Minimizing the Installation Cost of Ground Stations in Satellite Networks: Complexity, Dynamic Programming and Approximation Algorithm

In this letter, we study the optimum selection of ground stations (GSs) in RF/optical satellite networks (SatNets) order to minimize overall installation cost under an outage probability requirement, assuming independent weather conditions between sites. First, show that optimization problem can be formulated as a binary-linear-programming problem, and then give formal proof its NP-hardness. Furthermore, design dynamic-programming algorithm pseudo-polynomial complexity with global guarantee well efficient (polynomial-time) approximation provable performance on distance achieved objective value from optimum. Finally, proposed algorithms is verified through numerical simulations.