Terrestrial based air-to-ground communications system and related methods
First Claim
1. A base station of an air-to-ground (ATG) communications system, the base station being configured to communicate with an in-flight aircraft of the ATG communications system, the base station comprising:
- a ground-based transceiver;
a ground-based controller operably coupled to the ground-based transceiver; and
a beamforming network operably coupled to the ground-based controller,wherein the beamforming network is configured to generate a wide antenna beam and a plurality of fixed narrow antenna beams that overlap the wide antenna beam,wherein the wide antenna beam is associated with communication of control information and the narrow antenna beams are each associated with communication of data traffic, andwherein the beamforming network is configured to;
responsive to establishment of access to the aircraft via the wide antenna beam, receive position information via a return link from the aircraft, the position information being indicative of aircraft position,determine one of the narrow antenna beams to activate based on the position information, andactivate the determined one of the narrow antenna beams to communicate the data traffic with the aircraft.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An air-to-ground communications system includes at least one base station to be positioned on the ground and including a ground-based transceiver, a phased array antenna coupled to the ground-based transceiver, and a beamforming network coupled to the ground-based transceiver. The ground-based transceiver is configured to provide data traffic and control information to an aircraft. The beamforming network is configured to simultaneously generate at least one narrow antenna beam for the data traffic and at least one wide beam for the control information.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A base station of an air-to-ground (ATG) communications system, the base station being configured to communicate with an in-flight aircraft of the ATG communications system, the base station comprising:
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a ground-based transceiver; a ground-based controller operably coupled to the ground-based transceiver; and a beamforming network operably coupled to the ground-based controller, wherein the beamforming network is configured to generate a wide antenna beam and a plurality of fixed narrow antenna beams that overlap the wide antenna beam, wherein the wide antenna beam is associated with communication of control information and the narrow antenna beams are each associated with communication of data traffic, and wherein the beamforming network is configured to; responsive to establishment of access to the aircraft via the wide antenna beam, receive position information via a return link from the aircraft, the position information being indicative of aircraft position, determine one of the narrow antenna beams to activate based on the position information, and activate the determined one of the narrow antenna beams to communicate the data traffic with the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An air-to-ground communications system comprising:
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a plurality of base stations, each comprising a ground-based transceiver and associated ground-based controller; an aircraft comprising an aircraft-based transceiver and associated aircraft-based controller; and a beamforming network operably coupled to the ground-based controller, wherein the beamforming network is configured to generate a wide antenna beam and a plurality of fixed narrow antenna beams that overlap the wide antenna beam, wherein the wide antenna beam is associated with communication of control information and the narrow antenna beams are each associated with communication of data traffic, and wherein the beamforming network is configured to; responsive to establishment of access to the aircraft via the wide antenna beam, receive position information via a return link from the aircraft, the position information being indicative of aircraft position, determine one of the narrow antenna beams to activate based on the position information, and activate the determined one of the narrow antenna beams to communicate the data traffic with the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A beamforming network of a base station of an air-to-ground (ATG) communications system, the base station being configured to communicate with an in-flight aircraft of the ATG communications system, the beamforming network comprising processing circuitry configured to:
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generate a wide antenna beam, and a plurality of fixed narrow antenna beams that overlap the wide antenna beam, wherein the wide antenna beam is associated with communication of control information and the narrow antenna beams are each associated with communication of data traffic, and wherein the beamforming network is further configured to; responsive to establishment of access to the aircraft via the wide antenna beam, receive position information via a return link from the aircraft, the position information being indicative of aircraft position, determine one of the narrow antenna beams to activate based on the position information, and activate the determined one of the narrow antenna beams to communicate the data traffic with the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification