Triggered Automated Operations For Spaceborne And Airborne Nodes

• US 20200133746A1
• Filed: 10/29/2018
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Vector Launch, Inc.
• Inventors: Cleave, Robert Randall, Coleman, Shaun B., Metzger, John Edward
• Granted Patent: US 10,929,205 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18508 with satellite system used as relay, i.e. aeronautical mobile satellite service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/42 for mass transport vehicles, e.g. buses, trains or aircraft

Abstract

Systems, methods, and software described herein provide enhancements for the deployment and management of converged resources across satellites, aircraft, and ground-based nodes to perform user tasks and applications. In one implementation, a system includes a first physical node that monitors sensor data to determine when the sensor data qualifies for an operation triggering event. Once the sensor data qualifies for the operation triggering event, the first physical node may generate and communicate a notification to a second physical node to initiate a new operation to support the triggering event.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

in a monitor node, monitoring sensor data related to an object of interest external to the monitor node from one or more sensors associated with the monitor node;

determining a triggering event based at least on the sensor data from the one or more sensors;

identifying at least one action node associated with the triggering event from among one or more airborne nodes or spaceborne satellite nodes based on a location of the at least one action node and available sensors associated with the at least one action node; and

communicating a notification to the at least one action node to initiate an operation prompted by the triggering event, wherein the operation comprises collecting and processing additional sensor data for the object of interest from one or more sensors associated the at least one action node.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprises one or more imaging sensors, heat sensors, seismic sensors, proximity sensors, or motion sensors.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the triggering event based on the sensor data comprises determining when at least a portion of the sensor data satisfies one or more triggering criteria.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitor node comprises at least one among airborne nodes, land-based nodes, or water-based nodes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the operation comprises configuring the action node to perform one or more tasks selected among imaging tasks, communication relay tasks, and repositioning tasks for the action node to perform the imaging tasks or the communication relay tasks.

6. The method of claim 1:

wherein monitoring the sensor data from the one or more sensors associated with the monitor node comprises monitoring for a change in one or more properties related to the object of interest; and

wherein identifying the at least one action node associated with the triggering event from among the one or more airborne nodes or spaceborne satellite nodes comprises identifying the at least one action node associated with the triggering event from among the one or more airborne nodes or spaceborne satellite nodes with at least one sensor to monitor the object of interest.

7. The method of claim 1;

wherein monitoring the sensor data from the one or more sensors associated with the monitor node comprises monitoring for a change in one or more properties related to the object of interest; and

wherein the operation comprises initiating a virtual node to collect the additional sensor data associated with the object of interest.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising allowing new triggering events to be defined by individual airborne nodes or spaceborne satellite nodes based at least on one or more past triggering events and associated sensor data.

9. A computing apparatus comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media;

a processing system operatively coupled to the one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media; and

processing instructions stored on the one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media that, when executed by the processing, direct the processing system to;

in a monitor node, monitor sensor data related to an object of interest external to the monitor node from one or more sensors associated with the monitor node;

determine a triggering event based at least on the sensor data;

identify at least one action node associated with the triggering event from among one or more airborne nodes or spaceborne satellite nodes based on a location of the at least one action node and available sensors associated with the at least one action node; and

communicate a notification to the at least one action node to initiate a virtual node prompted by the triggering event, wherein the virtual node collects and processes additional sensor data for the object of interest from one or more sensors associated with the at least one action node.

10. The computing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the one or more sensors comprises one or more imaging sensors, heat sensors, seismic sensors, proximity sensors, or motion sensors.

11. The computing apparatus of claim 9, wherein determining the triggering event based on the sensor data comprises determining when at least a portion of the sensor data satisfies one or more triggering criteria.

12. The computing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the monitor node comprises at least one among airborne nodes, land-based nodes, or water-based nodes.

13. The computing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the operation comprises configuring the action node to perform one or more tasks selected among imaging tasks, communication relay tasks, and repositioning tasks for the action node to perform the imaging tasks or the communication relay tasks.

14. The computing apparatus of claim 9,

wherein monitoring the sensor data from the one or more sensors associated with the monitor node comprises monitoring for a change in one or more properties related to the object of interest;

and

wherein identifying the at least one action node associated with the triggering event from among the one or more airborne nodes or spaceborne satellite nodes comprises identifying the at least one action node associated with the triggering event from among the one or more airborne nodes or spaceborne satellite nodes with at least one sensor to monitor the object of interest.

15. The computing apparatus of claim 9,

wherein monitoring the sensor data from the one or more sensors associated with the monitor node comprises monitoring for changes over time in the sensor data related to one or more properties of the object of interest.

16. The computing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the virtual node comprises a logical node, the logical node comprising physical resources from multiple physical nodes.

17. A system comprising:

a plurality of physical nodes, wherein the plurality of physical nodes comprises one or more airborne nodes or spaceborne satellite nodes;

a first physical node in the plurality of physical nodes configured to;

monitor sensor data related to an object of interest external to the first physical node from one or more sensors associated with the first physical node;

determine a triggering event based at least on the sensor data;

identify at least one action node associated with the triggering event from the plurality of physical nodes based on a location of the at least one action node and available sensors associated with the at least one action node; and

communicate a notification to the at least one action node to initiate a virtual node prompted by the triggering event, wherein the virtual node collects and processes additional sensor data for the object of interest from one or more sensors associated with the at least one action node.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more sensors comprises one or more imaging sensors, heat sensors, seismic sensors, proximity sensors, or motion sensors.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein determining the triggering event based on the sensor data comprises determining when at least a portion of the sensor data satisfies one or more triggering criteria.

20. The system of claim 17,

wherein monitoring the sensor data from the one or more sensors associated with the first physical node comprises monitoring for changes over time in the sensor data related to one or more properties of the object of interest.