Towards an Agent Computing Platform for Distributed Computing on Satellites

Today's mobile devices and countless other embedded devices now aim to use networking technologies utilizing the latest electronics and software to provide new functions. Distributed satellite systems, seen to be analogous to mobile ad hoc networks (MANET), perform new mission functions with high mobility and intermittent connectivity that make satellite network management and operations difficult. New drivers and requirements are outlined for node and network levels in any given topology requiring real-time client-server or peer-to-peer (P2P) networking applications. To meet these requirements a novel agent computing platform (ACP) is proposed utilizing technologies from the multi-processor and agent middleware fields for real-time Java networking and mobile ad hoc network-based distributed computing applications at a minimal overhead to existing systems. The Java optimised processor (JOP) is investigated and embedded into an existing LEON3-based system-on-a-chip (SoC) design to provide a new fault-tolerant, parallel processing, and network functionalities. Agent middleware is discussed and compared for porting to the new dual processor design with a new middleware instance manager thread to enable software resets at runtime on the Java processor without halting the processor. After verification these two technologies are combined and discussed in depth to highlight key technological problems of this real-time ACP implementation.