Software satellite system based on functional partition and functional software definition method

Abstract

The application discloses a software satellite system based on functional partition and a functional software definition method, is based on satellite overall functional resource integration, adopts horizontal integration thought and divides the satellite system into four functional areas of sensing, processing, service and cooperation, and gives the definition and technical implementation scheme of the functional partition. The processing function task is concentrated in one body, is conducive to being realized and supported by software, and other functional areas are designed in an interface universalization mode, a selection mode of plug and play is met, the functional areas are connected through two planes of high-speed optical fiber transmission and low-speed bus control, balanced scheduling and cooperation technology are adopted, and homogeneous resources of the satellite are integrated. The method supports independent technical development of software and hardware, abstracts and gradually solidifies the layering of the architecture, determines the interlayer technical standards, promotes digitization and high integration of modules / components in the architecture, meets universalization and replaceability of all levels and all modules of the satellite, and improves overall optimization effect of satellite development.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the technical field of satellite development, and in particular to a software satellite system based on functional partitioning and a method for defining functional software. Background Technology

[0002] In response to the future application needs of multi-functional satellites for navigation, communication, detection, and reconnaissance, satellite generalization, standardization, modular assembly, and software integration are development trends and inevitable requirements for commercial mass production. Satellite design should facilitate standardized and modular production, improve functional density, reduce redundancy, and multi-functional integration is a necessary condition for development.

[0003] The current basic satellite architecture consists of a general-purpose satellite platform carrying various types of payloads, resulting in various satellite models such as electronic reconnaissance satellites, optical remote sensing satellites, radar remote sensing satellites, communication satellites, and navigation satellites. The platform and payload of these satellites have clear boundaries and are designed and manufactured separately. However, in reality, both the platform and payload resources within a satellite include processing and storage, though their requirements differ. With the rapid development of hardware capabilities, it is entirely possible to achieve coexistence of designs within a unified hardware resource environment by loading different software. Simultaneously, the integration of processing resources has also driven the integration of channel radio frequency and antenna resources, unifying the frequency resource design for platform telemetry, data transmission, communication, remote sensing, and electronic reconnaissance. This is beneficial for meeting the future development trends of satellite generalization, standardization, modular assembly, and software-based architecture. However, the current satellite design model hinders these ideas and cannot effectively realize the envisioned technical solutions. The main drawbacks are as follows:

[0004] 1) The design approach of "platform first, payload second" or "payload first, platform second" artificially creates a fragmented overall design concept, which cannot achieve the optimal design results. For example, if the platform configuration is selected first and the payload is required to conform to the design, unpredictable technical iteration obstacles will be created for the payload system design. Through layer-by-layer implementation, the design difficulty of individual units or components will be greatly increased, the technical implementation will be severely limited, the cost will increase, and the risk will be increased. If the payload is determined first, the platform configuration becomes a special design style. Not only will the overall satellite design be more difficult, but this platform will also lack universality and cannot be used for the design technology promotion of other satellites. It is only suitable for satellites with special functions or those that are large, expensive, and rare.

[0005] 2) The design of multi-functional satellites requires system-level integration. Vertical architecture design cannot achieve a balance between multiple systems. The result of index decomposition will lead to insufficient design margin for some subsystems and excessive design margin for others.

[0006] 3) The vertical design structure of the subsystems fundamentally ignores the ability of technical versatility. Therefore, in the process of developing the subsystems, design duplication, resource overlap and mutual squeezing will inevitably occur, such as the design of processing resources, radio frequency channels and antenna installation space.

[0007] 4) Traditional vertical design architectures have many years of development experience, so the initial indicator system of satellite design is mostly derived from empirical data and theoretical calculations. This is suitable for satellites with single or few payloads, but for multi-payload systems, due to the lack of standard architecture, general models and interfaces, and integrated technology accumulation, it is impossible to achieve optimized design and cannot meet the needs of software and hardware separation and continuous evolution.

[0008] The traditional vertical satellite design architecture can no longer meet the needs of satellite development. Summary of the Invention

[0009] The problem addressed by this invention is: how to overcome the drawbacks of longitudinal satellite design, focusing on maximizing the overall application effectiveness of the satellite, and designing a new architecture for multifunctional integrated software-defined satellite development from the perspective of whole-satellite resource integration. This involves functionally partitioning homogeneous satellite resources to achieve overall resource coordination and functional software definition. It supports independent technological development of software and hardware, ensuring the generalizability and substitutability of each level and module of the satellite, and achieving overall optimization in satellite development.

