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System and architecture for space-based and mobile terrestrial sensor vehicles, and end-to-end network for aggregation and processing of sensor data

  • US 10,063,311 B2
  • Filed: 07/17/2014
  • Issued: 08/28/2018
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2013
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. An apparatus comprising:

  • a mobile vehicle platform, configured to travel in a course above the Earth;

    a sensor module, mounted on the mobile vehicle platform, configured to monitor one or more of certain conditions, circumstances, environments and situations occurring on or around, or associated with, the Earth, and to generate sensor data resulting from the monitoring; and

    a relay satellite terminal, mounted on the mobile vehicle platform, configured to execute data communications with a first of a plurality of satellites, via an existing communications footprint of the first satellite, while the mobile vehicle platform is in a position where the relay terminal is within the existing communications footprint of the first satellite, and, upon the mobile vehicle platform moving to a position where the relay terminal is within an existing communications footprint of a second of the plurality of satellites, the relay satellite terminal is configured to switch the data communications to the second satellite, wherein each of the communications footprints of the first and second satellites provides general broadband data communications to a respective coverage region of the Earth; and

    wherein selection of one or more of the satellites with which the relay satellite terminal is configured to execute the data communications is reconfigurable based at least in part on availability of each of the plurality of satellites, andwherein the data communications transmit the sensor data in real-time to the respective one of the first and second satellites for relay by the respective one of the first and second satellites to a central processing facility for one or more of aggregation, processing, analysis and dissemination of the data.

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