Large-scale low-orbit communication constellation ground feed antenna configuration and feed task allocation method and system

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of satellite communication, and discloses a large-scale low-orbit communication constellation ground feed antenna configuration and feed task allocation method and system, and the method comprises the steps: selecting an epoch sequence with the least number of satellites to which a gateway station set can be connected from all epochs, and then, in the epochs, selecting an epoch sequence with the least number of satellites to which the gateway station set can be connected; according to the pre-calculated minimum number of satellites which need to be kept connected by each gateway station, allocating a corresponding number of satellites to each gateway station; according to the epoch sequence, all epochs are divided into a plurality of time intervals, in each time interval, traversing is carried out from an epoch starting point subjected to satellite distribution to an ending point of the interval in sequence, and in the traversing process, the principle of prolonging an existing feed arc section is followed, and the current feed arc section is extended. A predetermined number of satellites are assigned to the gateway stations within each epoch one by one. According to the invention, the utilization of satellite and antenna resources can be effectively optimized, and the stability and reliability of a communication link are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of satellite communication technology, and in particular to satellite communication resource optimization technology. Background Art

[0002] As large low-orbit communication satellite constellations such as StarLink begin to provide services to the ground, countries and institutions have paid close attention to the construction of such satellite constellations. In the transparent forwarding working mode, low-orbit satellites must establish a feeder link with a ground gateway before they can provide services. Since low-orbit satellites move at high speed in near-Earth space, the coordination and switching between low-orbit satellites and ground gateways are crucial for communication services. However, as the scale of the constellation expands, the problem of satellite feeder link scheduling becomes more and more complex. At the same time, the number and scale of ground gateways and the number of antennas in the gateways are constrained by various factors. Therefore, in order to maximize the service potential of satellite constellations and save ground resources, the need for satellite feeder link planning and ground resource scheduling has triggered an urgent need for a unified feeder link planning algorithm. Summary of the invention

[0003] The purpose of this application is to provide a method and system for configuring ground feeding antennas and allocating feeding tasks for a large low-orbit communication constellation, which can ensure the potential of satellite constellations to provide continuous services, efficiently plan and allocate feeding tasks, and support the continuous service of low-orbit communication satellite constellations in transparent transmission working mode with a smaller number of feeding antennas.

[0004] The present application discloses a method for configuring a ground feed antenna for a large-scale low-orbit communication constellation and allocating feed tasks, including:

[0005] Step B: Based on the visibility time series of each ground gateway and gateway set with the satellite constellation and the constraints of satellite connectivity, the number of satellites that can be connected in each epoch is calculated for each gateway;

[0006] Step C: Selecting from all epochs the epoch sequence with the least number of satellites to which the gateway set can connect, and then, in the epoch, allocating the corresponding number of satellites to each gateway according to the pre-calculated minimum number of satellites that each gateway needs to maintain connection; and

[0007] Step D: According to the aforementioned epoch sequence, all epochs are divided into multiple time intervals. In each time interval, starting from an epoch start point to which satellites have been allocated, traverse to the end point of the interval in sequence. During the traversal process, the principle of extending the existing feeder arc segment is followed, and a predetermined number of satellites are allocated to the gateway station in each epoch one by one.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0009] Step A: Each ground gateway station calculates its own elevation angle and continuous visibility duration with all satellites in the low-orbit satellite constellation, and generates a visibility time series with all satellites based on these calculations. At the same time, the SCID sequence of the satellites that each gateway station can observe in each epoch is stored.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0011] Step E: After ensuring that each gateway in all epochs has been assigned to a satellite, collect all generated feeder arcs, then sort them according to their starting epochs, and allocate antenna resources to each feeder arc based on this sorting;

[0012] Step F: After all the feeding arcs are successfully allocated to the gateway, antenna load balancing is performed to ensure that the utilization rate of each antenna in the gateway is nearly equal when performing the feeding task.

[0013] In a preferred example, in step A, each ground gateway station needs to calculate the position, elevation angle and continuous visibility time of the satellite in each epoch based on the satellite ephemeris. If the calculated elevation angle exceeds the set minimum limit and the continuous visibility time is greater than the set time, the satellite is considered to be visible to the gateway station in the epoch. For each epoch, the gateway station will store the SCID sequence of the visible satellite.

[0014] In a preferred example, in step B, it is necessary to calculate the number of satellites that each gateway can guarantee to connect to in the epoch sequence, and the gateway station must meet the following criteria to establish a feeder link with the satellite:

[0015] C1. The gateway can only establish a feeder link with a visible satellite, and the satellite can only establish a tracking and control link with a visible gateway;

[0016] C2. The satellite can establish a feeder link with at most and only one gateway in the same epoch.

