On Dense LEO Constellation Design for Intersatellite Interference Mitigation

The deployment of low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellations, combined with intersatellite link (ISL) technology, will drive the development of future sixth-generation (6G) and Satellite Internet of Things (SIoT). However, the deployment of a large number of LEO satellites and corresponding ISLs intensifies the spectrum resource scarcity in space, which may result in severe ISL interference (ISLI). Therefore, this article proposes a theoretical framework for optimal design of LEO satellite constellations to mitigate ISLI. Specifically, the system average signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SA-SINR) metric is introduced to depict ISLI, and deterministic analysis expression for SA-SINR is derived. Meanwhile, an integral merging algorithm (IMA) is proposed to accurately calculate the ground coverage area of satellite networks, considering the need to cover ground users in a wide distribution range. Then, the optimal constellation design issue is formulated into a mathematical multiobjective optimization problem, and an improved particle swarm optimization (PSO) scheme is designed to solve it. Simulation results show that the constellation designed based on the proposed approach outperforms the existing Starlink and OneWeb constellations in terms of ISLI and coverage performances, validating the effectiveness of our proposal.