FloodSFCP: Quality and Latency Balanced Service Function Chain Placement for Remote Sensing in LEO Satellite Network

Ruoyi Zhang*, Chao Zhu, Xiao Chen, Qingyuan Gong, Xinlei Xie, Xiangyuan Bu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Prompted by the significant advancements in image processing technologies and their diverse range of applications, remote sensing satellites are poised for rapid expansion. Nonetheless, offloading the vast amount of remote sensing satellite images to the ground gateway station is inefficient due to the exorbitant costs induced by satellite links, while the limited resources of individual satellites hinder local task processing. With the advancement of the network function virtualization (NFV) technology, a new paradigm for service function chain (SFC) has emerged, which can significantly improve the flexibility and resource utilization of network services and alleviate resource conflicts by dividing large services into smaller ones organized in the form of SFCs. As mega-constellations (e.g., Starlink) developed, the number of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites is increasing. By dividing services into small sub-services and organizing them into SFCs throughout the LEO network, services that cannot be completed by a single satellite can be accomplished through multi-satellite cooperation. However, the quality of the remote sensing service is positively correlated with its latency, and the rapidly changing topology of LEO networks also adds complexity to the SFC placement. Hence, how to select appropriate satellites to place the SFC and modulate service levels, in order to obtain better remote sensing results within an acceptable latency, remains a question. To address these issues, this paper proposes the FloodSFCP, an SFC placement method that aims to increase service quality and decrease latency through offline training and online optimization via deep reinforcement learning, taking into account the variation in LEO network topology. By introducing NoisyNet, Dueling, and N-step learning, we improve the model's generalization ability and reduce the state space, thus enhancing convergence speed while reducing decision and training time. Experimental results demonstrate that FloodSFCP significantly improves service quality while reducing total decision costs.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2023 20th Annual IEEE International Conference on Sensing, Communication, and Networking, SECON 2023
PublisherIEEE Computer Society
Pages276-284
Number of pages9
ISBN (Electronic)9798350300529
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Event20th Annual IEEE International Conference on Sensing, Communication, and Networking, SECON 2023 - Madrid, Spain
Duration: 11 Sept 202314 Sept 2023

Publication series

NameAnnual IEEE Communications Society Conference on Sensor, Mesh and Ad Hoc Communications and Networks workshops
Volume2023-September
ISSN (Print)2155-5486
ISSN (Electronic)2155-5494

Conference

Conference20th Annual IEEE International Conference on Sensing, Communication, and Networking, SECON 2023
Country/TerritorySpain
CityMadrid
Period11/09/2314/09/23

Keywords

  • Deep Reinforcement Learning
  • Service function chain
  • quality-latency balance
  • satellite network

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