[0010] Firstly, a functional partition-based software satellite system is provided, comprising: a sensing area, a processing area, and a service area; wherein,

[0011] The sensing area includes an antenna and an optical sensor, used to perform radio frequency transceiver and frequency conversion, broadband signal DA / AD, signal preprocessing and communication interface firmware technology. The sensing area is used to perform data dimensionality reduction, beamforming, waveform signal generation, beam pointing and optical lens parameter setting through preprocessing technology.

[0012] The processing area has signal processing, data processing, data storage, interface modules, and status monitoring functions;

[0013] The service area includes power supply, thermal control, attitude actuators, structural execution and operation mechanisms, providing force, heat and electricity services to the satellite.

[0014] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the software satellite system further includes a coordination zone, which is responsible for information routing, exchange, data sharing, or collaborative work between the satellite and other on-orbit satellites.

[0015] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the software satellite system includes a CAN bus or Ethernet for transmitting control information; the software satellite system also includes optical fiber for high-speed data transmission.

[0016] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the processing area includes multiple general-purpose processing boards, a memory, a backplane, and an interface switching control board. Data interaction between the boards and control flow interaction based on Ethernet are completed through optical fiber. The general-purpose processing boards contain multiple heterogeneous processors, and the multiple heterogeneous processors include at least one of the following: FPGA, DSP, ASIC, CPU, GPU, and NPU.

[0017] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the processing area is used to perform:

[0018] Docker container technology is used for resource virtualization of CPU, GPU, and NPU to enable microservice deployment by container;

[0019] The virtualization of DSP and FPGA processing resources is supported by the dynamic reconfiguration capabilities of DSP and FPGA, and waveform applications are deployed and managed in a dynamic reconfiguration manner.

[0020] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the processing area is specifically used for:

[0021] The waveform application running on the general processing platform is packaged into a Docker image, and the API provided by the Docker engine is called to complete at least one of the following operations: service image loading, container startup, stopping, or deletion.

[0022] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the processing area is specifically used for: packaging waveform applications running on a DSP or FPGA platform into corresponding binary program files, executing the distribution and saving of program bitstreams, and loading and starting the program.

[0023] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the processing area includes a CPU, an FPGA, and a DSP, wherein the CPU is used to run system control and resource scheduling services;

[0024] Before the SAR completes its imaging task, the system control and resource scheduling service is used to configure the relevant parameters of the sensing area antenna and radio frequency channel according to ground user instructions or intelligent autonomous decision instructions, so that the sensor transmitting and receiving antennas work in the SAR imaging service mode. The CPU is also used to run SAR imaging service related components, the FPGA is used to run data windowing components and range compression components, and the DSP is used to run imaging algorithm components.

[0025] After the SAR completes its imaging task, the system control and resource scheduling service is used to delete the SAR imaging service-related components. The CPU is also used to run the source coding service, and the FPGA is used to run the shaping filter component, the physical layer framing component, the symbol mapping component, and the forward error correction coding component.

[0026] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the cooperative area includes an inter-satellite data routing and switching module to realize the transmission and reception of inter-satellite link data;

[0027] If data collaborative processing is required, the application service function software for data collaborative processing is deployed in the processing area. The inter-satellite link data acquired by the sensing area is sent to the processing area through optical fiber. After processing in the processing area, application data is formed. The application data is sent to the collaborative area through optical fiber. The collaborative area realizes the routing and exchange services of the application data. Then the application data is sent to the target satellite through the microwave sensor in the sensing area or through the relay satellite.

[0028] If no data collaboration is required, the collaboration zone will process the received sensor area protocol data using a routing exchange protocol and return it to the sensor area, which will then send the data out of the satellite via the inter-satellite link.

[0029] Secondly, a method for operating a software satellite system based on functional partitioning is provided, the method being applied to a software satellite system as described in any of the implementations of the first aspect above, the method comprising:

[0030] The next task to be executed is determined based on autonomous planning of the on-board mission or ground instructions.

