Coordinated Satellite-Terrestrial Frequency Reuse

• US 20060194576A1
• Filed: 05/11/2006
• Published: 08/31/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ATC Technology Corporation (FedEx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: ATC Technology Corporation (FedEx Corporation)
• Inventors: Karabinis, Peter D., Singh, Rajendra, Olexa, George Ronald, Badipour, Bahman
• Granted Patent: US 7,593,726 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/427
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18539 Arrangements for managing radio, resources, i.e. for establishing or releasing a connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18563 Arrangements for interconnecting multiple systems data switching networks H04L12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2041 Spot beam multiple access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks

Abstract

A system and method of operation for efficiently reusing and/or sharing at least a portion of the frequency spectrum between a first satellite spot beam and a second satellite spot beam, and/or an underlay terrestrial network associated with a second satellite spot beam. The spectrum is efficiently reused and/or shared between respective spot beams and/or associated underlay terrestrial systems in a manner minimizes interference between the respective satellite and terrestrial systems.

Claims

1. A method of at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between one or more communications systems, comprising the steps of:

configuring a first satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a first substantially central portion and a first substantially peripheral portion;

configuring a second satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith;

configuring at least one terrestrial cell for providing terrestrial communications comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the first satellite spot beam, the at least one terrestrial cell having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; and

at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third set of frequencies.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies when the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is used substantially distant from the first satellite spot beam and/or from the at least one terrestrial cell.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies responsive to a communications capacity demand.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and substantially different than the third set of frequencies.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are included in the third set of frequencies.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first and/or second satellite spot beams to provide up-link communications and used by the at least one terrestrial cell to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first and/or second satellite spot beams to provide down-link communications and used by the at least one terrestrial cell to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one terrestrial cell is at least partially within the first substantially central portion and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one terrestrial cell is at least partially within the first substantially central portion and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of a set of frequencies associated with at least one spot beam adjacent the first satellite spot beam.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one terrestrial cell is at least partially within the first substantially peripheral portion and at a distance from a boundary with a satellite spot beam that is adjacent to the first satellite spot beam and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of a set of frequencies associated with the satellite spot beam that is adjacent to the first satellite spot beam.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein at least some frequencies of the first, second and/or third set of frequencies provide communications based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

configuring at least one second terrestrial cell for providing terrestrial communications comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the second satellite spot beam, the at least one second terrestrial cell having a fourth set of frequencies associated therewith; and

at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one second terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the fourth set of frequencies.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell and non-usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first and/or second satellite spot beam(s) and/or non-usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first and/or second satellite spot beam(s).

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell and usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first and/or second satellite spot beam(s) and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first and/or second satellite spot beam(s).

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the terrestrial communications are based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the terrestrial communications are based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

19. A method of establishing communications using a space-based system that is configured to provide communications based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology, the method comprising the steps of:

determining that communications cannot be established because of unavailability of a first set of frequencies associated with a first antenna pattern of the space-based system; and

establishing communications by assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by, the first antenna pattern, at least one frequency of a second set of frequencies associated with a second antenna pattern.

20. A method of at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between two or more communications areas, comprising the steps of:

configuring a first communications area for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a first substantially central portion and a first substantially peripheral portion;

configuring a second communications area for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith;

configuring at least one third communications area for providing terrestrial communications, the at least one third communications area comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the first communications area and having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; and

at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one third communications area, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third set of frequencies.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one third communications area at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies when the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is used substantially distant from the first communications area and/or from the at least one third communications area.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one third communications area at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies responsive to a communications capacity demand.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and substantially different than the third set of frequencies.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are included in the third set of frequencies.

25. The method of claim 20 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first and/or second communications areas to provide up-link communications and used by the at least one third communications area to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

26. The method of claim 20 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first and/or second communications areas to provide down-link communications and used by the at least one third communications area to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

27. The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one third communications area is at least partially within the first substantially central portion and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies.

28. The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one third communications area is at least partially within the first substantially central portion and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of a set of frequencies associated with at least one communications area adjacent the first communications area.

29. The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one third communications area is at least partially within the first substantially peripheral portion and not proximate to a boundary of the second communications area and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies.

30. The method of claim 20 wherein at least some frequencies of the first, second and/or third set of frequencies provide communications based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

31. The method of claim 20 further comprising the steps of:

configuring at least one fourth communications area for providing terrestrial communications, the at least one fourth communications area comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the second communications area, the at least one fourth communications area having a fourth set of frequencies associated therewith; and

at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one fourth communications area, at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the fourth set of frequencies.

