{"id":1154,"date":"2023-03-14T15:30:31","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T15:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.isi.edu\/centers-serc\/?p=1154"},"modified":"2023-07-26T15:34:02","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T15:34:02","slug":"former-students-pioneer-edge-computing-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.isi.edu\/centers-serc\/news\/former-students-pioneer-edge-computing-in-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Students Pioneer Edge Computing In Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeremy Allam and Marcel Lariviere, recent USC Viterbi alumni, are back at USC\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Information Sciences Institute<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(ISI) this month. They\u2019re not here as students, but as the co-founders of their company\u00a0<\/span>Exo-Space<\/span><\/a>, bringing with them a piece of equipment that will vastly improve the processing and delivery of satellite images, making near real-time satellite imaging possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"Exo-Space<\/p>\n

EXO-SPACE EDGE COMPUTING PROCESSOR<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This processor is so sensitive that it can only be worked on in a \u201ccleanroom\u201d \u2013 a space with a very low concentration of airborne particles. The ISI cleanroom, which uses positive pressure to keep it clean and free of contaminants, was just the place to run final checks on their device.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the first product from Allam and Lariviere\u2019s company, and if all goes well it will be affixed to a satellite and launched into space in October 2023. In space, it will provide near real-time satellite images to their clients \u2013 with a delivery time orders of magnitude faster than what is currently available.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The potential applications and client list are vast for this innovative processor \u2013 near real-time imaging of forest fires; identifying the size and location of plastic in the ocean; spotting illegal fishermen off the coast of Thailand \u2013 these are just some of the current use-cases being worked on by the Exo-Space team. And they are all applications that only exist when faster satellite image processing is feasible.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It All Started at ISI (And in the Carpool Lane)<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Allam and Lariviere graduated from USC Viterbi School of Engineering in 2018 with Masters Degrees in Astronautical Engineering. During their graduate studies, they both came to ISI to work a on satellite-focused projects at the\u00a0<\/span>Space Engineering Research Center (SERC)<\/span><\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0<\/span>Dave Barnhart<\/span><\/a>, Director of SERC and Professor at the\u00a0<\/span>Department of Astronautical Engineering<\/span><\/a>. SERC is an astronautics center located at ISI and supported by both ISI and the USC Viterbi Department of Astronautical Engineering.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Peers, friends and carpoolers, Allam and Lariviere often found themselves driving home from ISI discussing the idea of starting some type of satellite company. Allam said, \u201cAfter that, in the back of my head I was always thinking, \u2018Marcel and I could probably start a company together if we find the right idea.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Working Weekends<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

After receiving their master\u2019s degrees, both went on to prestigious jobs: Allam at Jet Propulsion Lab and Lariviere at the Walt Disney Corporation as an Imagineer. But their dream of starting a satellite company together did not fall to the wayside.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Allam said, \u201cWe decided to meet every Sunday for a full day of work to try to figure out what we were going to do. We would set up in my little studio apartment; we had a chalkboard and we would just think through ideas.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cAs engineers without business backgrounds, at first, we both approached the problem with the idea that, if you could build a really cool thing, then people are going to be interested in it and want to buy it. But really, it\u2019s the opposite. We realized that we needed to identify a much bigger market or enter into a new market that hadn\u2019t been broken into.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Launch of a Satellite Company<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

In 2020, they found just such a market: \u201cWe came across the notion of edge computing \u2013 putting a processor local to where data is being generated and processing the data before you send it over the Internet or anywhere else.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a common processing method, but not common in<\/span>\u00a0space.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With that, the long Sundays finally paid off and, in 2020, Allam, Lariviere, and co-founder Mark Lorden created\u00a0<\/span>Exo-Space<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to pioneer edge computing in space.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The mission of Exo-Space is to \u201cleverage their expertise in A.I., machine vision, and satellite design to offer an edge software and hardware package that can withstand the harsh environment of space, creating edge devices that will provide data processing services for space applications, and offering services that would never have been possible.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Edge Computing In Space<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Edge computing is a method of processing data closer to where it\u2019s being generated by increasing the proximity of networks and devices to users. It enables real-time or near-real time processing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Allam said, \u201cEdge computing is very common, for example, gaming companies do it all the time. They have local servers which reduces the latency of the data. So, if you\u2019re playing online games, having a server closer to where you\u2019re physically located means that your response time is faster and you don\u2019t get glitches or lags. It\u2019s the same thing for processing data anywhere else.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Real-Time Eye In The Sky<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Exo-Space\u2019s focus is currently computer vision \u2013 being able to use edge computing to quickly identify things on Earth from a satellite.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Traditionally, most image-collecting satellites use the same process. When they capture images, they store those raw images on the satellite, and then they downlink them to Earth. That raw data is sent to a data center to be processed, and then sent to the end user.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Exo-Space team is able to cut out two major bottlenecks in that process by implementing edge computing. Because of this, they offer the lowest latency data possible, aiming to deliver data in 60 seconds or less, which is roughly a 100x increase in data delivery time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Allam described the first bottleneck: \u201cWhen a satellite is collecting images, it can\u2019t downlink those images until the satellite is actually over a ground station \u2013 a massive antenna where the data can be downlinked. So, during that whole time, which can be up to 30 minutes, that data is just sitting on the satellite waiting to be sent down.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With Exo-Space\u2019s processor, images can be processed in the \u201cin between time\u201d between collecting the image and when the satellite is over a ground station.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He continued, describing the second bottleneck, \u201cWhen you\u2019re sending raw data down, the \u2018data footprint\u2019 \u2014 the size of the data \u2014 is larger because it\u2019s unprocessed. So you have to send that through RF [radio frequency] communications to a ground station, and then send that over public Internet lines to a data center. Sending larger data down and sending it to data centers also has latency involved.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Exo-Space processes on orbit, meaning they have a smaller data footprint to send down. They also have the advantage of sending directly to the end user because a data center is not required.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Space Entrepreneurs<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Although Allam and Lariviere took the approach of looking for a new market to break into, rather than focusing on building \u201ca really cool thing that people would be interested in\u201d \u2013 in the end, they built a really cool thing that people are extremely interested in!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They said, \u201cFor us, starting a company was not a matter of if, but when. There are so many exciting opportunities where improvements in space technology can have a positive impact for social change and bridging that gap is what gets us out of bed in the morning.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dave Barnhart, the pair\u2019s former professor and Director of SERC said, \u201cThe ability for SERC projects to train, educate and inspire students to go off and create their own companies is exactly what we hope to enable. It\u2019s awesome to see Jeremy and Marcel\u2019s experience on a USC satellite project translate directly into a business enterprise. While this is the first it is not the only incubation that ISI and SERC is doing to foster the second generation of space entrepreneurs!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Exo-Space team is looking forward to the launch of their first processor. The device, which they are doing final checks on this month in the ISI cleanroom, will be attached to a satellite that is set to launch in October of this year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Original article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the lab to outer space, these former ISIers are launching more than just a company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":421,"featured_media":1153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"news_source":"","news_author":"Julia Cohen","external_news_link":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.isi.edu\/centers-serc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2023\/07\/1200-exo-1.jpeg","featured_image_alt":"Three researchers wearing lab coats staring at computer","yoast_head":"\nFormer Students Pioneer Edge Computing In Space - Space Engineering Research Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.isi.edu\/centers-serc\/news\/former-students-pioneer-edge-computing-in-space\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Students Pioneer Edge Computing In Space - 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