[0017] In a preferred example, in step C, specifically on a single epoch, the allocation process is as follows: first, generate a sequence of gateway stations to be allocated and their visible satellites, wherein the gateway stations to be allocated are those that have not yet reached the required number of satellites; sort them according to the number of gateway stations visible to the satellites, and traverse the sequence. If a satellite can only be connected to one gateway station, it is allocated to the gateway station; if multiple gateway stations can connect to the same satellite, priority is given to maintaining consistency with the allocation of adjacent epochs, otherwise it is allocated to the gateway station with the highest elevation angle.

[0018] In a preferred example, in step D, in the allocation process on a single epoch, in the scenario of allocating satellites to an epoch where the number of connectable satellites is greater than the minimum number of satellites, the epoch sequence mentioned above is used to divide a whole day into multiple time segments, the first time segment is from the beginning of the day to the minimum epoch, and the last time segment is from the maximum epoch to the end of the day, in the first time segment, traverse from the right end point to the left; in the remaining time segments, traverse from the left end point to the right, in each epoch, the allocation of satellites to the gateway station follows the following rules: first, the same allocation method as the adjacent allocated epoch is preferentially adopted, if this method can meet the satellite number requirement, the allocation is completed; otherwise, if a gateway station does not reach the specified number of satellites, the remaining satellites are allocated according to the method described in the aforementioned process, if all gateway stations can meet the satellite number requirement, the allocation task is completed, if a gateway station cannot complete the allocation, after revoking all allocation results on the epoch, allocation is performed on the current epoch according to the allocation strategy on the minimum epoch.

[0019] In a preferred example, in step E, antenna configuration is performed according to the feeder arc segments that each gateway has obtained. If a gateway is allocated the same satellite in consecutive time units, these consecutive epochs will be merged into a single feeder arc segment; then, the feeder arc segments are sorted according to the starting epochs; then, these sorted feeder arc segments are traversed one by one: antenna resources are tried to be allocated to each arc segment, and if there are no suitable antenna resources, an antenna is added to the gateway station, and then, after antenna resources are successfully allocated to all feeder arc segments, an antenna resource balancing step is performed.

[0020] The present application also discloses a large-scale low-orbit communication constellation ground feeding antenna configuration and feeding task allocation system, including:

[0021] Elevation angle and visibility calculation module: used for each ground gateway to calculate the elevation angle between itself and all satellites in the low-orbit satellite constellation, and generate the visibility time series with all satellites based on these calculations. At the same time, the SCID sequence of the satellites that each gateway can observe in each epoch is stored;

[0022] Satellite connectivity analysis module: used to calculate the number of satellites that can ensure connectivity in each epoch for each gateway station based on the visibility time series of each ground gateway station and gateway station set with the satellite constellation and the constraints of satellite connectivity;

[0023] An epoch selection module is used to select from all epochs the epoch sequence with the least number of satellites to which the gateway station set can be connected, and then, in these specific epochs, allocate a corresponding number of satellites to each gateway station according to the pre-calculated minimum number of satellites that each gateway station needs to maintain connection;

[0024] The time interval division and satellite allocation module is used to divide all epochs into multiple time intervals according to the epoch sequence, and in each time interval, start from an epoch start point to which satellites have been allocated, and traverse to the end point of the interval in sequence, wherein, in the traversal process, the principle of extending the existing feeder arc is followed, and a predetermined number of satellites are allocated to the gateway station in each epoch one by one;

[0025] Feeder arc segment sorting and antenna allocation module: It is used to collect all generated feeder arc segments after ensuring that each gateway station in all epochs has been allocated to a satellite, and then sort them according to the starting epoch of these feeder arc segments, and allocate antenna resources to each feeder arc segment based on this sorting.

[0026] The present application also discloses a large-scale low-orbit communication constellation ground feeding antenna configuration and feeding task allocation system, including:

[0027] a memory for storing computer executable instructions; and,

[0028] A processor is used to implement the steps in the method described above when executing the computer executable instructions.

[0029] The present application also discloses a computer-readable storage medium in which computer-executable instructions are stored. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the steps in the method described above are implemented.

