A Network-Flows-Based Satellite Handover Strategy for LEO Satellite Networks

This letter proposes a satellite handover strategy for the huge low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. As the increasing of the constellation scale and the number of user terminals (UTs), the satellite handover becomes more complicated. Thus, we formulate the network-flows model of the satellite handover, and the handover UTs can access the satellites according to the flow matrix. In the proposed network-flows model, the weighted edges are determined by the requests of UTs and the quality of satellite services. The multiple matching between the satellites and UTs can be determined by calculating the minimum cost and maximum flow of the network-flows. Besides, we propose a modified handover strategy based on network-flows (HSNF) algorithm to enhance the algorithm performance by preventing infinite loop. Finally, the simulations show the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed strategy.