Waypoint segment routing algorithm for LEO satellite network

Satellite communication, especially low earth orbit satellites, an important part of the space-air-ground integrated network, is a promising solution to support global coverage and reliable communication. However, the originally connected links will be off, when the satellites move into polar regions. In addition, the condition of the path broken will dramatically increase with the number of satellites increasing. Thus, it is a continually considerable challenge to design an efficient and stationary routing algorithm for intra-satellites. This paper presents a waypoint segment routing algorithm to realise persistent routes when the satellites move into polar regions. The waypoint selection problem is modelled and solved in stages. One of the source-based routing algorithms, segment routing, is applied in low earth orbit satellite network to provide stable, efficient and reliable packets forwarding. By adding the selected waypoints into the segment list of the segment routing, the next-snapshot broken links can be avoided. Based on the proposed waypoint segment routing algorithm, the problem of the path broken can be effectively solved. By comparing the packet loss, the delay and the delay jitter of the satellite simulation networks, the proposed algorithm is preferable to the popular optimised link-state routing algorithm for the satellite mega-constellation networks.