[0030] In the implementation manner of the present application, based on the visibility time series of each ground gateway and the gateway set and the satellite constellation and the constraints of satellite connectivity, the number of satellites that can ensure connection in each epoch is calculated for each gateway; the epoch sequence with the least number of satellites that the gateway set can connect to is selected from all epochs, and then, in the epoch, according to the pre-calculated minimum number of satellites that each gateway needs to maintain connection, a corresponding number of satellites is allocated to each gateway; according to the aforementioned epoch sequence, all epochs are divided into multiple time intervals, and in each time interval, starting from an epoch start point to which satellites have been allocated, traverse in sequence to the end point of the interval, wherein, in the traversal process, the principle of extending the existing feeder arc is followed, and a predetermined number of satellites are allocated to each gateway in each epoch one by one. This application can effectively optimize the utilization of satellite and antenna resources, improve the overall operating efficiency of the system, and dynamically allocate and schedule satellites and antennas, thereby improving the stability and reliability of the communication link. Moreover, by balancing the feeding task load of each antenna in the gateway station, it not only improves the utilization efficiency of each antenna, but also helps to extend the service life of the antenna equipment. Moreover, through real-time solution and analysis, it can quickly respond to various emergencies and changes, ensure the real-time and accuracy of the communication link, and significantly reduce operating costs and maintenance costs by optimizing resource allocation and reducing unnecessary switching and scheduling. In short, this application provides a comprehensive, efficient and reliable solution for the configuration of ground feeding antennas and the allocation of feeding tasks for large low-orbit communication satellite constellations, which has high practical value and commercial prospects.

[0031] A large number of technical features are recorded in the specification of this application, which are distributed in various technical solutions. If all possible combinations of technical features of this application (i.e., technical solutions) are to be listed, the specification will be too long. In order to avoid this problem, the various technical features disclosed in the above-mentioned invention content of this application, the various technical features disclosed in the various embodiments and examples below, and the various technical features disclosed in the accompanying drawings can be freely combined with each other to form various new technical solutions (these technical solutions are all deemed to have been recorded in this specification), unless the combination of such technical features is technically infeasible. For example, in one example, feature A+B+C is disclosed, and in another example, feature A+B+D+E is disclosed, and features C and D are equivalent technical means that play the same role. Technically, only one can be used, and it is impossible to use them at the same time. Feature E can be combined with feature C technically. Then, the solution of A+B+C+D should not be deemed to have been recorded because it is technically infeasible, and the solution of A+B+C+E should be deemed to have been recorded. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] Figure 1It is a flow chart of a method for configuring ground feeding antennas and allocating feeding tasks for a large low-orbit communication constellation according to the first embodiment of the present application.

[0033] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of the ground feeding antenna configuration and feeding task allocation system of a large low-orbit communication constellation according to the second embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] In the following description, many technical details are provided to help readers better understand the present application. However, those skilled in the art can understand that the technical solution claimed in the present application can be implemented even without these technical details and various changes and modifications based on the following embodiments.

[0035] Description of some concepts:

[0036] Epoch: Epoch here refers to a unit of time point or time interval.

[0037] Feeder arc: Mainly used to describe the time period of the communication connection between the ground feed antenna and the satellite. Specifically, due to the very fast movement of low-orbit (LEO) satellites above the earth, the time it is visible above any given ground station (such as an antenna) is usually very short. When the satellite enters the communication range of the antenna, for example, for a gateway station, the satellite needs to be above a given elevation angle, etc., the antenna can begin to establish a communication connection with the satellite, and this connection can last until the satellite moves out of the antenna's line of sight again. The time period from the beginning to the end is called a "feeder arc". In the actual design and operation of satellite communication systems, it is very important to effectively manage and optimize these feeder arcs to ensure the efficient operation of the system and the quality of service.

[0038] In satellite communications, a feeder arc is a period of time during which a gateway and a satellite remain connected. During this period, information is transferred between the gateway and a specific satellite via an antenna.

[0039] Gateway: A gateway is a satellite communication site on the ground that is used to send and receive satellite signals. Each gateway has its own antenna and other equipment to communicate with a specific satellite.

[0040] Antenna resources: Antenna resources refer to the antennas and related equipment used by the gateway to send and receive satellite signals. These resources need to be reasonably allocated based on the needs of the satellite and the capabilities of the gateway.

[0041] Task load: Task load refers to the amount of tasks that an antenna needs to handle within a period of time. Task load balancing means that the tasks of each antenna are distributed relatively evenly to avoid some antennas being too busy while others are relatively idle.

[0042] SCID (Spacecraft Identifier) ​​is a parameter used to uniquely identify a specific satellite in satellite communications. In a large satellite constellation, there may be hundreds or even thousands of satellites, each with a unique SCID for accurate tracking and management. SCID is usually assigned by the satellite's manufacturer or operator when the satellite is launched and remains unchanged throughout the satellite's life cycle. In actual satellite communication operations, the satellite's SCID is used to schedule and control the satellite, such as switching the satellite's operating status or sending specific instructions to the satellite.

[0043] Elevation angle: The elevation angle is the angle between the ground observation point and the observed celestial body. It is an important reference indicator that determines whether the satellite is within the observable range of the gateway station.

[0044] Ephemeris information: Ephemeris information is the orbit and position information of the satellite, which is used to determine the exact position of the satellite at any given point in time. The gateway needs to calculate and track the position of the satellite based on the ephemeris information for effective communication.

