A Shared Satellite Ground Station Using User-Oriented Virtualization Technology

Abstract

With the development of space missions, the increasing communication data volume, the diversity of mission-specific interfaces, and the growing security needs, the costs and system complexity of ground stations have increased. The architecture of the existing ground terminal is outdated and the operation and maintenance are labor-intensive, so the terminal components are unable to meet the demand of multi-satellite TT&C in the future. In this paper, a Shared Satellite Ground Station(SSGS) using user-oriented virtualization technology is proposed for coping with complex multi-satellite TT&C in the future. Based on a pool architecture, SSGS utilizes baseband processor virtualization and software-defined networking to implement resource sharing and a network that fuses high-speed and low-speed data streams with customization control. The case analysis verifies that when SSGS has a virtualization rate greater than 1, the execution rate of tasks is much larger than that of traditional ground stations. The case analysis also verifies that the virtualization rate of current commercial equipment is no less than 1.25 through equipment testing.

Keywords

• Satellite ground station
• baseband processor virtualization
• software-defined network
• TT&C