Performance Evaluation of an Integrated Access Scheme in a Satellite Communication Channel

A method for realizing a circuit and packet integrated access scheme in a satellite communication channel is considered. Two kinds of terminals are assumed, namely, bursty terminals for handling bursty traffic and heavily loaded terminals for long-holdingtime message traffic. In this method, the channel frame is divided into two subframes: one is for bursty terminals, and the other is for heavily loaded terminals. The subframe for heavily loaded terminals is further divided into two subchannels, a reservation subchannel (consisting of small slots) and a message subchannel. The bursty terminals transmit their packets in their dedicated subframes on the slotted ALOHA protocol. The heavily loaded terminal having a message transmits, first of all, a reservation packet in a randomly selected small slot of the reservation subchannel to reserve slots in the coming message subchannels. One slot in the same position of each of the succeeding message subchannels is reserved for the terminal until the end-of-use flag, transmitted from the terminal, is received by the satellite. Mean transmission delays for both kinds of traffic in this method are analytically obtained. We show that there exists an optimal frame length which minimizes mean transmission delay for one kind of traffic while keeping mean transmission delay for the other kind under some permissible value.