Definition and analysis of a reactive congestion control scheme for application to satellite switched networks

A system architecture for satellite communications is outlined. The proposed architecture includes an on-board switch performing circuit and packet switching and implements the adaptation of real-time and non-real-time services to the satellite communication link, while achieving statistical advantage. The switching scheme is based upon the separation of the incoming traffic in two components. isochronous (V, e.g. voice and video) and non-isochronous (D, e.g. data). These two components are simultaneously supported by TDMA/TDM. The V traffic is known to be bursty and such burstiness can be used to increase significantly the overall system throughput; also, a potential statistical gain can be reaped by packet switching the D traffic. This work focuses on the definition and analysis of a reactive congestion control scheme for D traffic.