A multi-path routing algorithm of LEO satellite networks based on an improved ant colony system

Geography rectangle is used to reduce signaling overhead of the LEO satellite networks. Moreover, a multi-path routing algorithm based on an improved ant colony system (MPRA-AC) is proposed. Matrix indicating the importance of the link between satellites is introduced into MPRA-AC in order to find the optimal path more quickly. Simulation results show that MPRA-AC reduces the number of iterations to achieve a satisfactory solution. At the same time, the packet delivery ratio of LEO satellite networks when running MPRA-AC and DSR-LSN (dynamic source routing algorithm for LEO satellite networks) is compared. The packet delivery ratio is about 7.9% lower when running DSR-LSN. Moreover, because of the mechanism of active load balancing of MPRA-AC, simulation results show that MPRA-AC outperforms DSR-LSN in link utilization when data packets are transmitted in the networks.