Cross-Layer Forward Packet Scheduling for Emerging Precoded Broadband Multibeam Satellite System

In this paper, we investigate the forward packet scheduling of a broadband GEO multibeam satellite system that aggressively reuses the user link frequency resources, and thus considers the implementation of interference mitigation techniques at the transmitter side to exploit the multi-antenna multiplexing via precoding. The scheduling and the precoding design are closely coupled with each other, making it very challenging to provide a joint optimal solution that can be implemented in practical systems. On the other hand, future broadband satellite systems have to be capable of accommodating heterogeneous services and guarantee their corresponding uneven Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. As a consequence, we propose a novel cross-layer scheduling algorithm which takes into account the physical layer framing together with the modulator and precoding functionality combined with system constraints imposed by QoS requirements in upper layers. The proposed design is compared and validated using numerical results considering a realistic multibeam satellite system.