[0031] Determine mission parameters based on mission instructions and current satellite status;

[0032] Based on the task parameters, sensor resources, computing resources, and bus resources are allocated through resource filtering.

[0033] Based on the resource allocation results, function definition instructions are sent to the configuration of sensing and computing resources to load task waveforms and execute tasks.

[0034] Compared with the prior art, the solution provided in this application has at least the following beneficial technical effects:

[0035] (1) By designing functional partitions, the availability of satellite storage, computing and transmission resources can be solved from the perspective of software development.

[0036] In the past, satellite computing, storage, and transmission resources were simply stacked together. Due to the inability to coordinate and reuse these resources, they developed independently, resulting in increasingly expensive and numerous satellite processors and serious resource idleness. However, by adopting a resource partitioning design, the above resources can be evenly distributed according to containerization and software processes. This can effectively limit the number of satellite processors and improve load efficiency. More importantly, it virtualizes payload application processing, which can greatly facilitate on-orbit technology upgrades and function updates.

[0037] (2) The partitioning method facilitates continuous upgrades of the hardware and related firmware of various satellite systems.

[0038] Taking microwave remote sensing payloads as an example, the traditional approach divides the payload into three parts: antenna, radio frequency (RF), and processing. The focus of system design is mostly on antenna design and RF performance, while data processing is mainly concentrated on data acquisition algorithms and transmission capabilities. However, since traditional designs must include processing hardware, a significant amount of time, manpower, and resources are required for the development of related computing environments, which is detrimental to system upgrades and technological evolution. By adopting a new functional partitioning approach, the tasks of each subsystem can be divided from the top level of the satellite. Through a unified interface, high-performance integration of antennas and RF can be further promoted, enabling payload sensorization. The interface with the processing area uses plug-and-play high-speed fiber optics, and sensor processing algorithms can be developed independently without considering processing hardware. This completely changes the development model of satellite subsystems, allowing them to focus more on the technological upgrade of the sensing area and the optimization of related algorithms in the processing area. It blurs the concept of subsystems, reduces the dependence on subsystem suppliers for subsequent development / post-launch reconfiguration tasks, and significantly reduces development and design time and costs.

[0039] (3) Naturally isolate design flaws to improve satellite development quality

[0040] The software-layered design architecture enables the modularization of satellite functions, and the interfaces between layers allow for design isolation. When a component fails, the layered interfaces can effectively isolate the fault, disconnect data connections, and prevent its spread. The containerized resource management approach allows functional waveforms to have dedicated computing, storage, and transmission resources, ensuring that faults do not migrate. To improve the quality of satellite operation, a triple-redundant software operation mode is used with reasonable allocation of resource overhead. This involves opening multiple containers to run critical programs simultaneously, ensuring high accuracy of operation results and preventing single-event accidents. Attached Figure Description

[0041] Figure 1 This is the functional area division of the present invention.

[0042] Figure 2 It consists of satellite functional zones.

[0043] Figure 3 It is a hardware combination for an integrated information processing platform.

[0044] Figure 4 It is a SAR imaging service design.

[0045] Figure 5 It is a communication service design.

[0046] Figure 6 It is the design of service area management and control.

[0047] Figure 7 It is a sensor area design.

[0048] Figure 8 It is a collaborative zone design. Detailed Implementation

[0049] The present application will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0050] Figure 1 This invention illustrates a software satellite system based on functional partitioning. Dividing the software satellite system into functional partitions yields four functional areas: sensing, processing, service, and collaboration.

[0051] The sensing area is a collective term encompassing phased array antennas based on analog or digital array systems, various types of parabolic antennas, and optical sensors such as cameras and star sensors. Unlike previous sensor designs, the multi-functional integrated software-defined satellite sensing area, taking microwave as an example, mainly includes the sensor's RF transceiver and frequency conversion, broadband signal DA / AD, signal preprocessing, and communication interface firmware technology. In the sensing area, preprocessing technology enables data reduction for low-speed transmission, and the communication and transmission interface protocol with the service area's post-processing software is standardized, allowing for plug-and-play operation. Optical sensing areas mainly include sensor lenses, photoelectric conversion and digital acquisition, preprocessing, and interface firmware, with standardized baseband interface connections, also enabling plug-and-play operation.

