Dynamic Satellite Cluster Management for Low Latency Handovers
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Satellite communication channels with computing devices are often ephemeral and prone to interruptions due to satellite orbits, device mobility, and environmental factors, leading to difficulties in maintaining communication sessions with high throughput and low latency.
Innovation Solution
Concurrently communicating with a cluster of satellites to establish and maintain communication channels that meet communication quality objectives, dynamically adjusting the satellite cluster based on location, orbital trajectories, and communication quality metrics to ensure continuous and reliable connectivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If communication channels are established between satellites and computing devices, then communication services can be provided, but the channels are ephemeral and prone to interruptions due to satellite orbits, device mobility, and environmental factors
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by establishing communication channels with multiple satellites before the current satellite's signal degrades. The wireless communication manager proactively identifies alternative satellites and pre-establishes handover channels, ensuring seamless transitions without interruption to the communication session.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the set of satellites used for communication based on real-time conditions. As satellites move in and out of line-of-sight range, the system continuously updates the active satellite cluster, adding new satellites and removing those that are no longer viable, thereby maintaining reliable communication throughout the session.
2Reliability
If handover between satellites is performed, then communication continuity can be maintained, but handover delays and latency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges communication channels from multiple satellites into a unified communication session. By maintaining simultaneous connections with several satellites and combining their resources, the system eliminates the need for sequential handover processes, thereby reducing latency and maintaining continuous communication without interruption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system ensures continuity of useful action by maintaining active communication channels with multiple satellites simultaneously. Instead of transitioning from one satellite to another, the system keeps all satellite channels active and uses them concurrently, eliminating gaps and delays associated with handover transitions.
3Device complexity
If a single satellite is used for communication, then device complexity is reduced, but communication quality objectives such as bandwidth and throughput cannot be consistently met
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the communication task across multiple satellites rather than relying on a single satellite. Each satellite provides a portion of the required bandwidth and throughput, and the wireless communication manager coordinates their combined resources to meet overall communication quality objectives, thereby achieving higher productivity without excessive complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed in some examples are methods, systems, and machine-readable mediums A method for satellite communications. A computing device concurrently communicates with two or more satellites of a cluster of satellites in a satellite network. The clusters are dynamically adjusted to achieve a communication objective. This improves satellite communications by increasing that likelihood that the computing device will be in range of a satellite that is useful for achieving the communication objective.