AstroTimer: Rethinking Non-Access Stratum Timers in LEO Constellations

Abstract

Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations expand 5G coverage to remote regions but differ fundamentally from terrestrial networks due to rapidly changing topologies, fluctuating delays, and constrained onboard resources. Existing 3GPP Non-Access Stratum (NAS) timers, inherited from terrestrial and geostationary (GEO) or medium Earth orbit (MEO) systems, fail to accommodate these dynamics, leading to signaling storms and inefficiency. This paper introduces AstroTimer, a lightweight, adaptive framework for sizing NAS timers based on LEO-specific parameters such as link variability, processing delays, and network-function placement. AstroTimer derives a closed-form timer model with low computational cost and optimizes both watchdog and backoff timers for the 5G registration procedure. Simulation results demonstrate that AstroTimer significantly reduces registration time, retry frequency, and user equipment (UE) energy consumption compared to 3GPP defaults, while preventing signaling overloads. The proposed approach provides an operator-ready foundation for reliable, efficient, and scalable non-terrestrial 5G/6G deployments.