[0052] The design concept of the sensing area is to integrate the optical and microwave signal receiving and transmitting subsystems, the radio frequency transmission channel subsystem, signal acquisition and preprocessing into a single integrated design. In addition to data dimensionality reduction processing, the preprocessing is also responsible for functions such as beamforming, waveform signal generation, beam pointing and optical lens parameter setting related to microwave antenna and lens.

[0053] The integrated design enables high-frequency signal to baseband signal conversion in the sensing area, facilitating fiber optic transmission. The sensing area design aligns with the development trend of high integration, modularity, and digitalization in microwave / optical transceiver systems. Simultaneously, preprocessing technology reduces the bandwidth pressure on fiber optic signal transmission, benefiting backend receiving and processing. It is adaptable to tasks such as electronic reconnaissance, SAR, communication, navigation, and optics. Logically, this area also integrates star sensors, sun sensors, and other sensitive devices, as well as a relay navigation and telemetry integrated RF module, although their data bandwidths differ; their interfaces are all standardized.

[0054] The processing area is a key functional area for the software-defined satellite, enabling multi-functional integrated software-defined satellites to achieve software-based functionality. It primarily implements core functions such as software function management and waveform processing, payload loading and reconfiguration, system control, and resource scheduling. The processing area includes signal processing, data processing, data storage, interface modules, and status monitoring functions. The signal and data processing modules utilize CPUs, FPGAs, DSPs, ASICs, GPUs, and other integrated circuits to form a general-purpose processing group, running an onboard operating system, a distributed computing environment, and containerized waveforms for various applications. The data storage module stores acquired data, the system control and resource scheduling module schedules and exchanges data between modules, and the interface and status monitoring module automatically identifies and controls the transmission and reception of various interfaces, monitors the status of processors such as CPUs, FPGAs, DSPs, ASICs, and GPUs, and manages their reconfiguration. The processing area possesses processing, storage, exchange, reconfiguration, and status monitoring functions, supporting data processing for various satellite missions and can be expanded as needed.

[0055] The service area encompasses the satellite's overall power, thermal, and electrical support systems, including power supplies, thermal control, attitude actuators, and structural components, providing force, thermal, and electrical services to the satellite. The processing area issues commands to manage the service area's time, power supply, thermal control, attitude control, and other operations. The service area provides satellite operational status information to the processing area, forming a closed-loop control system for the satellite. A universal, scalable interface supports the integration and replacement of attitude and orbit control expansion modules, power control, and power distribution unit modules.

[0056] The coordination zone is responsible for information routing, exchange, data sharing, and coordination between the satellite and other satellites in orbit. It manages networking and routing with different satellites, supporting multi-satellite collaborative data exchange, inter-satellite telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C), and formation control. As a relatively independent zone, it possesses certain satellite processing capabilities, primarily handling satellite routing functions. Application service software (e.g., multi-satellite collaborative processing services) is deployed in the processing zone, while processing below the link layer is deployed in the sensing zone. The advantages of this division are: it allows the satellite to be an optional zone among the four functional zones; when there is no need for inter-satellite collaborative tasks, the coordination zone can be eliminated without affecting the architecture and interface division of each zone; when needed, it can connect to the network to cooperate with other zones; the hierarchical division is clear and can meet the needs of independent technological evolution.

[0057] The aforementioned functional partitioned architecture centralizes processing functions in the processing area, information acquisition functions in the sensing area, platform support functions in the service area, and inter-satellite network routing functions in the coordination area, achieving a homogeneous and integrated design of resources for each system of the software-defined satellite. By partitioning each system using a unified standard interface, it balances integration, generalization, modularization, and standardization requirements, preventing independent design of single systems and avoiding redundant design of processing, radio frequency, and other resources, especially independent design of hardware resources. Backup of the software satellite system is no longer done as a single-machine or module backup, but rather using generalized resources for backup. This significantly reduces the backup scale, lowers costs, and reduces or eliminates complex single-point switching functions, improving satellite reliability. Software applications can be pre-stored in the onboard processing area storage or deployed through uplink channels, which utilize telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) channels or service channels.

