A fast packet switching satellite communication network

A multibeam fast packet switching satellite communication network serving multiple zones is studied. The synchronous time division multiple access protocol (TDMA) is used in transmitting messages in the uplink channels while the asynchronous time division multiple access protocol (ATDMA) is used in the downlink channels. Moreover, fast packet switching capabilities are assumed on-board the satellite. Alternatives for the architecture of the on-board fast packet switching fabric are considered. The performance of the considered approaches has been derived by theoretical analysis and computer simulations. A novel input queuing technique is also proposed and analyzed to show that it achieves better performance with respect to the classical input queuing approach. Therefore, by means of the novel input queuing approach it is possible to lower the end-to-end delay without increasing the complexity of the on-board equipment.