A New Packet Scheduling Algorithm in Satellite LTE Networks

This paper proposes a new packet scheduling algorithm for a satellite Long Term Evolution (LTE) network which adopts MIMO technology. The Satellite LTE air interface will provide global coverage and hence complement its terrestrial counterpart in the provision of mobile services to users across the globe. A packet scheduling algorithm is very crucial towards actualizing an effective utilization of the limited available resources in satellite LTE networks. Hence, the need for an effective packet scheduling algorithm cannot be overemphasized. The aim of this paper is to propose a new scheduling algorithm tagged QoS-Aware Fair (QAF) Scheduler that will provide a good trade-off among Quality of Service (QoS), fairness and throughput. The newly proposed scheduler is compared to existing ones through simulations and various performance indices have been used. A land mobile dual-polarized GEO satellite system has been considered for this work.