfect for supporting vehicular networks by means of providing Internet access even in regions in which cellular communication technologies like LTE or 5G are not available. For evaluating LEO satellite supported vehicular networks, the simulator Space_Veins is currently developed by us. It integrates LEO satellites in a Veins simulation to simulate Space-Air-Ground Integrated Networks. The current implementation of space_Veins makes use of the SGP4 model to calculate LEO satellite trajectories. One of the limitations of the SGP4 model is that SGP4 can only model existing LEO satellites.

Goals of the thesis

In order to use space_Veins for LEO satellite constellation design, space_Veins must have the capability to simulate artificial LEO satellite constellations. To support this functionality, the goal of this work is the implementation of an alternative mobility model. Jaeckel, Raschkowski and Thieley [1] describe the mathematical model of a LEO satellite orbit model whose main factor is Earth’s attraction for the orbital motion. The complete trajectory of a LEO satellite can be calculated with six orbital parameters. Using this mobility model, the simulation of artificial LEO satellite constellations is possible The work is concluded by a simulation study comparing the SGP4 model and the model described by Jaeckel, Raschkowski and Thieley.

Basically, the following steps need to be performed:

• Get familiar with the existing implementation
• Implement the LEO satellite orbit model described by Jaeckel, Raschkowski and Thieley
• Conduct a simulation study comparing the SGP4 model and the model described by Jaeckel, Raschkowski and Thieley

Keywords

C++, Network Simulation, Vehicular Networking, LEO Satellite Constellation, Space-Air-Ground Integrated Networks

Literature

[1] S. Jaeckel, L. Raschkowski and L. Thieley, “A 5G-NR Satellite Extension for the QuaDRiGa Channel Model,” Proceedings of IEEE European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC 2022 & 6G Summit), Grenoble, France, 2022, pp. 142-147, doi: 10.1109/EuCNC/6GSummit54941.2022.9815679.

[2] Mario Franke and Christoph Sommer, “Toward Space-Air-Ground Integrated Network Simulation with 4D Topologies,” Proceedings of 19th IEEE/IFIP Conference on Wireless On demand Network Systems and Services (WONS 2024), Chamonix, France, January 2024. https://www.cms-labs.org/bib/franke2023toward/

Contact

• M. Franke
• C. Sommer