Precoding Algorithms for Single-Satellite LEO Communication Systems

This paper presents an energy-efficient downlink framework for single-satellite LEO systems, addressing chal- lenges from limited power and satellite mobility. A hybrid analog–digital beamforming (HBF) architecture with a fully connected phased array is proposed to reduce RF chain us- age while supporting multi-user coverage. The beamforming is optimized for energy efficiency under practical hardware constraints. A digital beamforming benchmark is first derived using fractional programming, followed by a hybrid algorithm based on alternating and manifold optimization with phase quantization. Simulations show notable energy gains over other schemes from the literature, confirming HBF’s promise for next- generation Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN)