Bidirectional Mission Offloading for Agile Space-Air-Ground Integrated Networks

SAGIN provides great strength in extending the capability of ground wireless networks. On the other hand, with rich spectrum and computing resources, ground networks can also assist spaceair networks in accomplishing resource-intensive or power-hungry missions, enhancing the capability and sustainability of the space-air networks. Therefore, bidirectional mission offloading can make full use of the advantages of SAGIN and benefits both space-air and ground networks. In this article, we identify the key role of network reconfiguration in coordinating heterogeneous resources in SAGIN, and study how network functions virtualization (NFV) and service function chaining (SFC) enable agile mission offloading. A case study validates the performance gain brought by bidirectional mission offloading. Future research issues are outlooked as the bidirectional mission offloading framework opens a new trail in releasing the full potential of SAGIN.