Quality of Service Control

In order to optimize performance, Quality of Service control protocols must be decided upon and implemented to measure data rate, latency, delay jitter, data loss, energy consumption, reliability and throughput efficiency from one node to another within an FSO (Free Space Optics) network. QoS (Quality of Service) classes under consideration by NASA include:

  • Latency-intolerant, High availability wherein high priority data is transferred from the user platform to the ground via relay satellite as RF (Radio Frequency) data transfer links become available.
  • Latency-intolerant, Lower availability wherein routine priority data is transferred from the user platform to the ground via relay satellite as optical data transfer links become available.
  • Latency-tolerant, guaranteed delivery wherein routine data is transferred subject to availability from the user platform to the ground via relay satellite.  Store and forward capabilities are utilized.