Performance evaluation of ARQ operations with inter-satellite links

This paper investigates ARQ operation in a satellite communications system with inter-satellite links. The satellite is considered to have on-board processing (OBP) capability which differs from a conventional bent-pipe satellite system. Throughput efficiency is derived for OBP ARQ and compared to bent-pipe ARQ. A general scenario with multiple inter-satellite links is examined. Both noiseless feedback channel and noisy feedback channel cases are considered. Analytical and simulation results show significant throughput gain with OBP ARQ compared to bent-pipe ARQ.