[0058] like Figure 2 As shown. The processing area includes CPU, solid-state storage, GPU, FPGA, etc.; the coordination area includes routing and switching modules; and the sensing area includes an ultra-wideband integrated antenna, a telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) relay and navigation integrated module, etc. The service area consists of the satellite platform structure, power supply module, and attitude and orbit control interface module.

[0059] The satellite has two types of buses: a control bus and a high-speed data transmission bus. The control bus connects the four functional zones of the integrated electronics section, primarily for transmitting control information. It is implemented using CAN bus or Ethernet and supports automatic access and exit mechanisms for multiple nodes. All modules within the functional zones, except for the power management module, are connected via fiber optic cables. The high-speed data transmission bus connects functional modules related to the payload's operation.

[0060] (1) Implementation plan for the processing area

[0061] The satellite processing area primarily implements core functions such as software function management and waveform processing, payload function loading and reconfiguration, system control, and resource scheduling. For example... Figure 2As shown, the processing area includes an information processing platform and virtualization layer software, system control and resource scheduling software, and functional service software running on it.

[0062] 1) Hardware design of the information integrated processing platform

[0063] The integrated information processing platform is the core of the processing area, and its main functions are: to manage and control the entire satellite and to run various functional service software. For example... Figure 3 As shown, the information integrated processing platform hardware can consist of one or more general-purpose processing boards, a large-capacity memory, and a backplane. The general-purpose processing boards can contain multiple heterogeneous processors (such as FPGA, DSP, ASIC, CPU, GPU, NPU), the large-capacity memory is implemented via mSATA, and the backplane enables high-capacity switching. The multi-board approach requires an additional interface switching control board to complete data exchange between boards and control flow exchange via Ethernet through fiber optic cables. Externally, the platform uses fiber optic cables and CAN / Ethernet ports as data and control information interfaces. After processing the payload data, the service programs running on the modules can send it to the memory for storage via fiber optic cables.

[0064] 2) Virtualization of computing resources in the processing area

[0065] Due to satellite environment limitations, the integrated information processing platform aims to maximize the sharing capabilities of computing, storage, and communication resources within the platform, while ensuring the reliability, independence, and portability of multiple services. Therefore, virtualization of platform resources is required. This implementation scheme uses underlying resource abstraction technology to provide a service-oriented virtualized runtime environment. For CPU, GPU, and NPU resource virtualization, Docker container technology is used to achieve microservice deployment by container. Virtualization of processing resources such as DSP and FPGA is supported by the dynamic reconfiguration capabilities of DSPs and FPGAs. Waveform applications are deployed and managed through dynamic reconfiguration. Waveform applications running on the general-purpose processing platform are packaged into Docker images, while waveform applications running on DSP or FPGA platforms are packaged into corresponding binary program files. For services on general-purpose processors, the APIs provided by the Docker engine are called to complete operations such as service image loading, container startup, stopping, and deletion. For services on heterogeneous dedicated processors such as DSPs and FPGAs, corresponding management components are implemented on the heterogeneous processors to handle the distribution and storage of program bitstreams and the loading and startup of programs on those processors. The binary component provides standardized data communication and management control interfaces to the outside world, and the software running in each processing module realizes information exchange through the bus.

[0066] The computing resources for satellite platform data processing and various payload data processing have been integrated across systems to unify processing resources. After integration, the computing and storage resources of the processing area are shared with various functional applications. The processing area resources are designed with virtualization at the bottom layer and adopt an open, microservice containerization approach at the upper layer. Programs such as information processing, system management, task management, and fault detection, isolation, and recovery all run in containers in the form of microservices to meet the dynamic deployment and operation of multiple tasks. The software running in each container realizes information interaction through a bus.

[0067] 3) System control and resource scheduling software

[0068] like Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the system control and resource scheduling software is the core of satellite platform and function management. This software consists of a series of containerized microservices on the CPU, including monitoring the status of processors such as CPU, FPGA, DSP, ASIC, and GPU, as well as the sensing area, service area, and collaboration area; redefining satellite functions by loading corresponding functional service software located on a large-capacity storage according to ground user instructions or intelligent autonomous decision-making instructions; scheduling satellite resources such as communication, computing, and storage according to mission requirements; and ensuring traffic management for mission microservice discovery and data flow exchange between microservices.

