Enhanced IEEE 802.11 MAC Protocol for Precision Formation Flying-Based Distributed Spacecraft

In order to support precision formation flying missions, distributed spacecraft require inter-spacecraft communications with required performance. We present a hierarchical network architecture that supports both time-criticality for updating relative navigation measurements and flexibility for implementing various phases of mission operations. The architecture incorporates a reactive routing protocol with timely topology status, an enhanced IEEE 802.11 media access control protocol meeting the quality of service requirements, and single carrier-frequency domain equalization technique for reducing energy consumption. Our simulation results show that the proposed network architecture provides a fair tradeoff between time-criticality of services and flexibility of network topology among spacecraft.