32. The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one third communications area, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one third communications area and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one third communications area and non-usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first and/or second communications area(s) and/or non-usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first and/or second communications area(s).

33. The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one third communications area, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one third communications area and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one third communications area and usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first and/or second communications area(s) and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first and/or second communications area(s).

34. The method of claim 32 or 33 wherein the usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one third communications area and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one third communications area comprises usage based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein the cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

36. A method of at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between one or more communications systems, comprising the steps of:

configuring a first satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith;

configuring at least one second satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith;

configuring at least one terrestrial cell for providing terrestrial communications having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; and

at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one second satellite spot beam, at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies responsive to at least one predetermined criterion.

37. A method of at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between one or more communications systems, comprising the steps of:

configuring a first satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a first substantially central portion and a first substantially peripheral portion;

configuring a second satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith;

configuring at least one terrestrial cell for providing terrestrial communications comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the first satellite spot beam, the at least one terrestrial cell having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; and

at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third, second and/or first set of frequencies.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies when the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is used substantially distant from the first satellite spot beam and/or from the at least one terrestrial cell.

39. The method of claim 37 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies responsive to a communications capacity demand.

40. The method of claim 37 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and substantially different than the third set of frequencies.

41. The method of claim 37 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are included in the third set of frequencies.

42. The method of claim 37 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first and/or second satellite spot beams to provide up-link communications and used by the at least one terrestrial cell to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

43. The method of claim 37 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first and/or second satellite spot beams to provide down-link communications and used by the at least one terrestrial cell to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

44. The method of claim 37 wherein at least some frequencies of the first, second and/or third set of frequencies provide communications based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

45. The method of claim 37 wherein the at least one terrestrial cell is at least partially within the first substantially central portion and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of a set of frequencies associated with at least one spot beam adjacent the first satellite spot beam.

46. The method of claim 37 wherein the at least one terrestrial cell is at least partially within the first substantially peripheral portion and not proximate to a boundary with a satellite spot beam that is adjacent to the first satellite spot beam and the terrestrial communications are at least partially based upon at least one frequency of a set of frequencies associated with the satellite spot beam that is adjacent to the first satellite spot beam.

47. The method of claim 37 further comprising the steps of:

configuring at least one second terrestrial cell for providing terrestrial communications comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the second satellite spot beam, the at least one second terrestrial cell having a fourth set of frequencies associated therewith; and

at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one second terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion.

48. The method of claim 37 wherein the at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell and non-usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first and/or second satellite spot beam(s) and/or non-usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first and/or second satellite spot beam(s).

49. The method of claim 37 wherein the at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell and usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first and/or second satellite spot beam(s) and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first and/or second satellite spot beam(s).

50. The method of claim 48 or 49 wherein the usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell comprises usage based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

51. The method of claim 50 wherein the cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

52. A method of assigning, reusing and/or borrowing at least one frequency between a space-based system and a terrestrial wireless system;

the space-based and terrestrial wireless systems providing space-based and terrestrial communications based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology using frequencies of a satellite frequency band, the method comprising;

assigning, reusing and/or borrowing by the terrestrial wireless system at least one frequency associated with the space-based system responsive to at least one first predetermined criterion and/or assigning, reusing and/or borrowing by the space-based system at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system responsive to at least one second predetermined criterion.

53. The method of claim 52 wherein the at least one cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

54. The method of claim 53 wherein the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is based upon GSM.

55. The method of claim 52 wherein at least one of the space-based system and the terrestrial wireless system provides communications based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology.

56. The method of claim 55 wherein the at least one cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

57. The method of claim 56 wherein the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is based upon GSM.

58. The method of claim 52 wherein the assigning, reusing and/or borrowing comprises dynamically assigning, reusing and/or borrowing and/or preemptively assigning, reusing and/or borrowing.

59. The method of claim 58 wherein the dynamically assigning, reusing and/or borrowing and/or preemptively assigning, reusing and/or borrowing is performed responsive to at least one load balancing and/or capacity issue.

60. The method of claim 52 wherein the at least one first predetermined criterion and/or the at least one second predetermined criterion comprises at least one load balancing and/or capacity criterion.

61. The method of claim 52 wherein the assigning, reusing and/or borrowing by the terrestrial wireless system at least one frequency associated with the space-based system comprises usage of the at least one frequency by the terrestrial wireless system and non-usage of the at least one frequency by the space-based system.

62. The method of claim 61 wherein the non-usage of the at least one frequency by the space-based system comprises non-usage of the at least one frequency by the space-based system over a geographic area associated with the terrestrial wireless system.

