A 3-D Energy-Harvesting-Aware Routing Scheme for Space Nanosatellite Networks

Space wireless networks composed of a large number of low-cost miniaturized nanosatellites enable many promising astronautical applications such as the distributed and cooperative sensing. Data collection via multihop relay is critical for nanosatellite networks. However, due to the small size of onboard solar panels and limited attitude control, energy harvesting (EH) capability of nanosatellites is quite low and unstable. In addition, the space networks have 3-D topologies due to various orbit altitudes. In this paper, we propose a novel 3-D EH-aware routing (3DEHR) scheme for nanosatellite networks. The main idea is to establish the 3-D artificial potential field (APF) based on the EH capabilities and geographic positions of neighboring nanosatellites. A nanosatellite node determines the next hop among its neighbors based on the composite force direction obtained from the APF for data forwarding. We also design the methods in 3DEHR to solve the routing void problem and to circumvent sensitive nodes such as malicious satellites. Simulation results show that 3DEHR outperforms the existing routing schemes in hop stretch and packet delivery rate. Since the routing paths are planned based on the EH capabilities of nanosatellites, the harvested energy in the network is fully utilized and the network lifetime is extended. 3DEHR is suitable for nanosatellite networks in space and other 3-D ad hoc networks with dynamic EH capabilities and topologies.