Enhanced Throughput and Seamless Handover Solutions for Urban 5G-Vehicle C-Band Integrated Satellite-Terrestrial Networks

作者：Hung Nguyen-Kha, Vu Nguyen Ha, Eva Lagunas, Symeon Chatzinotas, Joël Grotz · 发表于：IEEE Transactions on Communications · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1109/tcomm.2025.3591162 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Telecommunications and Broadcasting Technologies、Satellite Communication Systems、IPv6, Mobility, Handover, Networks, Security

This paper investigates downlink transmission in 5G Integrated Satellite-Terrestrial Networks (ISTNs) supporting automotive users (UEs) in urban environments, where base stations (BSs) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites (LSats) cooperate to serve moving UEs over shared C-band frequency carriers. Urban settings, characterized by dense obstructions, together with UE mobility, and the dynamic movement and coverage of LSats pose significant challenges to user association and resource allocation. To address these challenges, we formulate a multi-objective optimization problem designed to improve both throughput and seamless handover (HO). Particularly, the formulated problem balances sum-rate (SR) maximization and connection change (CC) minimization through a weighted trade-off by jointly optimizing power allocation and BS-UE/LSat-UE associations over a given time window. This is a mixed-integer and non-convex problem which is inherently difficult to solve. To solve this problem efficiently, we propose an iterative algorithm based on the Successive Convex Approximation (SCA) technique. Furthermore, we introduce a practical prediction-based algorithm capable of providing efficient solutions in real-world implementations. Especially, the simulations use a <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">realistic 3D map of London</i> and UE routes obtained from the Google Navigator application to ensure practical examination. Thanks...