63. The method of claim 52 wherein the satellite frequency band comprises an up-link set of frequencies and a down-link set of frequencies and wherein the space-based system uses frequencies of the up-link set of frequencies to provide up-link communications and the terrestrial wireless system uses frequencies of the up-link set of frequencies to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

64. The method of claim 52 wherein the satellite frequency band comprises an up-link set of frequencies and a down-link set of frequencies and wherein the space-based system uses frequencies of the down-link set of frequencies to provide down-link communications and the terrestrial wireless system uses frequencies of the down-link set of frequencies to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

65. The method of claim 63 or 64 wherein the terrestrial wireless system provides the up-link and/or down-link communications based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

66. The method of claim 52 wherein assigning, reusing and/or borrowing by the terrestrial wireless system at least one frequency associated with the space-based system comprises usage of the at least one frequency by the terrestrial wireless system and usage of the at least one frequency by the space-based system.

67. The method of claim 66 wherein the usage of the at least one frequency by the space-based system comprises usage of the at least one frequency by the space-based system over a geographic area that is not associated with the terrestrial wireless system.

68. A system for at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between one or more communications systems, the system comprising:

at least one satellite capable of configuring a first spot beam for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith, the first spot beam comprising a first substantially central portion and a first substantially peripheral portion, the at least one satellite also capable of configuring a second spot beam for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith;

at least one terrestrial base station for providing terrestrial communications having a third set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region associated with the first spot beam; and

a controller for at least one of assigning to, allowing reuse by and allowing borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third set of frequencies.

69. The system of claim 68 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies when the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is used substantially distant from the first spot beam and/or the terrestrial base station.

70. The system of claim 68 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies responsive to a communications capacity demand.

71. The system of claim 68 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and substantially different than the third set of frequencies.

72. The system of claim 68 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are included in the third set of frequencies.

73. The system of claim 68 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first and/or second spot beams to provide up-link communications and used by the at least one terrestrial base station to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

74. The system of claim 68 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first and/or second spot beams to provide down-link communications and used by the at least one terrestrial base station to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

75. The system of claim 68 wherein the at least one terrestrial base station is at least partially within the first substantially central portion and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies.

76. The system of claim 68 wherein the at lease one terrestrial base station is at least partially within the first substantially central portion and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of a set of frequencies associated with at least one spot beam adjacent the first spot beam.

77. The system of claim 68 wherein the at least one terrestrial base station is at least partially within the first substantially peripheral portion and not proximate to a boundary with a spot beam that is adjacent to the first spot beam and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of a set of frequencies associated with the spot beam that is adjacent to the first spot beam.

78. The system of claim 68 wherein at least some frequencies of the first, second and/or third set of frequencies provide communications based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

79. The system of claim 68 further comprising:

at least one second terrestrial base station for providing terrestrial communications comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the second spot beam, the at least one second terrestrial base station having a fourth set of frequencies associated therewith; and

at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one second terrestrial base station, at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the fourth set of frequencies.

80. The system of claim 68 wherein the at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and non-usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first and/or second spot beam(s) and/or non-usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first and/or second spot beam(s).

81. The system of claim 68 wherein the at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first and/or second spot beam(s) and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first and/or second spot beam(s).

82. The system of claim 80 wherein the terrestrial communications are based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

83. The system of claim 82 wherein the cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

84. The system of claim 81 wherein the terrestrial communications are based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

85. The system of claim 84 wherein the cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

86. A space-based system for providing space-based communications based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology;

the space-based system comprising;

a controller configured to determine that communications cannot be established because of unavailability of a first set of frequencies associated with a first antenna pattern of the space-based system and establishing communications by assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by, the first antenna pattern, at least one frequency of a second set of frequencies associated with a second antenna pattern.

87. A system for use in at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies, comprising:

at least one satellite for configuring a first communications area for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a first substantially central portion and a first substantially peripheral portion, and for configuring a second communications area for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith;

at least one terrestrial base station for configuring a third communications area for providing terrestrial communications, the at least one terrestrial base station comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the first communications area, the at least one terrestrial base station and/or the third communications area having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; and

a controller that at least one of assigns to, allows reuse by and allows borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station and/or the third communications area, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third set of frequencies.

88. The system of claim 87 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies when the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is used substantially distant from the first communications area and/or from the third communications area.

89. The system of claim 87 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies responsive to a communications capacity demand.

90. The system of claim 87 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and substantially different than the third set of frequencies.

91. The system of claim 87 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are included in the third set of frequencies.

