CubeSat networks: Balancing power with satellite-to-ground data throughput

CubeSats are small satellite platforms which have significantly reduced the cost of access to low Earth orbit over the past decade. Recent CubeSat missions have demonstrated the platform's ability to form in-orbit networks. This work addresses a trade-off unique to CubeSat Networks. CubeSat satellite-to-ground (S2G) communication requires high levels of energy consumption to achieve data rates in the order of kilobytes per second. In comparison, CubeSats are capable of more energy efficient satellite-to-satellite (S2S) communication at rates an order of magnitude above those of S2G communication. This asymmetry underpins this work's trade-off of interest, that of CSN energy use against S2G data throughput. Modifications to a specialized Medium Access Control (MAC) and a MANET routing protocol are proposed to explore this trade-off. This work's modified protocols are developed alongside a simulation of a hypothetical CSN mission using the open-source network simulator, OMNeT++. Proposed MAC protocol energy saving features are shown to decrease CSN energy consumption without a reduction in S2G throughput. Modifications to this work's proposed routing protocol introduces the basic election of a CubeSat dedicated to performing S2G communication. The development of this election approach reveals the potential unsuitability of the use of a dynamic routing protocol alongside an inflexible TDMA based MAC protocol in CSNs.