Data transmission systems and methods using satellite-to-satellite radio links
First Claim
1. A radio communications system comprising a constellation of at least 100 orbiting satellites disposed in random orbits to cover an area of the earth'"'"'s surface extending over a predetermined range of latitudes north and south of the equator for communicating data addressed to a ground station via a radio route including at least one radio link between two of the satellites, the area covered by the satellite constellation being divided into a plurality of zones of at least 1,000,000 square miles each, wherein each satellite in the constellation includes:
- global navigation satellite system (GNSS) circuitry for determining the location of the satellite relative to the earth'"'"'s surface, wherein the satellite has a unique identifier associated with the satellite;
a plurality of directional satellite antennas for receiving radio signals from a plurality of other satellites and for transmitting radio signals to a plurality of other satellites;
route creation circuitry for storing orbital information defining the locations at any particular time of a majority of the other randomly orbiting satellites in the constellation, wherein the route creation circuitry determines from the stored orbital information the zone in which the satellite is located and the zone in which at least one other satellite in the direction of the destination ground station is located; and
antenna pairing circuitry for creating a radio link with at least one other satellite by transmitting a routing radio signal from at least one of the plurality of the directional satellite antennas in the direction of the least one other satellite whose location was determined by the route creation circuitry, wherein the routing radio signal includes the unique identifier associated with the satellite transmitting the routing radio signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Radio communications systems use 100 to 200 satellites in random low-earth orbits distributed over a predetermined range of north and south latitudes. The satellites themselves create a radio route between ground stations via radio links between multiple satellites by virtue of onboard global navigation satellite system circuitry for determining the location of the satellite and route creation circuitry for calculating in real time the direction from the satellite'"'"'s location at a particular instant to a destination ground station. Directional antennas in the satellites transmit routing radio signals to enhance the probability of reception by other satellites. One embodiment facilitates the creation of satellite-to-satellite links by assigning each satellite a unique identifier, storing orbital information defining the locations of all of the orbiting satellites in the system at any particular time, and including in the radio signal the unique identifier associated with the transmitting satellite.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A radio communications system comprising a constellation of at least 100 orbiting satellites disposed in random orbits to cover an area of the earth'"'"'s surface extending over a predetermined range of latitudes north and south of the equator for communicating data addressed to a ground station via a radio route including at least one radio link between two of the satellites, the area covered by the satellite constellation being divided into a plurality of zones of at least 1,000,000 square miles each, wherein each satellite in the constellation includes:
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global navigation satellite system (GNSS) circuitry for determining the location of the satellite relative to the earth'"'"'s surface, wherein the satellite has a unique identifier associated with the satellite; a plurality of directional satellite antennas for receiving radio signals from a plurality of other satellites and for transmitting radio signals to a plurality of other satellites; route creation circuitry for storing orbital information defining the locations at any particular time of a majority of the other randomly orbiting satellites in the constellation, wherein the route creation circuitry determines from the stored orbital information the zone in which the satellite is located and the zone in which at least one other satellite in the direction of the destination ground station is located; and antenna pairing circuitry for creating a radio link with at least one other satellite by transmitting a routing radio signal from at least one of the plurality of the directional satellite antennas in the direction of the least one other satellite whose location was determined by the route creation circuitry, wherein the routing radio signal includes the unique identifier associated with the satellite transmitting the routing radio signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification