A Method for Calculating the Probability Distribution of Interference Involving Mega-Constellations

In recent years, the mega-constellation programs represented by StarLink have been proposed successively. Mega-constellations compose of far more satellites than traditional constellations and possess more complex constellation configurations, which leads to a sharp increase in the calculation of probability distribution of interference. In this paper, we propose a new method to reduce the computational amount. For the satellite communication system whose operating mode and communication parameters have been determined, the interference value is only related to the position distribution of satellites in different constellations relative to the earth station. Hence, the probability distribution of inter-constellation interference value can be solved by deriving the probability of diverse constellations satellites’ position relative to the earth station. On basis of this, we calculate the occurrence probability of different constellation snapshots and the interference value between snapshots of different constellations in turn. Furthermore, we can use the joint probability of constellations’ satellite distribution to evaluate the probability distribution of interference between mega-constellations. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves the same accuracy as the traditional method with higher computation efficiency, and the occurrence probability of maximum interference value can be obtained deterministically, which is suitable for the interference evaluation involving mega-constellations. © 2021, Chinese Society of Astronautics.