Resource Dimensioning of Broadband Satellite Return Networks Affected by Spatially-Correlated Rain Fade

Rain attenuation is a major concern in satellite links operating in Ka-band, and fade mitigation comes at the expense of higher satellite resource consumption, such as bandwidth and power. An accurate estimation of these resources is essential for the satellite service providers' overall service pricing. However, the spatial correlation of rain fade introduces a high level of model complexity, such that its impact on resource consumption is currently unknown. This article proposes a satellite resource dimensioning process that accounts for such a correlation. First, broadband satellite networks and service level agreements are introduced along with existing dimensioning techniques. Then, a resource demand model is presented, from a single terminal to a system-wide point of view. Subsequently, the satellite resource dimensioning problem is formulated as a quantile estimation problem. A Monte Carlo process is proposed to solve the problem for a given relative confidence interval using spatially correlated rain fade sample generators. Finally, residential and enterprise broadband satellite simulation scenarios are thoroughly presented and numerical results are provided. Comparing these results against optimistic (independent) and pessimistic (fully correlated) rain fade assumptions found in existing dimensioning techniques, the proposed method shows that these techniques can be underestimated by up to 70% or overestimated by up to 60% of the satellite resource consumption.