New Research Enables Global Satellite Connectivity

Georgia Tech researchers are bringing internet connectivity to space through their work with low earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

While LEO satellites have emerged as an important component of global connectivity, they require a new computing cloud, the LEO Compute Cloud. Being space-based poses some challenges for the LEO Compute Cloud, but School of Computer Science researchers have created a system that overcomes these difficulties.

Ph.D. student Vaibhav Bhosale, Professor Ada Gavrilovska, and Senior Research Engineer Ketan Bhardwaj detailed their solution in Krios: Scheduling Abstractions and Mechanisms for Enabling a LEO Compute Cloud. The paper won the best paper award at the 15th AGM Symposium on Cloud Computing.

"Compute follows connectivity and the connectivity has taken to space. Krios is paving the path for compute in space. Be it to the Low Earth Orbits, the Moon, or Mars,” Bhardwaj said.

Large companies running computing clouds through large-scale data centers with hundreds of thousands of servers have defined the current computing era. The key distinction between a traditional cloud and the LEO Compute Cloud is that the servers in a traditional cloud are stationary, whereas satellites are in constant orbit.

The Krios system solves this problem by creating zones on Earth where the connection should be available. As satellites pass through these zones, the system ensures uninterrupted service by handing over the application to another satellite. This allows Krios to perform similarly to a terrestrial compute cloud.

This idea of a LEO Compute Cloud is appealing because satellite servers are already being used for connectivity. Krios enables better use of those servers in the form of the LEO Compute Cloud and has the potential to improve connectivity performance.

The existence of a LEO Compute Cloud could also make connectivity more equitable, as they can be accessed from anywhere. Existing clouds on Earth are located based on demand or where companies have the most earning potential, leaving rural areas with less connectivity.

“Growing up in a small town in India that still does not have easy access to a compute cloud, I believe this is a step forward to making computing resources accessible to such regions,” said Bhosale.