Spatial and Temporal Correlation of Interference in a Narrow Multibeam LEO Satellite Random Access Network

Abstract

Interference is a limiting factor in the emerging dense low Earth orbit (LEO) networks. In the LEO network, the interference is spatially and temporally correlated. At narrow-beam LEO base stations (BSs), spatial interference can vary significantly, and multipath fading introduces temporal variation. While developing novel stochastic geometry analysis in a multibeam scenario, we explore spatio-temporal interference correlation in the LEO uplink. We derive a closed-form expression for the spatio-temporal interference correlation coefficient. As an application of the analysis, we show that the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) entails significant spatial clustering, which is especially prevalent if the beams are near-Gaussian, i.e., have weak side lobes and/or the side lobe interference/inter-cell interference is small, and large cell sizes. In this regard, we demonstrate that an appropriately designed grant-free random access scheme, particularly slotted ALOHA, can mitigate spatial SIR clustering over the beams while preserving average throughput. Furthermore, we propose a novel gamma distribution model for the interference power distribution and a Lomax distribution model for the SIR.