Optimum Monthly Based Selection of Ground Stations for Optical Satellite Networks

Abstract

Satellite communication networks at optical frequencies have been proposed to provide a very high throughput for backhauling applications. In this letter, the monthly variation of cloud coverage statistics is investigated and exploited for the optimum selection of optical ground stations. Optimization algorithms for the selection of the minimum number of ground stations satisfying the monthly availability requirements of the total network are given. The active ground optical stations per month are calculated. Numerical results of the proposed models are presented.