92. The system of claim 87 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first and/or second communications areas to provide up-link communications and used by the at least one terrestrial base station to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

93. The system of claim 87 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first and/or second communications areas to provide down-link communications and used by the at least one terrestrial base station to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

94. The system of claim 87 wherein the third communications area is at least partially within the first substantially central portion and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies.

95. The system of claim 87 wherein the third communications area is at least partially within the first substantially central portion and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of a set of frequencies associated with at least one communications area adjacent the first communications area.

96. The system of claim 87 wherein the third communications area is at least partially within the first substantially peripheral portion and not proximate to a boundary of the second communications area and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies.

97. The system of claim 87 wherein at least some frequencies of the first, second and/or third set of frequencies provide communications based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

98. The system of claim 87, further comprising:

at least one second terrestrial base station for configuring a fourth communications area for providing terrestrial communications, the at least one second terrestrial base station comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the second communications area, the at least one second terrestrial base station and/or the fourth communications area having a fourth set of frequencies associated therewith; and

a controller that at least one of assigns to, allows reuse by and allows borrowing by, the at least one second terrestrial base station and/or the fourth communications area, at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the fourth set of frequencies.

99. The system of claim 87 wherein the at least one of assigns to, allows reuse by and allows borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station and/or the third communications area, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and/or the third communications area and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and/or the third communications area and non-usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first and/or second communications area(s) and/or non-usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first and/or second communications area(s).

100. The system of claim 87 wherein the at least one of assigns to, allows reuse by and allows borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station and/or the third communications area, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and/or the third communications area and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and/or the third communications area and usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first and/or second communications area(s) and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first and/or second communications area(s).

101. The system of claim 99 or 100 wherein the usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and/or the third communications area and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and/or the third communications area comprises usage based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

102. The system of claim 101 wherein the cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

103. A system for at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between one or more communications systems, the system comprising:

at least one satellite capable of configuring a first satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith, the at least one satellite also capable of configuring at least one second satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith;

at least one terrestrial base station for providing terrestrial communications having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; and

a controller for at least one of assigning to, allowing reuse by and allowing borrowing by, the at least one second satellite spot beam, at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies responsive to at least one predetermined criterion.

104. A system for at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between one or more communications systems, the system comprising:

at least one satellite capable of configuring a first satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a first substantially central portion and a first substantially peripheral portion, the at least one satellite also capable of configuring at least one second satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith;

at least one terrestrial base station for providing terrestrial communications comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the first satellite spot beam, the at least one terrestrial base station having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; and

a controller for at least one of assigning to, allowing reuse by and allowing borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third, second and/or first set of frequencies.

105. The system of claim 104 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies when the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is used substantially distant from the first satellite spot beam and/or from the at least one terrestrial base station.

106. The system of claim 104 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station, at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies responsive to a communications capacity demand.

107. The system of claim 104 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and substantially different than the third set of frequencies.

108. The system of claim 104 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are included in the third set of frequencies.

109. The system of claim 104 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first satellite spot beam and/or by the at least one second satellite spot beam to provide up-link communications and used by the at least one terrestrial base station to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

110. The system of claim 104 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first satellite spot beam and/or by the at least one second satellite spot beam to provide down-link communications and used by the at least one terrestrial base station to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

111. The system of claim 104 wherein at least some frequencies of the first, second and/or third set of frequencies provide communications based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

112. The system of claim 104 wherein the at least one terrestrial base station comprises a service region that is at least partially within the first substantially central portion and the terrestrial communications are based at least partially upon at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of a set of frequencies associated with at least one spot beam adjacent the first satellite spot beam.

113. The system of claim 104 wherein the at least one terrestrial base station comprises a service region that is at least partially within the first substantially peripheral portion and not proximate to a boundary with a satellite spot beam that is adjacent to the first satellite spot beam and the terrestrial communications are at least partially based upon at least one frequency of a set of frequencies associated with the satellite spot beam that is adjacent to the first satellite spot beam.

114. The system of claim 104 further comprising:

at least one second terrestrial base station for providing terrestrial communications comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the at lest one second satellite spot beam, the at least one second terrestrial base station having a fourth set of frequencies associated therewith, wherein a controller at least one of assigns to, allows reuse by and allows borrowing by, the at least one second terrestrial base station, at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion.

115. The system of claim 104 wherein the at least one of assigning to, allowing reuse by and allowing borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and non-usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first satellite spot beam and/or by the at least one second satellite spot beam and/or non-usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first satellite spot beam and/or by the at least one second satellite spot beam.