[0045] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the implementation methods of the present application will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0046] The first embodiment of the present application relates to a method for configuring a ground feed antenna and allocating feed tasks for a large low-orbit communication constellation, the process of which is as follows: Figure 1 shown.

[0047] First, the specific application scenarios of this application are described.

[0048] The present application can be applied in the operation and management of large-scale satellite networks, especially in the operation of large low-orbit communication satellite constellations.

[0049] Application scenario 1: Ground gateway construction for large low-orbit communication satellite constellations

[0050] Suppose a country or company plans to build a large low-orbit communication satellite constellation, such as a project similar to Starlink. In this project, thousands or even tens of thousands of satellites may be involved. To effectively manage such a large-scale satellite constellation, it is necessary to accurately plan the number and location of ground gateways, and to reasonably configure the number of antennas at each gateway. The method of this patent can provide a scientific way to help us determine the optimal configuration of gateways and antennas, thereby ensuring that the satellite constellation can provide continuous and stable communication services.

[0051] Application scenario 2: Planning and scheduling of satellite communication services

[0052] In the operation of large low-orbit communication satellite constellations, due to the large number of satellites and the very fast movement of satellites in orbit, it is very important to effectively plan and schedule satellite communication services. The method of this patent can help us determine the number of satellites that each gateway can connect to and which satellite should be used in each epoch (a short period of time), thereby achieving efficient use of satellite resources.

[0053] Application scenario 3: Dealing with faults and anomalies in satellite communications

[0054] In actual satellite communications, various faults and anomalies may occur, such as a satellite failure or a failure of an antenna at a gateway. In this case, we need to quickly diagnose the fault and adjust the satellite communication service. The method of this patent can help us quickly identify the problem and provide a method for quickly adjusting the communication service, thereby ensuring the continuity and stability of satellite communication services.

[0055] The large-scale low-orbit communication constellation ground feeding antenna configuration and feeding task allocation method of the present application includes the following steps:

[0056] Step 100: Each ground gateway station calculates the elevation angle and continuous visibility duration of itself and all satellites in the low-orbit satellite constellation, and generates a visibility time series with all satellites based on these calculations. At the same time, the SCID sequence of the satellites that each gateway station can observe in each epoch is stored.

[0057] Step 200: Based on the visibility time series of each ground gateway and gateway set with the satellite constellation and the satellite connectivity constraints, the number of satellites that can ensure connection in each epoch is calculated for each gateway.

[0058] Optionally, satellite connectivity constraints are a set of conditions or rules used to determine whether a valid connection can be established and maintained between a ground gateway (or other type of gateway) and a satellite. These constraints usually involve multiple aspects, including but not limited to: signal quality constraints, power requirements, antenna direction and elevation angle, frequency allocation and bandwidth, protocols and standards, security and encryption, environmental factors such as weather conditions, multipath and interference, time, and continuity, etc. Among them,

[0059] Step 300: Select from all epochs the epoch sequence with the least number of satellites to which the gateway set can connect, and then, in these specific epochs, allocate a corresponding number of satellites to each gateway according to the pre-calculated minimum number of satellites that each gateway needs to maintain connection.

[0060] Step 400: According to the aforementioned epoch sequence, all epochs are divided into multiple time intervals. In each time interval, starting from an epoch start point to which satellites have been allocated, traverse in sequence to the end point of the interval. During the traversal process, a predetermined number of satellites are allocated to the gateway stations in each epoch one by one in accordance with the principle of extending the existing feeder arc segment.

[0061] In other words, for steps 300 and 400, first, select the time points at which each gateway can connect to the least number of satellites from all epochs (time units) to form a 'sequence of minimum visible satellite epochs'. In these specific epochs, allocate a corresponding number of satellites to each gateway based on the pre-calculated minimum number of satellites that each gateway needs to maintain connection. Then, based on this 'sequence of minimum visible satellite epochs', subdivide all epochs into multiple time intervals. In each time interval, start from an epoch start point where satellite allocation has been completed, and traverse to the end point of the interval in sequence. During the traversal process, follow the principle of 'extending the existing feeder arc' to allocate a predetermined number of satellites to the gateway in each epoch one by one.

[0062] The benefit of doing this is that it optimizes resource allocation: by giving priority to the epochs with the least visible satellites, effective communication is ensured when resources are most scarce, thereby improving the communication efficiency and reliability of the system as a whole. Further, it improves scheduling flexibility: by dividing the epochs into multiple time intervals and performing detailed scheduling within each interval, the system can more flexibly respond to various complex situations, such as sudden communication needs or temporary system failures. Further, it enhances system stability: following the principle of "extending the existing feeder arc segment" helps reduce the number of frequent switching of satellite connections, which not only reduces the complexity of the system, but also reduces the risk of communication interruption caused by switching. Further, it is easy to optimize and expand in the future: this step provides a structured framework for the system, which is convenient for subsequent optimization and expansion to adapt to new needs or challenges that may arise in the future.

