Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) for LED-based Visible Light Inter-Satellite Communications

Efficient multiple access (MA) schemes are one of the major components in enabling Visible Light Communication among multiple small satellites with the aim of optimizing throughput and lifetime of the network. Small satellites are becoming a popular choice for satellite missions involving multiple satellites due to their relatively low costs of production and deployment as well as improvement in temporal and spatial resolution which results in enhanced quality of data from these missions. These satellite missions involve communications among multiple satellites deployed as a wireless sensor network. Visible light communication using LEDs is preferred for inter-satellite communication due to the higher data rates it delivers. Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access has the potential of delivering high throughput relative to other multiple access schemes with Visible Light Communications. In this work, the feasibility of Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) is investigated for a cluster of small satellites with the aim of maintaining high throughput. Simulation results show a BER performance of 10^-6 which is required for stable communications at a minimum transmit power of about 12W. This paves way for further development in aspects of multiple access involving VLC among small satellites.