[0069] 4) Multifunctional service design of the processing area

[0070] The processing area, based on the satellite's mission requirements, needs to perform not only its own control functions but also, through software-defined dynamic deployment, payload functions such as navigation enhancement, communication, detection, reconnaissance, and jamming. Therefore, the various functions within the processing area must meet requirements such as real-time processing, parallel and independent operation of multiple applications and services, and real-time high-speed information exchange.

[0071] Taking SAR imaging service and post-imaging communication service as examples, this paper illustrates the implementation method of multi-functional software definition.

[0072] like Figure 4As shown, the SAR imaging service is jointly implemented by a data windowing component, a range compression component, an imaging algorithm component, and a SAR image target detection microservice. The data windowing and range compression components run on an FPGA chip, the imaging algorithm component runs on a DSP, and the SAR image target detection microservice runs in a container on a CPU. The software running on each processing chip interacts via Ethernet bus and fiber optic cable. Raw SAR data is acquired from the sensing area via fiber optic cable. The system control and resource scheduling software loads the corresponding program into the processor based on ground user instructions or intelligent autonomous decision-making instructions, and configures the relevant parameters of the sensing area antenna and RF channel, enabling the sensor's transmitting and receiving antennas to operate in SAR imaging service mode. Then, based on the deployment locations of the relevant SAR imaging service components and microservices, it configures the data flow relationship. After configuration, it calls the startup interfaces of each component and microservice to start the SAR imaging service.

[0073] like Figure 5 As shown, after the SAR completes its imaging task, the acquired SAR target image is stored in a large-capacity memory. When the system control and resource scheduling software detects that the SAR imaging task has been completed, it first stops the relevant components and microservices of the SAR imaging task and removes them from the processor. Then, the system control and resource scheduling software loads the corresponding communication service program into the processor according to ground user instructions or intelligent autonomous decision-making instructions. The shaping filter component, physical layer framing component, symbol mapping component, and forward error correction coding component run on the FPGA chip, while the source coding microservice runs in a container on the CPU (e.g., ...). Figure 5 As shown, the software running on each processing chip interacts with information via Ethernet bus and fiber optic cable. It should be noted that the DSP resources are idle only when the system operates in communication service mode. After the program loads, the relevant parameters of the sensing area antenna and RF channel are configured to enable the sensor's transmitting and receiving antennas to operate in communication service mode. Then, the data flow relationship is configured according to the deployment locations of the communication service-related components and microservices. After configuration, the startup interfaces of each component and microservice are called to start the communication service. The communication service's source encoding microservice reads data from the large-capacity storage and performs data transmission.

[0074] With multiple general-purpose processing boards configured, SAR imaging services and communication services can also be deployed simultaneously and managed by system control and resource scheduling software.

[0075] (2) Implementation scheme for electromechanical and thermal service zoning

[0076] The service area comprises structural, mechanical, power supply, and thermal control components, providing force, heat, and electrical services to the satellite. It consists of an attitude and orbit control module, a power management module, and related structural designs. Each module in the service area is connected to the integrated information processing platform via a CAN bus or Ethernet. Figure 6 As shown, status data is collected and reported to the information processing platform. The system control and resource scheduling microservice of the information processing platform manages and controls the service area based on the status data and user instructions.

[0077] 1) Attitude and Orbit Control Interface Module

[0078] The main functions of the attitude and orbit control interface module include acquiring measurement data from individual products, outputting control signals for the actuators, and managing the power supply of the control components.

[0079] 2) General Interface Expansion Module

[0080] The general interface extension module serves as a resource extension, working in conjunction with the information processing platform to complete functions such as analog signal acquisition, temperature acquisition, indirect command transmission, and heating.

[0081] 3) Power Management Module

[0082] The power module transforms the bus voltage of the general satellite platform system into a secondary power supply for internal use.

[0083] (3) Design of RF Integrated Sensing Area

[0084] The integrated radio frequency sensing area consists of a broadband integrated microwave sensor combining communication, electronic reconnaissance, and SAR detection, a reconfigurable radio frequency channel, and an FPGA / DSP processor. For example... Figure 7 As shown, the reconfigurable RF channel consists of hardware such as reconfigurable frequency converters and digital-to-analog / analog-to-digital converters. The sensing area is responsible for receiving / transmitting signals and preprocessing the received data.

