Modeling and simulation of broadband satellite networks .I. medium access control for QoS provisioning

Broadband satellite networks will play an important role in future integrated services networks. Satellite networks also present unique challenges in system design related to quality of service (QoS) provisioning. In certain system scenarios, medium access control plays a crucial role in the network's ability to deliver a QoS contract. This article focuses on the applications that we envision will utilize future broadband satellite networks, and detail the various system environments which may exist as well as the means by which medium access control protocols can be used to provide QoS. We focus on one system scenario in particular and provide some simulation results on the performance of demand assigned multiple access techniques.