[0063] Step 500: After ensuring that each gateway in all epochs has been assigned to a satellite, all generated feeder arcs are collected, and then sorted according to the starting epoch of these feeder arcs, and antenna resources are allocated to each feeder arc based on this sorting.

[0064] Specifically, in all time units (epochs), once it is confirmed that each gateway has been assigned a satellite, the system will collect all the generated feeder arcs. These feeder arcs are used to describe the duration of the communication connection between the gateway and the satellite. Then, these feeder arcs are sorted according to the time they start (starting epoch). Finally, based on the result of this sorting, the system will allocate corresponding antenna resources to each feeder arc. The benefit of this is to optimize and manage the communication connection between the antenna and the satellite.

[0065] Step 600: After all feeding arcs are successfully allocated to the gateway, antenna load balancing is performed to ensure that the utilization rate of each antenna in the gateway is nearly equal when performing the feeding task.

[0066] Specifically, after all the feeder arcs have been successfully assigned to each gateway, the next step is to balance the antenna load. The purpose of this balancing process is to ensure that the usage or load of each antenna in each gateway is similar or equal when performing communication (feeding) tasks. This helps to use antenna resources more efficiently and avoid some antennas being too busy while others are idle.

[0067] Each step is explained in further detail below.

[0068] Optionally, in step 100, each ground gateway station needs to calculate the position and elevation angle of the satellite and the continuous visibility time at each epoch based on the satellite ephemeris. If the calculated elevation angle exceeds the set minimum limit and the continuous visibility time is greater than the set time, the satellite is considered to be visible to the gateway station at the epoch. For each epoch, the gateway station stores the SCID sequence of the visible satellite.

[0069] Optionally, in step 200, the number of satellites that each gateway can guarantee to connect to in the epoch sequence needs to be calculated. The gateway must meet the following criteria to establish a feeder link with the satellite:

[0070] C1. The gateway can only establish a feeder link with a visible satellite, and the satellite can only establish a tracking and control link with a visible gateway;

[0071] C2. The satellite can establish a feeder link with at most and only one gateway in the same epoch.

[0072] Given a set of gateway stations STATIONS, let the gateway station stat∈STATIONS guarantee that the number of connected satellites is connectivity(stat). Each gateway station guarantees that the sequence of connected satellite numbers {connectivity(stat)|stat∈STATIONS} should meet the following requirements:

[0073] For any epoch,

[0074] sum({connectivity(stat)|stat∈stats}≤number of satellites visible from stats).

[0075] Satellites visible to stats are defined as Satellite is visible to stat. The minimum value min(stats) of the number of visible satellites at each epoch in a day can be calculated, and the above inequality group can be simplified to

[0076]

[0077] sum({connectivity(stat)|stat∈stats}≤min(stats))

[0078] The number of inequalities contained in the above inequality group is the number of non-empty subsets of STATIONS. The solution to the above inequality is not unique. When planning the number of feed antennas, it should satisfy

[0079] sum({connectivity(stat)|stat∈STATIONS}=max

[0080] The number of satellites that each gateway can guarantee to connect to is determined based on the service performance requirements of each gateway.

[0081] Optionally, in step 300, the epoch with the least number of connectable satellites in a day is selected from the gateway station set to form an epoch sequence. Then, satellite allocation is performed according to the number of connectable satellites calculated by each gateway station.

[0082] Further, in step 300, optionally, specifically on a single epoch, the allocation process is as follows: first, a sequence of gateways to be allocated and their visible satellites is generated, wherein the gateways to be allocated are those that have not yet reached the required number of satellites, for example, the number of allocated satellites is less than the number of satellites to be allocated; then, the sequence is sorted according to the number of gateways visible to the satellites, and the sequence is traversed. If a satellite can only be connected to one gateway, it is allocated to it; if multiple gateways can connect to the same satellite, the allocation is kept consistent with the allocation of adjacent epochs, otherwise it is allocated to the gateway with the highest elevation angle. Further, in step 300, optionally, during the allocation process, if it is found that the set of gateways to be allocated has changed, the current traversal will be stopped and the set and the corresponding visible satellite sequence will be regenerated. This process will continue until all satellites are allocated and all gateways have reached the predetermined number of satellites. The advantage of this is that a dynamic allocation mechanism is provided, allowing the gateways and satellites to be allocated to be re-evaluated and adjusted throughout the process. Finally, the formed epoch sequence is traversed, and the above satellite allocation step is performed on each epoch.

