Visual Conditions of Permanent Inter-satellite Links in the Design of Multi-layered Satellite Networks

Inter-satellite links have important effects on the performance of multilayered satellite network.A series of problems,such as route switch and delay jitter,may be caused due to the frequent switch of inter-satellite links. The performance of multilayered satellite networks can be significantly improved by using the permanent inter-satellite links. The relative movement between two circular orbit satellites is analyzed,and the necessary and sufficient condition of permanent inter-satellite links between two circular orbit satellites is given. A satellite with particular parameters,which can be viewable by all satellites of proper Walker constellations all the time,is defined as a full visible satellite. The condition of such constellations' configuration is given,which can be used to design a multilayered satellite network to avoid the frequent switching of inter-satellite links and lower down the complexity of network.