Performance evaluation of reactive congestion control for onboard satellite switching networks

Future satellite communication networks will include onboard satellite switching systems. In order for these systems to cope with the multi-priority packet switched traffic that comes from ISDN services, some form of flow control must be implemented.;This thesis compares three different reactive congestion control schemes proposed for use with low priority (delay and loss insensitive) traffic. These schemes are: 1-bit (ON-OFF) signaling, based on buffer fullness levels; 2-bit signaling, based on buffer fullness levels; and 2-bit signaling, based on buffer arrival rates.;A simulation tool has been developed for the performance analysis of onboard satellite switching networks. This tool enables researchers to investigate an onboard satellite switching network under a wide variety of satellite, ground station, up-link protocol, congestion control, and traffic configurations.;Using a combination of the simulation tool and numerical analysis, the performance of the three congestion control schemes is compared. The 2-bit rate-based scheme is found to have the best combination of cell-loss, throughput, and stability characteristics. Detailed performance results of this scheme are obtained.