A geographical location based satellite selection scheme for a novel constellation composed of quasi-geostationary satellites

In order to realize the dream of global broadband coverage, the need for satellite communication systems has grown rapidly during the last few years. Several low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), and geostationary (GEO) satellite constellations have been thus proposed in the recent literature. However, these constellations either require a potential number of satellites or are unable to provide data transmission with high elevation angles. This paper proposes a new satellite constellation composed of quasi geostationary satellites. The main advantage of the constellation is in its ability to provide global coverage with a significantly small number of satellites while, at the same time, maintaining high elevation angles. Since end-terminals can be simultaneously covered by plural satellites in the proposed constellation, a scheme is proposed to select the most appropriate satellite for communication. The selection is based on the geographical location information of end-terminals. The efficiency of the proposed scheme is verified through a set of simulations. Simulation results reveal the good performance of the proposed method in reducing the delay, the delay variation, and ultimately improving the overall quality of service.