Satellite system with beam hopping plan that takes into account the needs of gateways and subscriber terminals
First Claim
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1. A method for operating a satellite, comprising:
- providing a plurality of spot beams from a non-geostationary satellite, the plurality of spot beams includes a first spot beam configured to illuminate and communicate with a first gateway and multiple subscriber terminals, the plurality of spot beams share a common frequency bandwidth;
performing time domain beam hopping for the plurality of spot beams including operating the plurality of spot beams to use the common frequency bandwidth at different times with the common frequency bandwidth hopping between spot beams of the plurality of spot beams at intervals of an epoch over a hopping period; and
assigning a set of epochs to the first spot beam for the hopping period, the set of epochs include time for communicating with the first gateway over the first spot beam and time for communicating with subscriber terminals over the first spot beam.
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Abstract
A satellite communication system comprises a satellite configured to provide a plurality of spot beams adapted for communication using time domain beam hopping to switch throughput among spot beams of the plurality of spot beams. The plurality of spot beams includes a first spot beam that illuminates and communicates with a first gateway and a first set of subscriber terminals. The satellite is configured to implement a beam hopping plan that during a hopping period provides throughput to the first spot beam for an aggregated time duration based on bandwidth assignments to the first gateway and the first set of subscriber terminals.
38 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for operating a satellite, comprising:
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providing a plurality of spot beams from a non-geostationary satellite, the plurality of spot beams includes a first spot beam configured to illuminate and communicate with a first gateway and multiple subscriber terminals, the plurality of spot beams share a common frequency bandwidth; performing time domain beam hopping for the plurality of spot beams including operating the plurality of spot beams to use the common frequency bandwidth at different times with the common frequency bandwidth hopping between spot beams of the plurality of spot beams at intervals of an epoch over a hopping period; and assigning a set of epochs to the first spot beam for the hopping period, the set of epochs include time for communicating with the first gateway over the first spot beam and time for communicating with subscriber terminals over the first spot beam. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A satellite communication system, comprising:
a non-geostationary satellite configured to provide a plurality of spot beams adapted for communication using time domain beam hopping to switch throughput among spot beams of the plurality of spot beams, the plurality of spot beams includes a first spot beam that illuminates and communicates with a first gateway and a first set of subscriber terminals, the non-geostationary satellite is configured to provide throughput to the first spot beam for an aggregated time duration based on bandwidth assignment of the first gateway in the first spot beam and bandwidth assignments of the multiple subscriber terminals in the first spot beam by moving throughput between spot beams of the plurality of spot beams at intervals of an epoch over a repeating hopping period according to a repeating hopping plan, a number of epochs that the first spot beam is active during the hopping period includes time for communicating with the first gateway over the first spot beam and time for communicating with the multiple subscriber terminals over the first spot beam. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A satellite communication system, comprising:
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a satellite configured to provide a plurality of spot beams adapted for communication using time domain beam hopping to switch throughput among spot beams of the plurality of spot beams, the plurality of spot beams includes a first spot beam that illuminates and communicates with a first gateway and a first set of subscriber terminals, the satellite is configured to implement a beam hopping plan that during a hopping period provides throughput to the first spot beam for an aggregated time duration based on bandwidth assignments to the first gateway and the first set of subscriber terminals; the satellite is configured to implement the beam hopping plan by moving throughput between spot beams of the plurality of spot beams at intervals of an epoch over a hopping period according to a hopping plan; each epoch includes an active time, a late arrival window, a payload reconfigure time and an early arrival window; during the active time of a current epoch, the satellite is transmitting data for the current epoch; during the late arrival time, the satellite is transmitting data that arrived late for the current epoch; during the payload reconfigure time, the satellite is configuring its routing paths for a next epoch; and during the early arrival window, the satellite is transmitting data that arrived early for the next epoch.
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Specification