Green Traffic Engineering for Satellite Networks Using Segment Routing Flexible Algorithm

Abstract: Large-scale low-Earth-orbit (LEO) constellations demand routing that simultaneously minimizes energy, guarantees delivery under congestion, and meets latency requirements for time-critical flows. We present a segment routing over IPv6 (SRv6) flexible algorithm (Flex-Algo) framework that consists of three logical slices: an energy-efficient slice (Algo 130), a high-reliability slice (Algo 129), and a latency-sensitive slice (Algo 128). The framework provides a unified mixed-integer linear program (MILP) that combines satellite CPU power, packet delivery rate (PDR), and end-to-end latency into a single objective, allowing a lightweight software-defined network (SDN) controller to steer traffic from the source node. Emulation of Telesat's Lightspeed constellation shows that, compared with different routing schemes, the proposed design reduces the average CPU usage by 73%, maintains a PDR above 91% during traffic bursts, and decreases urgent flow delay by 18 ms between Ottawa and Vancouver. The results confirm Flex-Algo's value as a slice-based traffic engineering (TE) tool for resource-constrained satellite networks.