Carleton University

Purpose

In ground networks, when a user moves from one network to another or between the domains of a single network, the handover management process handles the user connection to the network. The state-of-the-art mobility management protocols provide seamless handover and keep the user connection continuous when the user mobility is at low speed. In satellite networks the handover management faces two challenges: 1) The very high speed of the satellites, and 2) the absence of fixed network nodes to handle the handover process. Through the use of machine learning (ML) techniques, promising improvements will be achieved in the handover management process of satellite networks. As satellites might move in groups (swarm operation), there is a need to handle their handover as a group. The proposed approaches will aim to reduce the handover process delays and control messages overhead.