Satellite transmission module for ground station

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11626924-B1
Application number	US-202016899448-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jun 11, 2020
Priority date	Jun 11, 2020
Publication date	Apr 11, 2023
Grant date	Apr 11, 2023

Abstract

Satellites may be integrated into a provider network for cloud-based services by utilizing a satellite-deployable computing device to execute one or more cloud services that are accessible by client devices of the provider network via respective associated Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). In some embodiments, the satellite-deployable computing device may process payload data of the satellite in accordance with one or more cloud-based services indicated in control instructions originating from a client device of the provider network. In some embodiments, the processed data may be transmitted to a ground station in accordance with one or more cloud-based services.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of implementing a provider network of cloud-computing services having one or more endpoints deployed on a satellite, the method comprising:
populating an input queue with first operations corresponding to original instructions that are stored in the satellite prior to launching the satellite;
performing the first operations of the input queue continuously to process data in the satellite based on the original instructions;
during a first transmission window in which the satellite is in communication with a ground station, receiving, from the ground station, updated control instructions originating from a client device of the provider network;
updating the input queue with second operations corresponding to the updated control instructions;
performing the second operations of the input queue including:
executing, based on the updated control instructions, one or more instances corresponding to one or more associated cloud services identified in the updated control instructions, and
processing payload data in accordance with the one or more associated cloud services, the payload data being generated by performing one or more satellite payload compute operations in the satellite;

populating an output queue with follow-on tasks corresponding to completed operations in the input queue that relate to transmissions to the ground station; and
performing the follow-on tasks of the output queue while the first transmission window is open, wherein the follow-on tasks include:
transmitting, to the ground station, at least a portion of the processed payload data based on the updated control instructions, and
transmitting, to the ground station, additional processed payload data during a subsequent transmission window after the first transmission window is closed, the additional processed data including payload data processed during the first transmission window or payload data processed between the first transmission window and the subsequent transmission window.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more instances are executed in a virtual private cloud provisioned as a logically isolated section of the provider network.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more associated cloud services includes a cloud-based resizable compute capacity service or a shared object storage service.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the updated control instructions include an identification of the one or more cloud computing services and processing instructions for using the one or more cloud computing services, the method further comprising:
receiving additional new control instructions during the subsequent transmission window; and
changing the processing of the payload data based on the additional new control instructions by processing the payload data in accordance with one or more different cloud computing services or by processing the payload data in accordance with different processing instructions using the same one or more cloud computing services.

5. A system for providing one or more endpoints of a cloud network including a provider network of cloud-computing services in a satellite, the system comprising:
a satellite-deployable computing device comprising:
a communication interface coupled to a transceiver of the satellite and a computing payload of the satellite, the computing payload comprising a first set of computing resources on the satellite configured to perform payload compute operations; and
a second set of computing resources comprising a processor and a storage device storing instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to execute, as a virtualized server of the cloud network, an instance of one or more terrestrial-based cloud computing services that are accessible, through one or more associated Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) implemented on the satellite-deployable computing device, by client computing devices of the cloud network.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more terrestrial-based cloud computing services includes a cloud-based resizable compute capacity service.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more terrestrial-based cloud computing services includes a shared object storage service.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the shared object storage service includes access to one or more logical containers for stored data, and wherein the one or more logical containers are accessible by one or more satellite payload compute resources even while the satellite is out of communication range of a ground station.

9. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more terrestrial-based cloud computing services includes a security service.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the security service includes an encryption protocol that is also used by the provider network to encrypt data transmissions.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the security service includes a Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol.

12. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more terrestrial-based cloud computing services includes an Internet of Things (IoT) service that controls synchronization of IoT devices.

13. The system of claim 5 , wherein the computing payload is configured to perform one or more payload operations to generate payload data, and wherein executing the one or more terrestrial-based cloud computing services includes processing the payload data according to control instructions provided by at least one client device of the cloud network using the one or more terrestrial-based cloud computing services.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein processing the payload data includes identifying a subset of the payload data and transmitting only the subset of the payload data to a ground station during a selected transmission window.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the subset of the payload data has a highest priority, and wherein additional payload data is transmitted during the selected transmission window if the selected transmission window is still open after transmitting the subset of the payload data.

16. The system of claim 5 , wherein the storage device stores further instructions executable by the processor to perform an operational test prior to launching the satellite, the operational test comprising executing test instances of one or more of the terrestrial-based cloud computing services on the satellite while the satellite is connected to the provider network, where the test instances of the one or more of the terrestrial-based cloud computing services perform equivalent operations to respective services of the one or more terrestrial-based cloud computing services that are executed on the satellite after launching the satellite.

17. A satellite system comprising:
a satellite ground station having an antenna for communicating with a satellite;
one or more computing devices for controlling the exchange of data between the satellite and the client device, the one or more computing devices comprising computer-readable instructions executable on the one or more computing devices to perform a method, the method comprising:
receiving a request from a client device of a cloud network for communicating with the satellite, the request including a control command for controlling the satellite to execute, as a virtualized server of a cloud network, an instance of at least one terrestrial-based cloud computing service;
transmitting the control command to the satellite; and
receiving, from the satellite, payload data captured according to payload instructions executing on a firs

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Ramachandran Prabu
• Weatherly Richard M
• Burns Nathan
• Gibson Michael Andrew

Classifications

• H04L69/326

  in the transport layer [OSI layer 4] (H04L69/16 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04L67/01

  Protocols · CPC title

• H04L67/10

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title

• H04L12/12

  Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof · CPC title

• H04B7/18521

  Systems of inter linked satellites, i.e. inter satellite service (for optical links between satellites H04B10/118) · CPC title