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Tutorial — Network, routing & latency

Goal: declare a connectivity mesh, find the best multi-hop route, and estimate acquisition-to-delivery delay.

Dependency chain

flowchart LR
  Cov["Coverage"] --> Lat["Latency"]
  CN["Connection Network"] --> Route["Routing"]
  CN --> Lat
  CN --> ISL["ISL CGR"]
  Cov --> ISL
  Lat --> ISL

Steps

1. Build the mission

  1. Spacecraft or Walker constellation.
  2. One or more facilities (gateways).
  3. Optional: Coverage (Discrete is natural for latency traffic).
  4. Apply + refresh.

2. Connection Network

  1. Add a Connection Network (own plan pool).
  2. Declare edges, e.g. constellation aggregate → facility, and optional ISL edges. Ends may be sensors used as lasers or a dump antenna: access uses their FOV; Routing / Latency / command ISL collapse them to the parent satellite. Each laser is its own ISL radio; dump windows on one bus are unioned. Leave the nadir imager on Coverage. Example: two lasers and a dump dish.
  3. Set sampling step; Run Analysis.
  4. Confirm edge access windows / scene lines.
Figure placeholder Connection Network edge list
Save as docs/resources/images/tutorials/connection-network.png

3. Routing

  1. Add Routing Analysis; select the network.
  2. Choose the source (pick a member if it is a constellation) and check one or more targets.
  3. Choose the criterion (shortest path, fewest hops, fastest file or CGR), time step and file size; Run.
  4. The best route appears in 3D over the Connection Network, in the route colour and width.
  5. In Reporting, open Routing Summary, Target Usage and the Route Timeline.

Routing — path length vs time

Best-route path length vs time after Run — the same Dashboard plot as in the web app.

Routing — target share

Target Usage — which station the best route ends at, and for how long.

4. Latency

  1. Add Latency Analysis.
  2. Point it at the Coverage product and the Connection Network (per editor fields).
  3. Configure payload / traffic model.
  4. Policy Direct downlink (default) or ISL (CGR earliest delivery). Hop count is a tie-break inside CGR, not a field you set.
  5. Run and generate latency ReportGraph products.

Coverage Discrete facility tasking can opt into the same CGR planner for the command (T0→T1). That is independent of the Latency dump policy. ISL routing.

Checkpoint

  • CN: non-empty edge windows
  • Routing: a best route for part of the interval (or a clear reason for none — missing edges, no access, directionality)
  • Latency: delivery statistics after Coverage + CN succeed

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