[0083] Optionally, in step 400, in the allocation process on a single epoch, further optionally, in the scenario of allocating satellites to an epoch where the number of connectable satellites is greater than the minimum number of satellites, the aforementioned epoch sequence is used to divide a whole day into multiple time segments. Specifically, the first time segment starts from the beginning of the day to the minimum epoch, and the last time segment continues from the maximum epoch to the end of the day. In the first time segment, traverse from the right end point to the left; in the remaining time segments, traverse from the left end point to the right. In each epoch, the allocation of satellites to the gateway station follows the following rules: First, the same allocation method as the adjacent allocated epoch is preferentially adopted. If this method can meet the satellite number requirement, the allocation is completed; otherwise, if a gateway station does not reach the specified number of satellites, the remaining satellites are allocated according to the method described in the aforementioned process. If all gateway stations can meet the satellite number requirement, the allocation task is completed. If a gateway station cannot complete the allocation, after revoking all allocation results on the epoch, the allocation is performed on the current epoch according to the allocation strategy on the minimum epoch.

[0084] In step 500, optionally, first, antenna configuration is performed according to the feeder arc segments that each gateway has obtained. If a gateway is allocated the same satellite in consecutive time units (epochs), these consecutive epochs will be merged into a single feeder arc segment. Next, the feeder arc segments are sorted according to their starting epochs. Then, these sorted feeder arc segments are traversed one by one: antenna resources are attempted to be allocated for each arc segment. If there are no suitable antenna resources, an antenna is added to the gateway station. Then, after antenna resources are successfully allocated to all feeder arc segments, an antenna resource balancing step is performed. Specifically, "no available antenna resources" means that there are no antennas that are idle and not in the turnaround period during the effective time of the current feeder arc segment. This process continues until all feeder arc segments have been allocated antenna resources. After completing this process, the required number of antennas is the minimum number of antennas required for each gateway station, and the feeding tasks of these antennas are also determined as initial tasks.

[0085] In step 600, optionally, to achieve balanced task loads of antennas in the gateway, each gateway is traversed and the following operations are performed in each gateway: a feed arc is selected from the antenna with the most tasks and reallocated to the antenna with the least tasks. This process is repeated until the task loads of all antennas are close to balanced.

[0086] The present invention has the following technical effects:

[0087] (1) Achieve continuous service in transparent mode for large low-orbit communication satellite constellations with minimal ground-feed antennas;

[0088] (2) When there are many satellites in orbit, the power feeding tasks of each satellite can be efficiently planned and scheduled as a whole;

[0089] (3) This method has good scalability and can be redeveloped to meet diverse service needs. It is suitable for large constellation mission scheduling and different ground service needs.

[0090] More specifically, the present invention meets the continuous service capability with the minimum number of ground feeding antennas: the present invention can provide continuous service with as few ground feeding antennas as possible. This means efficient use of resources, reduced cost and complexity, while meeting service quality requirements. Further, the present invention can efficiently plan and schedule the feeding tasks of satellites in orbit: when there are a large number of satellites in orbit, this method can efficiently plan and schedule the feeding tasks of each satellite. "Overall planning, efficient scheduling" means that it does not just randomly or dispersedly process each satellite, but optimizes from a global perspective, so that satellite resources can be used more effectively. Further, the present invention is easy to expand and redevelop: the method has good scalability, which means that it can be easily redeveloped to meet different service requirements. This is particularly important for large constellations, because large constellations usually need to adapt to changing and diverse requirements. This also means that the method can more easily adapt to different ground service requirements. In short, this invention performs well in resource utilization, task scheduling and scalability, and has high practical value.

[0091] The second embodiment of the present application relates to a large-scale low-orbit communication constellation ground feeding antenna configuration and feeding task allocation system, and its structure is as follows: Figure 2 As shown, the ground feed antenna configuration and feed task allocation system of the large-scale low-orbit communication constellation includes:

[0092] Elevation angle and visibility calculation module: Each ground gateway station calculates the elevation angle between itself and all satellites in the low-orbit satellite constellation, and generates the visibility time series with all satellites based on these calculations. At the same time, the SCID sequence of the satellites that each gateway station can observe in each epoch is stored.

[0093] Satellite connectivity analysis module: used to calculate the number of satellites that can ensure connectivity in each epoch for each gateway station based on the visibility time series of each ground gateway station and gateway station set with the satellite constellation and the constraints of satellite connectivity.

[0094] The epoch selection module is used to select from all epochs the epoch sequence with the least number of satellites to which the gateway station set can be connected, and then, in these specific epochs, allocate the corresponding number of satellites to each gateway station according to the pre-calculated minimum number of satellites that each gateway station needs to maintain connection.

