Making Sense of Constellations: Methodologies for Understanding Starlink's Scheduling Algorithms

Hammas Bin Tanveer; Mike Puchol; Rachee Singh; Antonio Bianchi; Rishab Nithyanand

doi:10.1145/3624354.3630586

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Making Sense of Constellations: Methodologies for Understanding Starlink's Scheduling Algorithms

Conference proceeding

Open access

Making Sense of Constellations: Methodologies for Understanding Starlink's Scheduling Algorithms

Hammas Bin Tanveer, Mike Puchol, Rachee Singh, Antonio Bianchi and Rishab Nithyanand

CoNEXT 2023: Companion of the 19th International Conference on emerging Networking EXperiments and Technologies, Vol.December 2023, pp.37-43

CoNEXT 2023: The 19th International Conference on emerging Networking EXperiments and Technologies (Paris, France, 12/05/2023–12/08/2023)

12/05/2023

DOI: 10.1145/3624354.3630586

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Abstract

Starlink constellations are currently the largest LEO WAN and have seen considerable interest from the research community. In this paper, we use high-frequency and high-fidelity measurements to uncover evidence of hierarchical traffic controllers in Starlink -- a global controller which allocates satellites to terminals and an on-satellite controller that schedules transmission of user flows. We then devise a novel approach for identifying how satellites are allocated to user terminals. Using data gathered with this approach, we measure the characteristics of the global controller and identify the factors that influence the allocation of satellites to terminals. Finally, we use this data to build a model which approximates Starlink's global scheduler. Our model is able to predict the characteristics of the satellite allocated to a terminal at a specific location and time with reasonably high accuracy and at a rate significantly higher than baseline.

Traffic Engineering

Starlink

satellite network

UIOWA OA Agreement

Details

Title: Subtitle: Making Sense of Constellations: Methodologies for Understanding Starlink's Scheduling Algorithms
Creators: Hammas Bin Tanveer
Mike Puchol
Rachee Singh
Antonio Bianchi
Rishab Nithyanand
Resource Type: Conference proceeding
Publication Details: CoNEXT 2023: Companion of the 19th International Conference on emerging Networking EXperiments and Technologies, Vol.December 2023, pp.37-43
Conference: CoNEXT 2023: The 19th International Conference on emerging Networking EXperiments and Technologies (Paris, France, 12/05/2023–12/08/2023)
DOI: 10.1145/3624354.3630586
Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/https://doi.org/10.13039/100000001, name: National Science Foundation, award: 1953983
Language: English
Date published: 12/05/2023
Academic Unit: Center for Social Science Innovation; Computer Science; Public Policy Center (Archive); Law Faculty
Record Identifier: 9984517157902771

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