A New Packet Scheduling Scheme in Satellite HSDPA Networks

Abstract

ABSTRACTSatellite access networks serve as an extension of the terrestrial access networks counterparts to provide services to areas where terrestrial access is not technically or economically viable. This paper proposes a new packet scheduling scheme that is designed for satellite high speed downlink packet access (S-HSDPA) networks using a cross-layer approach. The proposed scheduler uses the channel state information (CSI), queuing factors and application type (QoS factors) in taking scheduling decisions. The performance of the proposed scheduler is favourably compared with other schedulers in literature. This paper also investigates the effect of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) margin that has been introduced to compensate for the propagation delay experienced in GEO satellites in order to ensure an appropriate CSI is used by packet scheduler in the Node B of the S-HSDPA network. The optimal SNR margin that will provide the best performance (capacity) is then computed.