Load-Balancing Method for LEO Satellite Edge-Computing Networks Based on the Maximum Flow of Virtual Links

With the increasing number of satellites in orbit, traditional scheduling methods can no longer satisfy the increasing data demands of users. The timeliness of remote sensing images with large data volumes is poor in the backhaul process through low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite networks. To address the above problems, we propose an edge-computing load-balancing method for LEO satellite networks based on the maximum flow of virtual links. First, the minimum rectangle composed of computing nodes is determined by the source and destination nodes of the transmission task under the configuration of the 2D-Torus topology of LEO satellite networks. Second, edge computing virtual links are established between computing nodes and users. Third, the Ford-Fulkerson algorithm is used to obtain the maximum flow of the topology with virtual links. Finally, a strategy is generated for computing and transmission resource allocation. The simulation results show that the proposed method can optimize the total capacity of the multi-node information backhaul in the remote sensing scenario of LEO satellite networks. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is verified in several special scenarios.