DSN Wide Area Network Architecture, Capacity and Performance

This paper discusses the architecture of the wide
area network that connects key communications facilities
within the National Aeronautic and Space Administration
(NASA) Deep Space Network (DSN). Several considerations
are given to the design of this wide area network to ensure a
timely, reliable, and secure data delivery between the mission
users and their spacecraft. The network star configuration
simplifies data delivery to users and minimizes operational
cost. The dual-path connections maximize the system
reliability, with geographical diversity in data routing to avoid
single point of failure. Data encryption enhances the
protection of mission users’ data. The system bandwidth is
determined by balancing the needs to minimize the operating
bandwidth cost and to have sufficient bandwidth to be able to
deliver data to all users within the required. The DSN uses a
class base weighted fair queuing (CBWFQ) method in its data
delivery. This scheme guarantees a minimum bandwidth to
each class of users and allows users to also access any unused
bandwidth by other groups. The paper will also show
performance of system reliability and bandwidth margin.