Dynamic Resource Allocation for SATCOM Mobile Terminals in Blockage Environments

To maximize link layer efficiency, future protected military satellite communication networks will be provisioned dynamically as traffic demands and channel conditions vary. As a significant number of terminals supported by the system will be Comm-on-the-Move terminals, which suffer from channel blockage in addition to weather events, dynamic resource allocation requires careful coordination between terminals and the payload. Via an OPNET simulation, protocols that are robust to control message losses yet allow the system to be dynamic and responsive to changes are studied. A transmit-until-acknowledged approach is used for less frequent messages while a periodic-transmit approach is used for more frequent messages. The performance of both constant-rate and TCP-based application traffic in blockage environments over this dynamically allocated network is also evaluated