Mobility and power management for high altitude platform (HAP) communication systems
First Claim
1. A communication system comprising:
- a core network element that has Internet access, the core network element located on the ground;
at least one gateway (GW) communicatively coupled to the core network element, the at least one GW able to provide broadband connectivity, the at least one GW located on the ground;
a set of high altitude platforms (HAPs) communicatively coupled to the at least one GW, each HAP comprising propulsion elements, a ground terminal (GT) radio sub-system including a GT radio and a GT antenna sub-system, gateway (GW) radio sub-system including a GW radio and a GW antenna sub-system, and a HAP radio sub-system including a HAP radio and a HAP antenna sub-system, wherein at least one HAP is able to communicate with at least one GW via the gateway radio sub-system using radio frequencies, and each HAP is able to communicate with each other HAP via the HAP radio sub-system using radio frequencies; and
a set of ground terminals (GTs), wherein each GT is able to communicate with each HAP via the ground terminal radio sub-system using radio frequencies and each GT is communicatively coupled to at least one HAP from the set of HAPs,wherein Internet connectivity is provided to each GT in the set of GTs via the core network element, the at least one GW, and at least one HAP from the set of HAPs and wherein each GT from the set of GTs is configured to;
communicate with a HAP from the set of HAPs using a serving GT beam from a plurality of GT beams formed by the HAP,measure received signal strength (RSS) of signals received from each GT beam in a set of neighboring GT beams from the plurality of GT beams formed by the HAP, andcompare the RSS of signals received from each of the set of neighboring GT beams to measured RSS of the serving GT beam, and designate one neighboring GT beam from the set of neighboring GT beams as a candidate handoff GT beam when the RSS of the one neighboring GT beam is within a threshold of the RSS of the serving GT beam.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A communication system is described. The system includes: at least one gateway able to provide broadband connectivity, a set of ground terminals, and a set of high altitude platforms (HAPs), where at least one aerial platform is able to communicate with at least one gateway using radio frequencies, each HAP is able to communicate with ground terminals using radio frequencies, and each HAP is able to communicate with each other HAP using radio frequencies. Ways to handoff a ground terminal/gateway from one HAP beam to another HAP beam are described. Ways to handoff a ground terminal/gateway from one HAP to another HAP are described. Ways that keep the communications payload radios active when there is data traffic and put the radios in sleep mode otherwise, thereby adjusting the communications payload power consumption to the data traffic requirements as a function of time and coverage area, are described.
29 Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A communication system comprising:
-
a core network element that has Internet access, the core network element located on the ground; at least one gateway (GW) communicatively coupled to the core network element, the at least one GW able to provide broadband connectivity, the at least one GW located on the ground; a set of high altitude platforms (HAPs) communicatively coupled to the at least one GW, each HAP comprising propulsion elements, a ground terminal (GT) radio sub-system including a GT radio and a GT antenna sub-system, gateway (GW) radio sub-system including a GW radio and a GW antenna sub-system, and a HAP radio sub-system including a HAP radio and a HAP antenna sub-system, wherein at least one HAP is able to communicate with at least one GW via the gateway radio sub-system using radio frequencies, and each HAP is able to communicate with each other HAP via the HAP radio sub-system using radio frequencies; and a set of ground terminals (GTs), wherein each GT is able to communicate with each HAP via the ground terminal radio sub-system using radio frequencies and each GT is communicatively coupled to at least one HAP from the set of HAPs, wherein Internet connectivity is provided to each GT in the set of GTs via the core network element, the at least one GW, and at least one HAP from the set of HAPs and wherein each GT from the set of GTs is configured to; communicate with a HAP from the set of HAPs using a serving GT beam from a plurality of GT beams formed by the HAP, measure received signal strength (RSS) of signals received from each GT beam in a set of neighboring GT beams from the plurality of GT beams formed by the HAP, and compare the RSS of signals received from each of the set of neighboring GT beams to measured RSS of the serving GT beam, and designate one neighboring GT beam from the set of neighboring GT beams as a candidate handoff GT beam when the RSS of the one neighboring GT beam is within a threshold of the RSS of the serving GT beam. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. An automated method for performing intra-high altitude platform (HAP) handoff the method comprising:
-
measuring received signal strength (RSS) a plurality of ground terminal (GT) beams of a set of neighboring GT beams using a radio subsystem of a GT from a plurality of GTs, each of the plurality of GT beams in the set of neighboring GT beams being formed by a HAP, the HAP including propulsion elements, a ground terminal (GT) radio sub-system including a GT radio and a GT antenna sub-system, gateway (GW) radio sub-system including a GW radio and a GW antenna sub-system, and a HAP radio sub-system including a HAP radio and a HAP antenna sub-system; comparing the RSS of each of the plurality of GT beams of the set of neighboring GT beams to a measured RSS of a serving GT beam formed by the HAP using the radio subsystem of the GT; sending a handoff request message from the GT to a radio in the HAP forming a candidate neighboring GT beam using the GT radio subsystem of the GT when the RSS of the candidate neighboring GT beam exceeds the RSS of the serving GT beam from the HAP, wherein Internet connectivity is provided to each GT in the set of neighboring GTs via a core network element, at least one gateway, and at least one HAP. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. An automated method for performing inter-high altitude platform (HAP) handoff, within an aerial communication network, the method comprising:
-
identifying a serving HAP from among a plurality of available HAPs performed by a ground terminal having a search antenna and a communications antenna, wherein each of the plurality of available HAPs comprises a propulsion element and each available HAP is able to be controlled by a pilot, and the serving HAP is able to communicate with at least one other HAP from among the plurality of available HAPs; communicating with the serving HAP using the communications antenna in the ground terminal; measuring a received signal strength (RSS) from the serving HAP performed by the ground terminal using the communications antenna; measuring received signal strength (RSS) from each HAP in a set of candidate HAPs performed by the ground terminal using the search antenna; determining that a handoff is required from the serving HAP to a new serving HAP selected from a set of candidate HAPs from the plurality of available HAPs based on the measured RSSs of the serving HAP and each of the set of candidate HAPs performed by the ground terminal, communicating with the serving hap using the communications antenna in the ground terminal and with the new serving HAP using the search antenna in the ground terminal during the handoff; moving a beam of the communications antenna in the ground terminal toward the new serving HAP at handoff completion; communicating with the new serving HAP using the communications antenna of the ground terminal after handoff completion; and wherein Internet connectivity is provided to at least one ground terminal via a core network element, at least one gateway, and the serving HAP. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
-
Specification