Within the Drive project in computer science, the new satellite-based internet service Starlink is currently being tested.
Starlink, developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX, offers reliable internet connectivity in areas with limited infrastructure. There are some uncertainties about how this works technically, which is something that researchers in computer science want to further investigate:
"It is the first time that such a type of satellite-based communication technology is available to ordinary users at a reasonable cost. Therefore, we are conducting investigations to better understand aspects of Starlink's underlying technical structure and how this communication method can best complement other communication technologies. Unlike mobile phone networks, you cannot gain full insight into the technical details of the system through open sources; such information is largely retained internally by Starlink," says Johan Garcia, a lecturer in computer science.
Predicting speed using AI Satellite networks, due to their structural setup, result in variations in download speed for the user, occurring over multiple time scales. PhD student David Ukwen is involved in the project and is exploring the extent to which, using machine learning or artificial intelligence, one can predict the speed that will occur in the next short time period.
"Using our testbed, we collect real-time measurements of communication with high precision. With these measurements, we can detect structures in the variation and see how well we can build models to predict future download speeds. Predicting speed, for example, provides opportunities to improve the selection of communication paths within the system. Another aspect is that applications using the network can adjust their transmission speed, which can contribute to a better end-user experience," he says.
The testing is part of the SP4: Testbeds and benchmarking measurements - Research on how to measure and analyse end-to-end latency performance to gain insights on the integrated performance of Drive solutions, as well as the evolution of commercial 5G/6G network.
