Performance Evaluation of Selection Strategies for Inter-Satellite Paths in Walker-Delta Constellations

A study on the impact of path selection strategies on latency and path churn in LEO satellite constellations

Marvin Felix Braun; Moritz Flüchter; Michael Menth· 2026· DOI 10.48550/arXiv.2606.23135

The core problem

In Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations, communication between a user terminal (UT) and a gateway (GW) is carried over a multi-hop satellite path. As the constellation rotates around Earth, the path must be reselected repeatedly from a set of candidates to maintain connectivity. The choice of path selection strategy affects key performance metrics: path length in terms of Euclidean distance and hop count, path-change rate (churn), and rate of used links. These metrics influence communication latency and the complexity of control and resource management. This paper investigates the impact of path selection strategies within a single shell of a Walker-Delta constellation comprising 1,156 satellites. The authors define three heuristic strategies and evaluate them across a large set of UT-GW scenarios.

The evaluation reveals that the choice of path selection strategy significantly impacts both latency-related metrics and path churn. Key findings include: - **Path Length**: The Shortest Path strategy minimizes Euclidean distance but may result in higher hop counts. Conversely, the Minimum Hop strategy reduces hop count but may increase Euclidean distance. - **Path-Change Rate**: The Stable Path strategy achieves the lowest path-change rate, reducing control overhead, but at the cost of longer paths. - **Link Utilization**: Different strategies lead to varying distributions of link usage, affecting resource management complexity. Overall, there is a trade-off between minimizing latency (shorter paths, fewer hops) and minimizing churn (fewer path changes). The results show that no single strategy dominates all metrics; the optimal choice depends on the specific requirements of the system.

In Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations, communication between a user terminal (UT) and a gateway (GW) is carried over a multi-hop satellite path. As the constellation rotates around Earth, the path must be reselected repeatedly from a set of candidates to maintain connectivity. The choice of path selection strategy affects key performance metrics: path length in terms of Euclidean distance and hop count, path-change rate (churn), and rate of used links. These metrics influence communication latency and the complexity of control and resource management. This paper investigates the impact of path selection strategies within a single shell of a Walker-Delta constellation comprising 1,156 satellites. The authors define three heuristic strategies and evaluate them across a large set of UT-GW scenarios.

The study focuses on a Walker-Delta constellation with 1,156 satellites in a single shell. Path candidates are generated between a UT and a GW based on the constellation topology. Three heuristic path selection strategies are defined:

The study highlights the importance of path selection in LEO satellite constellations. The trade-offs observed have implications for system design: - For latency-sensitive applications, strategies that minimize Euclidean distance or hop count are preferable, but they may increase path churn, leading to more frequent control signaling and resource reallocation. - For systems where control overhead is a concern, the Stable Path strategy reduces churn but may introduce additional latency. The authors suggest that adaptive strategies could be developed to balance these trade-offs dynamically. Future work could extend the analysis to multi-shell constellations and consider additional metrics such as energy consumption and interference. The findings are relevant for the design of inter-satellite routing protocols and resource management in emerging LEO mega-constellations.

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