[0085] The RF transceiver and frequency converter, as well as the broadband signal DA / AD converter in the sensing area, can all use reconfigurable chips and devices. Parameterized service processing software is developed and deployed according to the transceiver mode requirements. This service software is actually deployed in the sensor's signal preprocessing FPGA / DSP to form a client service. At the same time, a service agent is developed in the processing area to enable access and invocation of RF parameterized service functions from the processing area to the sensing area, further virtualizing RF resources and realizing the separation of system hardware and software design.

[0086] The satellite sensing area proposes an integrated functional design encompassing the RF signal transceiver system and digital baseband preprocessing, with a simplified architecture using fiber optic (data interface) and CAN / Ethernet (control interface) interfaces as the interfaces for other zones. Preprocessing, beamforming, and other algorithms are implemented in the baseband processing section of the sensing area, addressing the challenges of high-speed, massive data transmission after large-bandwidth acquisition by the signal transceiver system, and meeting the real-time requirements for processing configuration parameters such as beamwidth, frequency band, power, and polarization for multi-functional RF transceivers used in navigation, communication, remote sensing, and detection. Based on a universal interface protocol, the optical and microwave payload RF transceiver systems, star sensors, solar sensors, and relay navigation and telemetry integrated RF modules are connected to the processing area, enabling automatic interface identification and plug-and-play functionality.

[0087] The simplified architecture of the sensing area retains the sensor's basic processing and control capabilities, giving it a certain degree of technological independence. This facilitates its development towards integration, miniaturization, and software integration, enabling independent sensor design and interchangeable universal interfaces. Furthermore, the simplified interface design with the processing area also facilitates the development of payload post-processing algorithms and the isolation of the RF front-end system, meeting the need for independent algorithm development based on resource virtualization.

[0088] Microwave payloads in the satellite sensing area include dedicated sensors and integrated sensors. Integrated sensors possess ultra-wideband characteristics and can define radio frequency resources such as bandwidth, frequency range, polarization, transmit power, beam pointing, and signal gain. The defined control information comes from the processing area, and the control information calculation is performed in the processing section of the sensing area. After calculation, the control data can be rapidly transmitted and implemented within the sensing area via analog or digital methods. Dedicated sensors are generally defined as devices with unique capabilities (such as GPS / BD antennas and radio frequency). Their characteristics include intricate sensor design, independent functions, and difficulty in integrating frequency bands. To achieve architectural compatibility, such dedicated designs are allowed to be included in the sensing area without affecting the functional partition architecture design, but interface standardization must be emphasized to meet the requirements of autonomous identification and high-speed data transmission between the interface and the processing area. Optical payloads also include dedicated sensors and integrated sensors; the design methods are the same as for microwave payloads.

[0089] (4) Information Collaborative Partition Design

[0090] The information coordination partition includes an inter-satellite data routing and switching module, which enables the transmission and reception of inter-satellite link data. For example... Figure 8As shown, if data collaborative processing is required, the application service software for data collaborative processing is deployed in the processing area. Inter-satellite link data acquired by the sensing area is sent to the processing area via optical fiber. The processing area processes the data to form application data, which is then sent to the collaboration area via optical fiber. The collaboration area provides routing and switching services for the application data, and then sends the application data to the destination satellite via the sensing area's microwave sensor or via a relay satellite. If data collaborative processing is not required, the collaboration area processes the received protocol data from the sensing area using a routing and switching protocol and returns it to the sensing area, which then sends the data out of the satellite via the inter-satellite link.

[0091] This application also provides a method for operating a software satellite system based on functional partitioning, comprising the following steps:

[0092] (1) The software satellite master control program autonomously plans the next task to be executed based on the on-board mission or ground commands.

[0093] (2) The software satellite master control program determines the mission parameters based on the mission instructions and the current satellite status.

[0094] (3) The software satellite master control program allocates sensor resources, computing resources and bus resources through resource filtering based on mission parameters.

[0095] (4) The software satellite master control program sends function definition instructions to the configuration of sensing resources and computing resources according to the resource allocation results, loads the task waveform, and realizes the execution of the task.

