Research on Inter-satellite Topology Design and Simulation of Giant LEO Constellation Network with Consistent Pattern

doi:10.16182/j.issn1004731x.joss.25-0006

Abstract

Abstract:

The giant low earth orbit (LEO) constellation network uses inter-satellite links to form an inter-satellite topology, realizing the transmission of data between satellites. In order to adapt to the nature of uniform and symmetrical distribution of satellites in the constellation, this paper used a consistent connection pattern between satellites to construct an inter-satellite topology, and by analyzing the arrangement of non-mirror links in the constellation, it was found that the connection method of each link of the satellite itself could be independent of each other, which reduced the simulation complexity and the solution space of the inter-satellite topology. Experiments on several constellations show that the consistent pattern method has a wide range of applicability and can effectively solve the optimal inter-satellite topology under different numbers of inter-satellite links and connection range. The proposed method can yield validated full inter-satellite topologies that can be used as a basis for subsequent network simulations and can support research on a giant constellation network.

Key words: low earth orbit constellation, inter-satellite link, inter-satellite topology with consistent pattern, hop count and latency, constellation simulation

CLC Number:

TP391.9

Li Zhicheng, Liu Shuaijun, Liu Lixiang. Research on Inter-satellite Topology Design and Simulation of Giant LEO Constellation Network with Consistent Pattern[J]. Journal of System Simulation, 2026, 38(3): 687-701.

Figures/Tables 13

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Table 1

Fig. 5

Table 2

Optimal inter-satellite topology evaluations under 3-ISLs

链路距离/km	星间拓扑数	$F 0.3$	$F 0.5$	$F 0.7$
2 000	16	46.40	39.50	32.60
2 500	162	43.00	34.90	26.80
3 000	445	44.85	36.20	27.54
3 500	891	44.85	36.20	27.54

Table 2

Table 3

Optimal inter-satellite topology evaluations under 4-ISLs

链路距离/km	星间拓扑数	$F 0.3$	$F 0.5$	$F 0.7$
2 000	19	37.1	31.9	25.9
2 500	399	36.5	29.5	22.2
3 000	1 481	37.1	29.8	22.3
3 500	3 749	35.5	29.2	21.9

Table 3

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

Fig. 8

Table 4

Inter-satellite topology evaluations of +Grid

星座	平均跳数	平均时延/ms	$F 0.3$	$F 0.5$	$F 0.7$
Starlink S1	23.025	59.465	48.533	41.245	33.957
Starlink S2	20.044	63.236	50.278	41.640	33.002
Kuiper K1	17.152	61.706	48.340	39.429	30.518
Kuiper K2	17.814	64.352	50.390	41.803	31.775

Table 4

Table 5

Optimal topology evaluations under 3-ISLs of each constellation

星座	链路距离/km	星间拓扑数量	$F 0.3$	$F 0.5$	$F 0.7$
Starlink S1	2 000	202	43.25	37.43	29.10
Starlink S1	3 000	994	43.30	34.90	26.20
Starlink S2	3 000	445	44.85	36.20	27.54
Starlink S2	3 500	891	44.85	36.20	27.54
Kuiper K1	2 500	114	41.10	34.00	25.56
Kuiper K1	3 000	346	41.10	34.00	25.56
Kuiper K2	2 500	475	39.70	35.00	26.60
Kuiper K2	3 000	792	39.70	35.00	26.60

Table 5

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星座	高度/km	轨道数	每轨卫星数	卫星数量	倾角/(°)	卫星可见距离/km
Starlink S1	550	72	22	1 584	53.0	5 016
Starlink S2	1 100	32	50	1 600	53.8	7 580
Kuiper K1	630	34	34	1 156	51.9	5 442
Kuiper K2	610	36	36	1 296	42.0	5 339