Statistical QoS Provisioning Architecture for 6G Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Networks

TL;DR

This work addresses QoS provisioning for 6G satellite-terrestrial integrated networks (STIN) under mURLLC requirements, where data freshness (AoI), delay, and reliability are critical and finite-blocklength coding governs performance. It develops a statistics-based framework using large deviations principles to define and relate delay-bound, peak AoI-bound, and decoding error-bound QoS exponents, all within HARQ-enabled finite-blocklength transmission. The authors introduce new metrics, including the delay-QoS exponent $ heta_{ ext{delay}}$, the peak-AoI bounded QoS exponent $ heta_{ ext{AoI}}$, and the error-rate bounded QoS exponent $ heta_{ ext{error}}$, and provide models for AoI and end-to-end delay under HARQ; they validate the concepts with simulations showing STIN advantages and the impact of HARQ and blocklength on QoS violation probabilities. The results offer practical guidance for designing 6G STIN systems that meet stringent mURLLC requirements by balancing queuing, transmission, and propagation delays, data freshness, and reliability in realistic satellite links.

Abstract

The emergence of massive ultra-reliable and low latency communications (mURLLC) as a category of time/reliability-sensitive service over 6G networks has received considerable research attention, which has presented unprecedented challenges. As one of the key enablers for 6G, satellite-terrestrial integrated networks (STIN) have been developed to offer more expansive connectivity and comprehensive 3D coverage in space-aerial-terrestrial domains for supporting 6G mission-critical mURLLC applications while fulfilling diverse and rigorous quality of service (QoS) requirements. In the context of these mURLLC-driven satellite services, data freshness assumes paramount importance, as outdated data may engender unpredictable or catastrophic outcomes. To effectively measure data freshness in satellite-terrestrial integrated communications, age of information (AoI) has recently surfaced as a new dimension of QoS metric to support time-sensitive applications. It is crucial to design new analytical models that ensure stringent and diverse QoS metrics bounded by different key parameters, including AoI, delay, and reliability, over 6G satellite-terrestrial integrated networks. However, due to the complicated and dynamic nature of satellite-terrestrial integrated network environments, the research on efficiently defining new statistical QoS schemes while taking into account varying degrees of freedom has still been in their infancy. To remedy these deficiencies, in this paper we develop statistical QoS provisioning schemes over 6G satellite-terrestrial integrated networks in the finite blocklength regime. Particularly, we firstly introduce and review key technologies for supporting mURLLC. Secondly, we formulate a number of novel fundamental statistical-QoS metrics in the finite blocklength regime. Finally, we conduct a set of simulations to evaluate our developed statistical QoS schemes.

Figures (6)

• Figure 1: The system model for the satellite-terrestrial integrated wireless networks using fast HARQ protocol in the finite blocklength regime
• Figure 2: The end-to-end delay versus the blocklength using HARQ in the finite blocklength regime.
• Figure 3: The statistical QoS provisioning metrics for the controlling functions over satellite-terrestrial integrated networks.
• Figure 4: The framework of statistical diverse QoS provisioning for downlink satellite-terrestrial integrated networks.
• Figure 5: The peak AoI vs. the number of GBSs for our proposed satellite-terrestrial integrated networks.