Airborne cell tower system for wireless communications in remote and rural geographic areas
First Claim
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1. An airborne cell tower system for providing wireless communication, the system comprising:
- multiple units of an airborne cell tower unit assembly, wherein the airborne cell tower unit assembly is tethered to a helium balloon and is airborne with the help of the helium balloon, and wherein the airborne cell tower unit assembly has electronics and antennas to provide wireless communications coverage to mobile wireless devices;
a ground based computer system, wherein the ground based computer system is configured with a central processing unit (CPU), a memory and a system management logic operating therein, wherein the system management logic is configured to position and maintain multiple units of the airborne cell tower unit assembly in a grid pattern in an air region, wherein the multiple units of the airborne cell tower unit assembly provide wireless communications coverage for a specified geographic region;
each unit of the multiple units of the airborne cell tower unit assembly is configured with a unit management computer, wherein the unit management computer is configured with a CPU, a memory, and a drift zone logic operating therein;
the unit management computer is configured additionally with a global positioning system (GPS) receiver and a GPS function, wherein the GPS function is configured for computing a location of the airborne cell tower unit assembly;
the drift zone logic is configured to receive a periodic input of the location of the airborne cell tower unit assembly from the GPS function and is configured to output control signals to a location control system of the airborne cell tower unit assembly that maintains the location of the airborne cell tower unit assembly in a pre-defined drift zone of a specified air borne location in the air region;
the drift zone logic is further configured to maintain the location of the airborne cell tower unit assembly in the air region within an height envelope of approximately two to four miles, thereby maintain the airborne cell tower unit assembly above cloud cover and below high winds.
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Abstract
An airborne cell tower system for providing wireless communication in remote and sparsely populated areas provides wireless communication coverage in that region. The system 10 has an airborne cell tower unit assembly, where the assembly is airborne with the help of a helium balloon. Multiple units are positioned in an air region in a pattern to provide wireless coverage for a specified geographic region to provide wireless communication coverage in that region.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An airborne cell tower system for providing wireless communication, the system comprising:
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multiple units of an airborne cell tower unit assembly, wherein the airborne cell tower unit assembly is tethered to a helium balloon and is airborne with the help of the helium balloon, and wherein the airborne cell tower unit assembly has electronics and antennas to provide wireless communications coverage to mobile wireless devices; a ground based computer system, wherein the ground based computer system is configured with a central processing unit (CPU), a memory and a system management logic operating therein, wherein the system management logic is configured to position and maintain multiple units of the airborne cell tower unit assembly in a grid pattern in an air region, wherein the multiple units of the airborne cell tower unit assembly provide wireless communications coverage for a specified geographic region; each unit of the multiple units of the airborne cell tower unit assembly is configured with a unit management computer, wherein the unit management computer is configured with a CPU, a memory, and a drift zone logic operating therein; the unit management computer is configured additionally with a global positioning system (GPS) receiver and a GPS function, wherein the GPS function is configured for computing a location of the airborne cell tower unit assembly; the drift zone logic is configured to receive a periodic input of the location of the airborne cell tower unit assembly from the GPS function and is configured to output control signals to a location control system of the airborne cell tower unit assembly that maintains the location of the airborne cell tower unit assembly in a pre-defined drift zone of a specified air borne location in the air region; the drift zone logic is further configured to maintain the location of the airborne cell tower unit assembly in the air region within an height envelope of approximately two to four miles, thereby maintain the airborne cell tower unit assembly above cloud cover and below high winds. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An airborne cell tower unit assembly comprising:
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sub-assemblies of (i) a unit management computer configured with a central processing unit (CPU), a memory and a logic operating therein, wherein the logic provides a location control management function, wherein the location control management function is configured to receive a periodic input of the location of the airborne cell tower unit assembly from a global positioning system (GPS) function and is configured to output control signals to a location control system of the airborne cell tower unit assembly that maintains the location of the airborne cell tower unit assembly in a pre-defined drift zone of a specified air borne location in the air region and is further configured to maintain and maintains the location of the unit assembly in the air region within an height envelope of approximately two to four miles, thereby maintain the unit assembly above cloud cover and below high winds; (ii) a telemetry system computer configured with a CPU, a memory and a logic operating therein, wherein the logic provides telemetry functions, (iii) a solar cell system computer configured with a CPU, a memory and a logic operating therein, wherein the logic provides management of the solar panels that are coupled with a storage battery, (iv) an antenna group computer configured with a CPU, a memory and a logic operating therein, wherein the logic provides antenna coverage for a ground area, (v) a second antenna group configured with a CPU, a memory and a logic operating therein, wherein the logic provides communication links to other cell tower units and a ground based system, (vi) a routing computer configured with a CPU, a memory and a routing logic operating therein, wherein the routing logic provides routing of communication signals, and a (vii) a communication computer configured with a CPU, a memory and a logic operating therein, wherein the logic provides receiving and transmitting communication signals. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for an airborne cell tower system for providing wireless communication, comprising the steps of:
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providing multiple units of an airborne cell tower unit assembly, wherein the airborne cell tower unit assembly is tethered to a helium balloon and is airborne with the help of the helium balloon, and wherein the airborne cell tower unit assembly has electronics and antennas to provide wireless communications coverage to mobile wireless devices; providing a ground based computer system, wherein the ground based computer system is configured with a central processing unit (CPU), a memory and a system management logic operating therein, wherein the system management logic is configured to position and maintain multiple units of the airborne assembly in a grid pattern in an air region, wherein the multiple units provide wireless communications coverage for a specified geographic region; configuring each unit of the multiple units of an airborne cell tower unit assembly with a unit management computer, wherein the unit management computer is configured with a CPU, a memory, and a drift zone logic operating therein; configuring additionally the unit management computer with a global positioning system (GPS) receiver and a GPS function, wherein the GPS function is configured for computing a location of the airborne cell tower unit assembly; configuring the drift zone logic to receive a periodic input of the location of the airborne cell tower unit assembly from the GPS function and is configured to output control signals to a location control system of the airborne cell tower unit assembly that maintains the location of the airborne cell tower unit assembly in a pre-defined drift zone of a specified air borne location in the air region; further configuring the drift zone logic to maintain and maintains the location of the unit assembly in the air region within an height envelope of approximately two to four miles, thereby maintain the unit assembly above cloud cover and below high winds. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for creating an airborne cell tower system, wherein the airborne cell tower system is comprised of multiple airborne cell tower assembly units, comprising the steps of:
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configuring an airborne cell tower system computer for launching the multiple airborne cell tower assembly units; determining a geographic region in remote areas that lack wireless communication system and determining the number of airborne cell tower assembly units required for the geographic region; provisioning the multiple assemblies of the air borne cell tower assembly and launching the multiple airborne cell tower assembly units in the geographic region; providing in each of the air borne cell tower assembly unit a unit management computer and a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, wherein the unit management computer has been configured with a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, and resident in the memory and operating in the CPU, a drift zone logic and a GPS function; maintaining, by the drift zone logic and the GPS function, the location of the air borne cell tower assembly unit in a pre-defined drift zone for positioning the airborne cell tower assembly unit in a specified air borne location in the air region. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification