Robust Design for NOMA-based Multi-Beam LEO Satellite Internet of Things

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the issue of massive access in a beyond fifth-generation (B5G) multi-beam low earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet of things (IoT) network in the presence of channel phase uncertainty due to channel state information (CSI) conveyance from the devices to the satellite via the gateway. Rather than time division multiple access (TDMA) or frequency division multiple access (FDMA) with multi-color pattern, a new non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) scheme is adopted to support massive IoT distributed over a very wide range. Considering the limited energy on the LEO satellite, two robust beamforming algorithms against channel phase uncertainty are proposed for minimizing the total power consumption in the scenarios of noncritical IoT applications and critical IoT applications, respectively. Both thoeretical analysis and simulation results validate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed algorithms for supporting massive access in satellite IoT.