Analysis of Uncoordinated ISL Networks

This paper considers the potential for communication within a group of independent low earth orbit satellites which are not members of a structured constellation. We assume inter-satellite links are used for all communications. Two models of "uncoordinated" satellite constellations are considered, with satellites locations defined by probability distributions and treated as random variables. Analytical results are given for the mean number of satellites which are visible to each other and so may establish inter-satellite links, plus the mean amount of data that may be transferred per satellite per day, for sample link budget parameters. Simulations are included to investigate some practical constraints. The results indicate that with 6 to 12 uncoordinated satellites, it will generally be possible to form at least one ISL per satellite and that mean data transfers of several GBytes per satellite per day could be achieved with modest ISL payloads.