PAGE CONTENTS
Objectives
The objective of the activity is to develop congestion-aware, Quality-of-Service-aware, multipath unicast and multicast routing and network management protocols for constellations with large number of satellites equipped with inter-satellite links (RF and optical). The protocols are implemented and tested in a testbed.
Challenges
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Development of space-ready hardware that supports routing on several Gigabit network interfaces
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Design of effective load-balancing solutions for routing in SCNs
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Interoperability with existing terrestrial networks
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performance evaluation of routing protocols in large constellations with thousands of satellites
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Handover Management and IP mobility
System Architecture
The project entails the development of two different performance evaluation methodologies: A hardware demonstrator that consists of the final routing hardware and a verification environment, and a network simulator capable of simulating traffic in entire Satellite Constellation Networks. The hardware demonstrator consists of the routing hardware, which is the Device Under Test (DUT), and peripheral systems that generate the test traffic and facilitate device evaluation. The DUT implements the proposed routing and management protocols in both control and data plane. It routes traffic between its four ISLs and two Earth-Satellite-Links (ESLs). The DUTs feature a modern SoC with space heritage, which runs OpenVSwitch with DPDK to accelerate the packet processing. DPDK makes use of the SoC’s DataPath Acceleration Architecture to support the link speeds required.
The simulator is a model-based, modular software simulation of the entire SCNs. It can simulate varying user distributions, traffic types and classes as well as different and dynamic network topologies. Thus, it is capable of representing the entire complexity of delivering internet connectivity via satellite networks. Results of the developed routing protocol can be compared to God’s Eye View Routing and Source Routing to evaluate the benefits of the developed routing protocol.
Plan
The project is divided into seven main work packages:
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Output 0: Defined Reference Scenario
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Output 1: Finalised Technical Specification
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Output 2: Selected Technical Baseline
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Output 3: Preliminary Design Baseline
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Output 4: Implementation and Verification Plan
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Output 5: Verified Deliverable Items and Compliance Statement
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Output 6: Technology Assessment and Development Plan
Current Status
Project finalised.
