Cross-Layer Optimization Techniques for Satellite Communications Networks

Current satellite architectures for delivering interactive IP services and broadband connectivity are based on the layered principles of the OSI reference model. There is no denying that the traditional research approach focusing on layer-specific problems faced by satellite architectures within the well-defined bounds of the layered model has been rather fruitful. Wireless-friendly adaptations of major protocols exist today, and state-of-the-art coding and modulation techniques have taken physical layers close to their theoretical performance limits. However, a number of critical issues such as end-to-end fulfillment of service-level agreements, seamless mobility or scalable support for reliable multicast have not yet found optimal solutions by means of independent layer tuning, due to the unique characteristics of satellite links. The modular approach blurs the dynamics of layers interaction with the wireless medium, hindering the overall system performance with redundancy, inefficient resource handling and suboptimal performances. Recent research has thus started to address these problems in a holistic way, by stressing the potential benefits of authorizing information exchanges across layers beyond the scope of the reference model. Multi-layers feedback and the resulting system adaptivity offer multiple possibilities for attuning the protocol stack as a whole, allowing for overall optimization and better integration of satellite links in the increasingly heterogeneous network environment. Cross-layer design has emerged as a promising research area in the satellite and wireless communications fields, characterized by a multi-disciplinary approach involving information theory, network protocol design, optimization techniques, stochastic modeling and advanced signal processing. Since recent cross-layer proposals have started tackling successfully some complex problems that layered architectures do not address properly, next-generation standards and protocols are starting to integrate cross-layer principles de facto. This thesis addresses the error control problem for satellite links from the perspective of cross-layer design. At the crossroads of QoS-related constraints, devices complexity and efficient spectrum use, error control is indeed a key aspect of wireless communications - particularly crucial in the satellite context - where cross-layer enhancements can play an important role. After a thorough introduction to cross-layer design, the first part of this work focuses specifically on the error control strategy of early DVB satellites, where redundancies between the channel decoder and the adaptation layers are set to light in order to propose a joint bandwidth-efficient error control policy. The focus then moves to second-generation DVB satellites and the definition of the novel, IP-centric and cross-layer friendly GSE encapsulation protocol, where results from the aforementioned study were successfully applied. Finally, a whole new cross-layer framework called HERACLES is introduced, offering efficient and overhead-free error correction capabilities for almost any layer of a protocol stack and being patented at the moment of writing these words. The results of the overall work show the strengths of an integrated approach to error control, and open the way for innovative cross-layer mechanisms to be deployed in next-generation communications networks.