Dora: A Controller Provisioning Strategy in Hierarchical Domain-based Satellite Networks

Abstract: The rapid proliferation of satellite constellations in Space-Air-Ground Integrated Networks (SAGIN) presents significant challenges for network management. Conventional flat network architectures struggle with synchronization and data transmission across massive distributed nodes. In response, hierarchical domain-based satellite network architectures have emerged as a scalable solution, highlighting the critical importance of controller provisioning strategies. However, existing network management architectures and traditional search-based algorithms fail to generate efficient controller provisioning solutions due to limited computational resources in satellites and strict time constraints. To address these challenges, we propose a three-layer domain-based architecture that enhances both scalability and adaptability. Furthermore, we introduce Dora, a reinforcement learning-based controller provisioning strategy designed to optimize network performance while minimizing computational overhead. Our comprehensive experimental evaluation demonstrates that Dora significantly outperforms state-of-the-art benchmarks, achieving 10% improvement in controller provisioning quality while requiring only 1/30 to 1/90 of the computation time compared to traditional algorithms. These results underscore the potential of reinforcement learning approaches for efficient satellite network management in next-generation SAGIN deployments.