Location-aware caching in an aerial network

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

at an aerial vehicle that is at a location associated with first geographic area in an aerial vehicle network, wherein the aerial vehicle network comprises a plurality of moveable aerial vehicles that provide service to client devices in a plurality of geographic areas, and wherein the aerial vehicle is one of the plurality of moveable aerial vehicles, determining that a location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle should be updated with user-data associated with the first geographic area; and

in response to determining that the location-aware cache should be updated:

sending a location-aware cache-update request;

receiving, as a response to the location-aware cache-update request, user-data that corresponds to the first geographic area; and

storing the user-data that corresponds to the first geographic area in a location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle; and

wherein determining that the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle should be updated with user-data associated with the first geographic area comprises determining that the aerial vehicle has moved from outside of the first geographic area to a location within the first geographic area.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that a location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle should be updated with user-data associated with the first geographic area comprises:

determining that the aerial vehicle has moved from a first location that is not associated with the first geographic area to a location within a border area of the first geographic area.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining that a location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle should be updated with user-data associated with the first geographic area further comprises:

determining a direction in which the aerial vehicle is travelling; and

determining that the direction in which the aerial vehicle is travelling is towards the first geographic area.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the location-aware cache-update request comprises sending a location-aware cache-update request to one or more other aerial vehicles in the aerial vehicle network, wherein the user-data that corresponds to the first geographic area is received from one or more of the other aerial vehicles.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the location-aware cache-update request comprises:

sending a location-aware cache-update request to a ground-based station that is associated with the first geographic area, wherein the user-data that corresponds to the first geographic area is received from the ground-based station.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

subsequently determining that the aerial vehicle is at a second location associated with a second geographic area of the aerial vehicle network; and

determining that the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle should be updated with user-data associated with the second geographic area and responsively:

sending a second location-aware cache-update request;

receiving, as a response to the location-aware cache-update request, user-data that corresponds to the second geographic area; and

storing the received user-data that corresponds to the second geographic area in the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

as a further response to determining that the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle should be updated with user-data associated with the second geographic area, removing the user-data that corresponds to the first geographic area from the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the location associated with a second geographic area of the aerial vehicle network is a location within a border area, wherein the border area is adjacent to the second geographic area, the method further comprising:

subsequently determining that the aerial vehicle has moved to a location within the second geographic area of the aerial vehicle network; and

in response to determining that the aerial vehicle is at the location associated with the second geographic area, removing the user-data that corresponds to the first geographic area from the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

subsequently determining that the aerial vehicle is at a second location that is not associated with the first geographic area; and

in response to determining that the aerial vehicle is at the second location, removing the user-data that corresponds to the first geographic area from the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location-aware cache-update request further comprises an indication of a rate at which the user-data should be sent to the aerial vehicle.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a network traffic level; and

determining a rate at which the user-data should be sent to the aerial vehicle based on the network traffic level.

12. A system comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium;

program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium and executable by at least one processor to:

determine that a location-aware cache of an aerial vehicle should be updated with user-data associated with a first geographic area of an aerial vehicle network, wherein the aerial vehicle network comprises a plurality of moveable aerial vehicles that provide service to client devices in a plurality of geographic areas, wherein the aerial vehicle is one of the plurality of moveable aerial vehicles, and wherein the determination that the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle should be updated with user-data associated with the first geographic area comprises a determination that the aerial vehicle has moved from outside of the first geographic area to a location within the first geographic area; and

in response to determining that the location-aware cache should be updated:

send a location-aware cache-update request;

receive, as a response to the location-aware cache-update request, user-data that corresponds to the first geographic area; and

store the user-data that corresponds to the first geographic area in a location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the location-aware cache-update request message is sent to one or more other aerial vehicles in the aerial vehicle network, and wherein the user-data that corresponds to the first geographic area is received from one or more of the other aerial vehicles.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the location-aware cache-update request message is sent to a ground-based station that is associated with the first geographic area, wherein the user-data that corresponds to the first geographic area is received from the ground-based station.

15. The system of claim 12 , further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium and executable by at least one processor to:

after storing the user-data that corresponds to the first geographic area in a location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle, determine that the aerial vehicle is at a second location associated with a second geographic area of the aerial vehicle network; and

determine that the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle should be updated with user-data associated with the second geographic area and responsively:

send a second location-aware cache-update request;

receive, as a response to the location-aware cache-update request, user-data that corresponds to the second geographic area; and

store the received user-data that corresponds to the second geographic area in the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle.

16. The system of claim 12 , further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium and executable by at least one processor to:

in further response to determining that the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle should be updated with user-data associated with the second geographic area, remove the user-data that corresponds to the first geographic area from the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle.

17. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining that a location-aware cache of an aerial vehicle should be updated, wherein the aerial vehicle is at a location associated with a first geographic area of an aerial vehicle network, wherein the aerial vehicle network comprises a plurality of moveable aerial vehicles that provide service to client devices in a plurality of geographic areas, and wherein determining that the location-aware cache of an aerial vehicle should be updated comprises determining that the aerial vehicle has moved into the first geographic area; and

in response to determining that the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle should be updated:

sending the aerial vehicle a location-aware cache-update message, wherein the location-aware cache-update message indicates that the aerial vehicle should update a locate-aware cache of the aerial vehicle with user-data corresponding to the first geographic area; and

initiating a transmission to the aerial vehicle of the user-data corresponding to the first geographic area.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein determining that the location-aware cache of the aerial vehicle should be updated comprises:

determining that the aerial vehicle has moved from a first location that is not associated with the first geographic area to a location within a border area of the first geographic area.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the method is implemented by a second aerial vehicle that is different from the aerial vehicle.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the method is implemented by a ground station in the aerial vehicle network.