Multibeam Management and Resource Allocation for LEO Satellite-Assisted IoT Networks

Abstract

Multibeam low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication is a promising solution for providing high-data rate and wide area coverage. Therefore, satellite communication is introduced into Internet of Things (IoT) networks to support large-scale connectivity. In the satellite communication system, multibeam management and power control are challenging issues because interbeam interference severely affects system performance and power consumption influences the battery life of the satellite. Thus, traditional LEO satellite systems mainly focus on minimizing a capacity-demand gap to develop an effective power reduction algorithm. In contrast to this approach, in this article, we present a theoretical analysis of the optimal conditions for minimizing the transmit power of the satellite while satisfying the traffic demands of users in multibeam LEO satellite-assisted IoT networks. Based on this analysis, we propose algorithms for user-beam association, beam pattern selection, timeslot scheduling, and power allocation to minimize the transmit power while satisfying the traffic demands. In addition, we provide low-complexity algorithms for power minimization to reduce the computational complexity. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed methods outperform the conventional schemes in terms of power consumption, capacity-demand gap, and computational complexity.