SatNOGS client architecture

Overview

SatNOGS client is the part of our software stack that:

  • Fetches observation jobs from the network.
  • Schedules locally when the observation starts/ends.
  • Does orbital calculation for the position of the observer and the tracked object (using PyEphem).
  • Sends rotctl/rigctl commands to control SatNOGS rotator.
  • Spawns processes to run demodulation/decoding software with the signal received as input.
  • Posts observation data back to the network.

Modules

Following the paradigm of SatNOGS being extensively modular, SatNOGS client is designed to have discrete modules with specific functionality.

scheduler

  • Build using apscheduler library.
  • Stores tasks in sqlite.

Tasks

  • get_jobs: Queries SatNOGS Network API to get jobs scheduled for the ground station.
  • spawn_observation: Initiates an Observer instance and runs the observation.
  • post_observation_data: Gathers output files, parses filename and posts data back to SatNOGS Network API.

observer.observer

Given initial description of the observation (tle, start, end)
  • Checks input for sanity.
  • Initializes WorkerTrack and WorkerFreq instances that start rigctl/rotctl. communication using trackstart method.
  • Starts/Stops GNU Radio script (gr-satnogs), which collects the data.
  • Processes produced data from observation (ogg file, waterfall plotting).

observer.worker

  • Facilitates as a worker for rigctl/rotctl.
  • Is the lowest abstraction level on rigctl/rotctl communications.
  • Tracks object until end of observation is reached.

observer.orbital

  • Implements orbital calculations using PyEphem.
  • Provides pinpoint method the returns alt/az position of tracked object.

satnogs-client

  • satnogs-client: A console script which runs the scheduler queue in the background and fetch jobs from the network.