Rate-Splitting Multiple Access for GEO-LEO Coexisting Satellite Systems: A Traffic-Aware Throughput Maximization Precoder Design

The frequency coexistence between geostationary orbit (GEO) and low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems is expected to be a promising approach for relieving spectrum scarcity. However, it is essential to manage mutual interference between GEO and LEO satellite systems for frequency coexistence. Specifically, in-line interference, caused by LEO satellites moving near the line-of-sight path between GEO satellite and GEO users (GUs), can significantly degrade GEO system throughput. This paper put forth a novel rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA) with a super-common message for GEO-LEO coexisting satellite systems (CSS). By employing a super-common message that GUs can decode, GUs can mitigate the in-line interference by successive interference cancellation (SIC). Moreover, we formulate a traffic-aware throughput maximization (TTM) problem to satisfy the heterogeneous traffic demands of users by minimizing total unmet throughput demands (or user dissatisfaction). By doing so, the TTM precoder can be flexibly adjusted according to the interference leakage from LEO satellites to GUs and target traffic demands. Numerical results confirm that our proposed method ensures seamless connectivity even in the GEO-LEO in-line interference regime under imperfect channel state information (CSI) at both the transmitter and receiver.