It is important to understand how repeat tasks get scheduled in order to best utilize this functionality for your use case. At its core, a repeat task is simply a series of nearly identical single tasks that are scheduled based on the Repeat Task Start, Repeat Cycle, and Repeat Task End.
Single tasks created from a repeat task are unique in that they are scheduled before other single tasks in order to increase the likelihood of getting consistently spaced collects.
What the scheduler does
- Creates a repeating series of individual, back-to-back, tasking requests with open & close windows space seven (7) days apart.
- Schedules the first available collect for the first tasking request based on the Repeat Task Start.
- Schedules the first available collect for all subsequent tasking requests as they reach the scheduling horizon.
What it doesn't do
- Guarantee a repeat collection on a specific day or time within the week.
Weekly repeat example
Let's say you want to get weekly collects over a particular location for five (5) weeks. It can be set up like this:
- Repeat Task Start (UTC): 2022-09-12 T00:00:00Z
- Repeat Task End: Number of collects = 5
- Tasking Tier: Routine
- Repeat Cycle: Weekly
Once you submit your task, the system (or scheduler) will create a repeating series of individual, back-to-back, tasking requests with open & close windows spaced seven (7) days apart.
The scheduler works on a seven (7) day horizon, meaning the first task in the repeat task series can be scheduled once the Repeat Task Start date is within the next seven (7) days.
Because Capella follows a no bumping policy, the system will schedule the first task in the repeat task series at the first available open opportunity.
In this example, the first open opportunity is on day three (3) of the 7-day window.
Once the Window Open for the second task in the series is within the schedule horizon, the scheduler will schedule the second task for the first available opportunity.
The Repeat Task functionality does not guarantee a repeat collection on a specific day or time within the week. The further out your Repeat Task Start date is, the higher the likelihood that all your collects will be spaced similarly as your first tasking requests won't have to compete with other single tasking requests already in the schedule.
In this example, the Repeat Start Date was set for the day the Repeat Task was submitted to the system. Therefore, the first available opportunity the system can reserve is on day two (2) of the subsequent week. The time between the first and second collections will be six (6) days.
The Routine Tasking Tier is the default for new repeat tasks and the tier used in this example. At this tier, single tasks within the series are treated with a higher priority in our scheduler in order to have a higher chance of acceptance on a consistent cadence.
In this example, the third task in the repeat series now has the highest priority in our scheduler and is scheduled for day one (1) of the next 7-day window.
The final two tasks in this example will be scheduled as the scheduler horizon opens. The spacing between the third, fourth, and fifth tasks will be more consistent, occurring on the first day of the 7-day schedule window.
Once the fifth and final task in the Repeat Task series is collected, downlinked, and delivered, the Repeat Task will move to a Completed status and the system will stop spawning new single tasks to the scheduler.