DVB-RCS Spotbeam Handover Using
Residence Time Estimations in Vehicular
Satellite Networks
Abstract—Satellite systems are viewed as viable access
providers for the growing collective user communities on board
aircrafts, high speed trains, and maritime vessels that expect
communication services while outside the coverage of terrestrial
communication infrastructure. This paper analyses handover
management in vehicular satellite networks with a particular
emphasis on mobility adaptations required by the DVB-RCS
standard. The proposed strategy relies on a distributed positionbased
mechanism for spotbeam handover detection and a
centralised decision. An accurate GPS-derived mobility pattern
description is periodically conveyed via SYNC bursts to the NCC,
which uses estimations of the residual residence time within the
current spotbeam to assign priorities to handover requests. The
NCC implements a threshold-based queuing mechanism to refine
resource assignment and minimise handover failures. Through
an accurate NS-2 modelling of existing DVB-RCS signalling
mechanisms, we show that our handover scheme outperforms
position-based solutions operating a first-come-first-served policy
under different congestion levels and channel conditions. Results
are achieved at no change to the signalling messages that are
already laid out in the DVB-RCS specification.
Index Terms—mobile DVB-RCS, geostationary, handover,
handoff....
http://202.194.20.8/proc/ASMS2008/DATA/B-12-01.PDF