SDN in the stratosphere: Loon's aerospace mesh network

Posted by mlerner on Sunday August 28, 2022 @11:44AM
from the dl.acm.org dept.

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544216.3544231

( 11 comments | 35 points | on HN )

Re:SDN in the stratosphere: Loon's aerospace mesh network by ggm on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @03:04AM (#32647468)

A truly amazing project. Predicting SDN choices so it's not just reacting to signal loss but making pre-emptive decisions to be able to route around.

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Re:SDN in the stratosphere: Loon's aerospace mesh network by tjmc on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @03:57AM (#32647807)

I've never understood why they opted for balloons over high altitude solar drones like Zephyr (1) which are much more maneuverable and can stay over a particular area.

1. https://www.airbus.com/en/products-services/defence/uas/uas-...

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Re:SDN in the stratosphere: Loon's aerospace mesh network by londons_explore on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @06:46AM (#32648769)

The project started ~a decade ago, and back then a drone that could stay airborne 24x7 wasn't really doable - at least not with several kg of radio equipment and several hundred watts of power for networking gear.

Even today that's challenging - today's 24x7 drones glide all night because that's more efficient than carrying the weight of a battery that can last all night.

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Re:SDN in the stratosphere: Loon's aerospace mesh network by tjmc on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @11:33PM (#32658069)

Your point about needing to glide all night is interesting. Is this true for Zephyr as well?

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Re:SDN in the stratosphere: Loon's aerospace mesh network by an_ko on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @06:32AM (#32648693)

I'm only guessing, but perhaps because balloons have fewer moving parts? They're the lowest-tech aircraft. Minimise aerospace engineering, focus on networks for now.

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Re:SDN in the stratosphere: Loon's aerospace mesh network by dgnemo on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @03:00PM (#32653773)

Mostly payload and Airborne time. Idk what is the current status of Zephyr (google search suggests 26 days?) but Loon balloons were consistently reaching 300 days of airborne time.

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Re:SDN in the stratosphere: Loon's aerospace mesh network by philipkglass on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @03:19PM (#32653954)

Zephyr's latest flight had 64 days airborne:

https://newatlas.com/aircraft/zephyr-8-mission-ends-abruptly...

Unfortunately, it ended with a crash.

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Re:SDN in the stratosphere: Loon's aerospace mesh network by tjmc on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @11:06PM (#32657918)

Thanks for the link. Pretty impressive mission despite the unfortunate ending! Edit: Did it actually crash? The article says it was “brought down” but that could have still been a glide and regular landing if it lost power.

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Re:SDN in the stratosphere: Loon's aerospace mesh network by TruthWillHurt on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @10:23AM (#32650862)

Baloons are simpler, sturdier and much cheaper.

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Re:SDN in the stratosphere: Loon's aerospace mesh network by aaron695 on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @06:21AM (#32648634)

Zepher's payload is 5kg and only stays up for a month and costs $$$$.

Balloons are a bag that can carry tonnes and last forever in theory.

The obvious choice is balloons.

You can tether balloons for local.

In practice what works best is a hard question.

What will the military fund etc.

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Re:SDN in the stratosphere: Loon's aerospace mesh network by tjmc on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @10:40PM (#32657724)

How do you tether a balloon at 30,000ft?

Perhaps a happy medium would be a solar airship with a rotor for maneuvering during the day.

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