[0095] The time interval division and satellite allocation module is used to divide all epochs into multiple time intervals according to the aforementioned epoch sequence, and in each time interval, start from an epoch start point to which satellite allocation has been performed, and traverse to the end point of the interval in sequence. In the traversal process, the principle of extending the existing feeder arc segment is followed, and a predetermined number of satellites are allocated to the gateway station in each epoch one by one.

[0096] Feeder arc sorting and antenna allocation module: It is used to collect all generated feeder arcs after ensuring that each gateway station in all epochs has been allocated to a satellite. Then, these feeder arcs are sorted according to their starting epochs and antenna resources are allocated to each feeder arc based on this sorting.

[0097] Antenna load balancing module: It is used to balance the antenna load after all feeding arcs are successfully assigned to the gateway station to ensure that the utilization rate of each antenna in the gateway station is close to equal when performing the feeding task.

[0098] The first implementation manner is a method implementation manner corresponding to the present implementation manner. The technical details in the first implementation manner can be applied to the present implementation manner, and the technical details in the present implementation manner can also be applied to the first implementation manner.

[0099] It should be noted that those skilled in the art should understand that the implementation functions of each module shown in the implementation method of the above-mentioned large-scale low-orbit communication constellation ground feed antenna configuration and feed task allocation system can be understood by referring to the relevant description of the above-mentioned large-scale low-orbit communication constellation ground feed antenna configuration and feed task allocation method. The functions of each module shown in the implementation method of the above-mentioned large-scale low-orbit communication constellation ground feed antenna configuration and feed task allocation system can be implemented by a program (executable instruction) running on a processor, or by a specific logic circuit. If the above-mentioned large-scale low-orbit communication constellation ground feed antenna configuration and feed task allocation system in the embodiment of the present application is implemented in the form of a software function module and sold or used as an independent product, it can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes a number of instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the methods described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and other media that can store program codes. Thus, the embodiments of the present application are not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

[0100] Accordingly, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer storage medium, in which computer executable instructions are stored. When the computer executable instructions are executed by a processor, the various method embodiments of the present application are implemented.

[0101] In addition, the embodiments of the present application also provide a large-scale low-orbit communication constellation ground feed antenna configuration and feed task allocation system, which includes a memory for storing computer executable instructions, and a processor; the processor is used to implement the steps in the above-mentioned method implementation methods when executing the computer executable instructions in the memory. Among them, the processor can be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, referred to as "CPU"), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (Digital Signal Processor, referred to as "DSP"), Application Specific Integrated Circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, referred to as "ASIC"), etc. The aforementioned memory can be a read-only memory (read-only memory, referred to as "ROM"), a random access memory (random access memory, referred to as "RAM"), a flash memory (Flash), a hard disk or a solid-state hard disk, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in each embodiment of the present invention can be directly embodied as a hardware processor execution, or a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0102] It should be noted that in the application documents of this patent, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that the process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "including one" do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements. In the application documents of this patent, if it is mentioned that an action is performed according to an element, it means that the action is performed at least according to the element, which includes two situations: performing the action only according to the element, and performing the action according to the element and other elements. Expressions such as multiple, multiple, and multiple include 2, 2 times, 2 kinds, and more than 2, more than 2 times, and more than 2 kinds.

[0103] All documents mentioned in this application are considered to be included in the disclosure of this application as a whole, so that they can be used as the basis for modification when necessary. In addition, it should be understood that after reading the above disclosure of this application, those skilled in the art can make various changes or modifications to this application, and these equivalent forms also fall within the scope of protection claimed in this application.

