Spatial Grid-Based Position Calculation Method for Satellite-Ground Communication Links

Abstract

With the rapid development of global satellite constellation clusters and the popularity of ground-based intelligent terminals, the interconnection between large-scale low Earth orbit satellites and ground base stations has become more frequent. The calculation of satellite position requires a large number of floating point square calculations and coordinate system conversions, with high computational complexity and long computation time. Based on the grid encoding method of GeoSOT, we propose a GeoSOT-based grid calculation for a satellite-ground position (GCSGP) model. We use binary bit operations instead of complex topological operations and floating point calculations, and use grid distance calculations instead of existing angle calculations. Thus, the relative positions of satellites to the ground can be quickly calculated and thus connected to more suitable satellites quickly. The results of the grid calculation were verified by simulation experiments. The calculation speed was improved by about 82% compared with the traditional method. The test accuracy error of the 10-level grid at a terminal 45° inclination was less than 1% at all heights, and the maximum error of the 10-level grid within a 10–45° inclination was 7.2% at 10,000 km altitude, which provides theoretical support for the subsequent grid space calculation.