Bandwidth aware state transfer among satellite devices

• US 9,819,742 B1
• Filed: 07/19/2017
• Issued: 11/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Vector Launch, Inc.
• Inventors: Coleman, Shaun, Garber, Darren D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tu X
• Application Number:
  US15/653,881
• Time in Patent Office: 118 Days
• Field of Search: 455427, 455 121, 455 8, 455 131, 455 133
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/203 using migration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2041 with more than one idle spare processing component
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2048 where the redundant components share neither address space nor persistent storage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2097 maintaining the standby controller/processing unit updated initialisation or re-synchronisation thereof G06F11/1658 and subgroups
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/81 Threshold
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/815 Virtual middleware or OS functionality using virtual machines to implement generic software techniques for error detection or fault masking G06F11/1484
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18504 Aircraft used as relay or high altitude atmospheric platform
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18515 Transmission equipment in satellites or space-based relays
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18521 Systems of inter linked satellites, i.e. inter satellite service for optical links between satellites H04B10/118
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/06 Airborne or Satellite Networks space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185

Abstract

Systems, methods, and software described herein provide enhancements for orbital satellite platforms. In one example, an orbital satellite platform includes a plurality of satellite devices each comprising a virtualized execution system configured to execute one or more software payloads as associated virtual nodes. An active satellite device is provided among the plurality of satellite devices and is configured to execute at least an active virtual node, determine state information related to the execution of the active virtual node, and periodically update the state information in a storage satellite device. The storage satellite device is configured to select a level of statefulness for delivery of the state information to a peer satellite device designated as an operational backup for the active satellite device.

Claims

1. An orbital satellite platform, comprising:

a plurality of satellite devices each comprising a virtualized execution system configured to execute one or more software payloads as associated virtual nodes;

an active satellite device among the plurality of satellite devices configured to execute at least an active virtual node, determine state information related to the execution of the active virtual node, and periodically update the state information in a storage satellite device; and

the storage satellite device configured to select a level of statefulness for delivery of the state information to a peer satellite device designated as an operational backup for the active satellite device.

2. The orbital satellite platform of claim 1, comprising:

the storage satellite device configured to select the level of statefulness based at least on a communication link quality between the storage satellite device and the peer satellite device.

3. The orbital satellite platform of claim 1, comprising:

based at least in part on the communication link quality falling below a predetermined threshold, the storage satellite device configured to transfer file-level state information for delivery to the peer satellite device; and

based at least in part on the communication link quality exceeding the predetermined threshold, the storage satellite device configured to transfer block-level state information for delivery to the peer satellite device.

4. The orbital satellite platform of claim 1, comprising:

responsive to failure of the active satellite device, the peer satellite device configured to resume activity of the active satellite device based at least in part on the state information received from the storage satellite device.

5. The orbital satellite platform of claim 4, comprising:

the peer satellite device configured to resume the activity of the active satellite device by at least performing a differential update of a virtual machine image resident on the peer satellite device using the state information.

6. The orbital satellite platform of claim 1, wherein the peer satellite device is selected for designation as the operational backup for the active satellite device according to provisioning attributes presently available to support execution of the active virtual node.

7. The orbital satellite platform of claim 6, wherein the provisioning attributes comprise version levels of one or more virtual machine images resident on the peer satellite device.

8. The orbital satellite platform of claim 6, comprising:

responsive to one or more of the satellite devices lacking the provisioning attributes to support execution of the active virtual node, at least one among the active satellite device and the storage satellite device configured to update a software portion of the one or more of the satellite devices to include the provisioning attributes to support execution of the active virtual node.

9. The orbital satellite platform of claim 1, comprising:

the storage satellite device comprising a data storage system configured to store the state information received from one or more satellite devices, and execute a storage platform as one or more virtual nodes to exchange the state information with the one or more satellite devices.

10. A method of operating an orbital satellite platform, the method comprising:

in an active satellite device among a plurality of satellite devices, executing at least an active virtual node, determining state information related to the execution of the active virtual node, and periodically updating the state information in a storage satellite device; and

selecting a level of statefulness for delivery of the state information from the storage satellite device to a peer satellite device designated as an operational backup for the active satellite device.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

selecting the level of statefulness based at least on a communication link quality between the storage satellite device and the peer satellite device.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

based at least in part on the communication link quality falling below a predetermined threshold, transferring file-level state information for delivery to the peer satellite device; and

based at least in part on the communication link quality exceeding the predetermined threshold, transferring block-level state information for delivery to the peer satellite device.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

in the peer satellite device, resuming activity of the active satellite device responsive to failure of the active satellite device based at least in part on the state information received from the storage satellite device.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

in the peer satellite device, resuming the activity of the active satellite device by at least performing a differential update of a virtual machine image resident on the peer satellite device using the state information.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the peer satellite device is selected for designation as the operational backup for the active satellite device according to provisioning attributes presently available to support execution of the active virtual node.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the provisioning attributes comprise version levels of one or more virtual machine images resident on the peer satellite device.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

responsive to one or more of the satellite devices lacking the provisioning attributes to support execution of the active virtual node, updating a software portion of the one or more of the satellite devices to include the provisioning attributes to support execution of the active virtual node.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

in the storage satellite device, storing the state information received from one or more satellite devices, and executing a storage platform as one or more virtual nodes to exchange the state information with the one or more satellite devices.

19. A satellite device, comprising:

a communication system configured to receive state information from at least an active satellite device that periodically updates the state information related to execution of one or more virtual nodes by an associated virtualized execution system of the active satellite device;

a storage system configured to store the state information; and

a storage platform executed as one or more virtual nodes on a virtualized execution system of the satellite device and configured to select a level of statefulness for delivery of the state information to a peer satellite device designated as an operational backup for the active satellite device.

20. The satellite device of claim 19, comprising:

the storage platform configured to select the level of statefulness based at least on a communication link quality between the satellite device and the peer satellite device;

based at least in part on the communication link quality falling below a predetermined threshold, the storage platform configured to transfer file-level state information for delivery to the peer satellite device; and

based at least in part on the communication link quality exceeding the predetermined threshold, the storage platform configured to transfer block-level state information for delivery to the peer satellite device.