Planet-Scale IoT Connectivity via LEO Satellites

Abstract

Direct-to-LEO Satellite (DtS) is widely touted as the path to global IoT connectivity, yet its real-world performance remains opaque. We present the first large-scale, in-the-wild measurement of DtS using one of the world's largest operational satellite IoT networks. Our findings overturn a popular belief: DtS capacity is not the pressing issue. Instead, DtS today is held back by low throughput, long-tail latency, and poor energy sustainability—problems that fundamentally limit practical adoption. We pinpoint the architectural and protocol-level causes behind these bottlenecks, revealing systemic inefficiencies across today's DtS designs. Guided by these insights, we redesign the DtS protocol with three drop-in enhancements: a NACK-driven reliability strategy that unlocks higher throughput, a flow-control mechanism that trims long-tail delays, and a fine-grained sleep management that cuts wasted energy. We validate the redesigned protocol through both testbed experiments and live production deployments, demonstrating 2.1× higher throughput, 52% fewer long-tail latencies, and 38% energy reduction.