Link Performance Analysis for a Proposed Future Architecture of the Air Force Satellite Control Network

摘要

The Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) is a worldwide network of ground stations that support a wide variety of users from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The network performs tracking, telemetry, and commanding (TT&C) for these varied users. Users, located at Satellite Operations Centers (SOC), must compete for time on the AFSCN. This thesis demonstrates how to predict satellite link performance, specifically by users of the AFSCN. It will also demonstrate how users might use this capability to save spacecraft power. A tool was created called the AFSCN Link Predictor (LP) which predicts BER across a future contact. The design of the AFSCN LP and a proposed modification to the AFSCN using DoD Architecture Framework (DoDAF) was accomplished. A simulation, using this tool, was conducted that demonstrates the utility of performance prediction for representative low, medium, and high earth orbiting spacecraft communicating with two geographically separated ground stations.