Claims

1. A method for configuring ground feed antennas and allocating feed tasks for a large low-orbit communication constellation, characterized in that: include: Step B: Based on the visibility time series of each ground gateway and gateway set with the satellite constellation and the constraints of satellite connectivity, the number of satellites that can be connected in each epoch is calculated for each gateway; Step C: Selecting from all epochs the epoch sequence with the least number of satellites to which the gateway set can connect, and then, in the epoch, allocating a corresponding number of satellites to each gateway according to the pre-calculated minimum number of satellites that each gateway needs to maintain connection; as well as Step D: According to the aforementioned epoch sequence, all epochs are divided into multiple time intervals. In each time interval, starting from an epoch start point to which satellites have been allocated, traverse to the end point of the interval in sequence. During the traversal process, the principle of extending the existing feeder arc segment is followed, and a predetermined number of satellites are allocated to the gateway station in each epoch one by one.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Step A: Each ground gateway station calculates its own elevation angle and continuous visibility duration with all satellites in the low-orbit satellite constellation, and generates a visibility time series with all satellites based on these calculations. At the same time, the SCID sequence of the satellites that each gateway station can observe in each epoch is stored.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Step E: After ensuring that each gateway in all epochs has been assigned to a satellite, collect all generated feeder arcs, then sort them according to their starting epochs, and allocate antenna resources to each feeder arc based on this sorting; Step F: After all the feeding arcs are successfully allocated to the gateway, antenna load balancing is performed to ensure that the utilization rate of each antenna in the gateway is nearly equal when performing the feeding task.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that In step A, each ground gateway station needs to calculate the position, elevation angle and continuous visibility duration of the satellite at each epoch based on the satellite ephemeris. If the calculated elevation angle exceeds the set minimum limit and the continuous visibility duration is greater than the set duration, the satellite is considered to be visible to the gateway station at this epoch. For each epoch, the gateway station will store the SCID sequence of the visible satellite.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that In step B, it is necessary to calculate the number of satellites that each gateway can guarantee to connect to in the epoch sequence. The following criteria must be met for the gateway to establish a feeder link with the satellite: C1. The gateway can only establish a feeder link with a visible satellite, and the satellite can only establish a tracking and control link with a visible gateway; C2. The satellite can establish a feeder link with at most and only one gateway in the same epoch.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that In step C, specifically on a single epoch, the allocation process is as follows: first, generate a sequence of gateways to be allocated and their visible satellites, where the gateways to be allocated are those that have not yet reached the required number of satellites; sort them according to the number of gateways visible to the satellites, and traverse this sequence. If a satellite can only be connected to one gateway, it is allocated to the gateway; if multiple gateways can connect to the same satellite, priority is given to keeping the allocation consistent with the adjacent epochs, otherwise it is allocated to the gateway with the highest elevation angle.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that In step D, in the allocation process on a single epoch, in the scenario of allocating satellites to an epoch where the number of connectable satellites is greater than the minimum number of satellites, the epoch sequence mentioned above is used to divide a whole day into multiple time segments, the first time segment is from the beginning of the day to the minimum epoch, and the last time segment is from the maximum epoch to the end of the day. In the first time segment, traverse from the right end point to the left; in the remaining time segments, traverse from the left end point to the right. In each epoch, the allocation of satellites to the gateway station follows the following rules: first, the same allocation method as the adjacent allocated epoch is preferentially adopted. If this method can meet the satellite number requirement, the allocation is completed; otherwise, if a gateway station does not reach the specified number of satellites, the remaining satellites are allocated according to the method described in the above process. If all gateway stations can meet the satellite number requirement, the allocation task is completed. If a gateway station cannot complete the allocation, all allocation results on the epoch are revoked, and then allocation is performed on the current epoch according to the allocation strategy on the minimum epoch.

8. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that In step E, antenna configuration is performed according to the feeder arc segments that each gateway has obtained. If a gateway is assigned the same satellite in consecutive time units, these consecutive epochs will be merged into a single feeder arc segment; Then, the feed arcs are sorted according to their starting epochs; then, these sorted feed arcs are traversed one by one: antenna resources are tried to be allocated to each arc, and if there are no suitable antenna resources, a new antenna is added to the gateway station, and then, after antenna resources are successfully allocated to all feed arcs, the antenna resource balancing step is performed.

9. A large-scale low-orbit communication constellation ground feed antenna configuration and feed task allocation system, characterized in that: include: Elevation angle and visibility calculation module: used for each ground gateway to calculate the elevation angle between itself and all satellites in the low-orbit satellite constellation, and generate the visibility time series with all satellites based on these calculations. At the same time, the SCID sequence of the satellites that each gateway can observe in each epoch is stored; Satellite connectivity analysis module: used to calculate the number of satellites that can ensure connectivity in each epoch for each gateway station based on the visibility time series of each ground gateway station and gateway station set with the satellite constellation and the constraints of satellite connectivity; An epoch selection module is used to select from all epochs the epoch sequence with the least number of satellites to which the gateway station set can be connected, and then, in these specific epochs, allocate a corresponding number of satellites to each gateway station according to the pre-calculated minimum number of satellites that each gateway station needs to maintain connection; The time interval division and satellite allocation module is used to divide all epochs into multiple time intervals according to the epoch sequence, and in each time interval, start from an epoch start point to which satellites have been allocated, and traverse to the end point of the interval in sequence, wherein, in the traversal process, the principle of extending the existing feeder arc is followed, and a predetermined number of satellites are allocated to the gateway station in each epoch one by one; Feeder arc segment sorting and antenna allocation module: It is used to collect all generated feeder arc segments after ensuring that each gateway station in all epochs has been allocated to a satellite, and then sort them according to the starting epoch of these feeder arc segments, and allocate antenna resources to each feeder arc segment based on this sorting.

10. A large-scale low-orbit communication constellation ground feed antenna configuration and feed task allocation system, characterized in that: include: A memory for storing computer executable instructions; as well as, A processor, configured to implement the steps in the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 when executing the computer executable instructions.

11. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the steps in the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 are implemented.

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