[0096] Although the present invention has been disclosed above with reference to preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art can make possible changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope defined in the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A software satellite system based on functional partitioning, characterized in that, The software satellite system includes: a sensing area, a processing area, a service area, and a collaboration area; wherein, The sensing area includes an antenna and optical sensors, integrating the optical and microwave signal receiving and transmitting subsystems, the radio frequency transmission channel subsystem, and signal acquisition and preprocessing into a single integrated design. It is used to perform radio frequency transceiver and frequency conversion, broadband signal DA / AD, signal preprocessing, and communication interface firmware technology. The sensing area is used for data dimensionality reduction, beamforming, waveform signal generation, beam pointing, and optical lens parameter setting through preprocessing techniques. The microwave payloads in the sensing area include dedicated sensors and integrated sensors. The integrated sensors possess ultra-wideband characteristics and can define radio frequency resources, including bandwidth, frequency range, polarization, transmit power, beam pointing, and signal gain. The processing area has signal processing, data processing, data storage, interface modules, and status monitoring functions; The processing area includes multiple general-purpose processing boards, memory, backplane, and interface switching control board. Data interaction between boards and control flow interaction based on Ethernet are completed via optical fiber. The general-purpose processing boards contain multiple heterogeneous processors, including at least one of the following: FPGA, DSP, ASIC, CPU, GPU, and NPU. The processing area is used to package waveform applications running on DSP or FPGA platforms into corresponding binary program files, and to execute the distribution, saving, loading, and startup of the binary program files. The CPU is used to run system control and resource scheduling services; Before the SAR completes its imaging task, the system control and resource scheduling service is used to configure the relevant parameters of the sensing area antenna and radio frequency channel according to ground user instructions or intelligent autonomous decision instructions, so that the sensor transmitting and receiving antennas work in the SAR imaging service mode. The CPU is also used to run the SAR imaging service component, the FPGA is used to run the data windowing component and the range compression component, and the DSP is used to run the imaging algorithm component. After the SAR completes its imaging task, the system control and resource scheduling service is used to delete the SAR imaging service component; The service area includes power supply, thermal control, attitude actuators, structural execution and operation mechanisms, providing force, heat and electricity services to the satellite; The coordination zone is responsible for information routing, exchange, data sharing, collaborative work, inter-satellite telemetry and control, and formation control between the satellite and other satellites in orbit. The collaborative area includes an inter-satellite data routing and switching module, which realizes the sending and receiving of inter-satellite link data; If data collaborative processing is required, the application service function software for data collaborative processing is deployed in the processing area. The inter-satellite link data acquired by the sensing area is sent to the processing area through optical fiber. After processing in the processing area, application data is formed. The application data is sent to the collaborative area through optical fiber. The collaborative area realizes the routing and exchange services of the application data. Then the application data is sent to the target satellite through the microwave sensor in the sensing area or through the relay satellite. If no data collaboration is required, the collaboration zone will process the received sensor area protocol data using a routing exchange protocol and return it to the sensor area, which will then send the data out of the satellite via the inter-satellite link.

2. The software satellite system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The software satellite system includes a CAN bus or Ethernet for transmitting control information; the software satellite system also includes optical fiber for high-speed data transmission.

3. The software satellite system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The processing area is used for execution: Docker container technology is used for resource virtualization of CPU, GPU, and NPU to enable microservice deployment by container; The virtualization of DSP and FPGA processing resources is supported by the dynamic reconfiguration capabilities of DSP and FPGA, and waveform applications are deployed and managed in a dynamic reconfiguration manner.

4. The software satellite system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The processing area is specifically used for: The waveform application running on the general processing platform is packaged into a Docker image, and the API provided by the Docker engine is called to complete at least one of the following operations: service image loading, container startup, stopping, or deletion.

5. The software satellite system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The CPU in the processing area is also used to run source coding services, and the FPGA is used to run shaping filtering components, physical layer framing components, symbol mapping components, and forward error correction coding components.

6. A method for operating a software satellite system based on functional partitioning, characterized in that, The method is applied to a software satellite system as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, and the method comprises: The next task to be executed is determined based on autonomous planning of the on-board mission or ground instructions. Determine mission parameters based on mission instructions and current satellite status; Based on the task parameters, sensor resources, computing resources, and bus resources are allocated through resource filtering. Based on the resource allocation results, function definition instructions are sent to the configuration of sensing and computing resources to load task waveforms and execute tasks.

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