Inter-satellite token ring Ad hoc network technology for micro-nano satellite cluster collaboration

Abstract

With the rapid increase of satellite formation network demand, inter-satellite link technology has become a research hot-spot issue of space-based Ad hoc network. Token ring protocol is a mature networking protocol for LAN, which has been widely used in Ad hoc networks. As a non-compete protocol, it can effectively solve the problem of channel access control and avoid the problems of hidden and exposed nodes in wireless communication. Based on token ring protocol, we proposed an inter-satellite token ring Ad hoc protocol, and its state transfer mechanism, network access process, leaving network process, and frame type are discussed in detail. We determined the hardware which is composed of SoC platform of Zyqn7000 series and AD9361, and conducted relevant performance analysis in combination with the specific micro-nano satellite cluster geometry. By using the inter-satellite wireless self-organizing token ring protocol, the networking time of the 15 satellites in this cluster is less than 10s, and the end-to-end delay of the satellite network is controlled in seconds. In addition, the protocol supports new nodes to enter the network and fault nodes to leave the network, which greatly improves the network flexibility.