Constellation Configuration Optimization Method for User Distribution Characteristics of LEO Satellite Networks

Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellite networks are a hotspot in the communication industry as they can provide global high-capacity and low-latency communication services. However, the constellation system’s high construction cost and limited resources like computation and storage, coupled with the uneven distribution of ground communication users, make it essential to optimize the constellation configuration to match the uneven communication needs of different regions. This paper focuses on the Walker-Delta configuration constellation and uses a global approximate equal-area partition method to establish the terrestrial communication population distribution model. A constellation configuration optimization method is proposed to match the uneven distribution of global communication users. This paper mathematically characterizes the relationship between the change rule of the constellation’s coverage with latitude and the orbital parameters to obtain the model of the visible satellite number for ground users at any latitude under any constellation configuration. The terrestrial communication population distribution model is constructed based on global population data, and the Spearman correlation coefficient (SCC) is used to measure the match between the constellation coverage performance and the global communication user distribution. With the constellation coverage model, this paper optimizes the constellation configuration. Compared with the core layer of Starlink phase I, the SCC of the optimized constellation proposed in this paper is improved by 29.5%. A program simulation is carried out, and the results indicate that the network access capacity of the optimized constellation is improved by 12.6% compared to the Starlink phase I. The load balancing degree is improved by 25.9%, and the packet loss rate is reduced by 66.6%.