116. The system of claim 104 wherein the at least one of assigning to, allowing reuse by and allowing borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first satellite spot beam and/or by the at least one second satellite spot beam and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first satellite spot beam and/or by the at least one second satellite spot beam.

117. The system of claim 115 or 116 wherein the usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial base station comprises usage based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

118. The system of claim 117 wherein the cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

119. A system for assigning, reusing and/or borrowing frequencies between a space-based system and a terrestrial wireless system;

the space-based and terrestrial wireless systems providing space-based and terrestrial communications based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology using frequencies of a satellite frequency band, the system comprising;

a controller for assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by, the terrestrial wireless system at least one frequency associated with the space-based system responsive to at least one first predetermined criterion and/or assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by, the space-based system at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system responsive to at least one second predetermined criterion.

120. The system of claim 119 wherein the at least one cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

121. The system of claim 120 wherein the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is based upon GSM.

122. The system of claim 119 wherein at least one of the space-based system and the terrestrial wireless system provides communications based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology.

123. The system of claim 122 wherein the at least one cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

124. The system of claim 123 wherein the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is based upon GSM.

125. The system of claim 119 wherein the assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by comprises dynamically assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by and/or preemptively assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by.

126. The system of claim 125 wherein the dynamically assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by and/or preemptively assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by is performed responsive to at least one load balancing and/or capacity issue.

127. The system of claim 119 wherein the at least one first predetermined criterion and/or the at least one second predetermined criterion comprise(s) at least one load balancing and/or capacity criterion.

128. The system of claim 119 wherein the assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by, the terrestrial wireless system at least one frequency associated with the space-based system comprises usage of the at least one frequency by the terrestrial wireless system and non-usage of the at least one frequency by the space-based system.

129. The system of claim 128 wherein the non-usage of the at least one frequency by the space-based system comprises non-usage of the at least one frequency by the space-based system over a geographic area associated with the terrestrial wireless system.

130. The system of claim 119 wherein the assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by, the terrestrial wireless system at least one frequency associated with the space-based system comprises usage of the at least one frequency by the terrestrial wireless system and usage of the at least one frequency by the space-based system.

131. The system of claim 119 wherein the satellite frequency band comprises an up-link set of frequencies and a down-link set of frequencies and wherein the space-based system uses frequencies of the up-link set of frequencies to provide up-link communications and the terrestrial wireless system uses frequencies of the up-link set of frequencies to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

132. The system of claim 119 wherein the satellite frequency band comprises an up-link set of frequencies and a down-link set of frequencies and wherein the space-based system uses frequencies of the down-link set of frequencies to provide down-link communications and the terrestrial wireless system uses frequencies of the down-link set of frequencies to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

133. The system of claim 131 or 132 wherein the terrestrial wireless system provides the up-link and/or down-link communications based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

134. The system of claim 130 wherein the usage of the at least one frequency by the space-based system comprises usage of the at least one frequency by the space-based system over a geographic area that is not associated with the terrestrial wireless system.

135. A controller comprising a system for dynamically assigning frequencies to a plurality of elements of one or more communications system(s);

the plurality of elements providing space-based and terrestrial wireless communications using frequencies of a satellite frequency band, wherein the communications are provided based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology.

136. A method of at least one of assigning and reusing frequencies between one or more communication systems, comprising the steps of:

configuring a first satellite spot beam having a first set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a first substantially central portion;

configuring a second satellite spot beam having a second set of frequencies associated therewith;

configuring at least one terrestrial cell within the first satellite spot beam having a third set of frequencies associated therewith and having at least partially overlapping coverage with the first satellite spot beam; and

at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one of a portion of the second set of frequencies and a portion of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third set of frequencies.

137. The method of claim 136 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies when the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is used substantially distant from the first satellite spot beam and/or from the at least one terrestrial cell.

138. The system of claim 136 wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies responsive to a communications capacity demand.

139. The method of claim 136 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and substantially different than the third set of frequencies.

140. The method of claim 136 wherein the first set of frequencies and the second set of frequencies are substantially different therebetween and at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are included in the third set of frequencies.

141. The method of claim 136 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first and/or second satellite spot beams to provide up-link communications and used by the at least one terrestrial cell to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

142. The method of claim 136 wherein at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies is/are used by the first and/or second satellite spot beams to provide down-link communications and used by the at least one terrestrial cell to provide up-link and/or down-link communications.

143. The method of claim 136 wherein the at least one terrestrial cell is at least partially within the first substantially central portion and provides terrestrial communications based at least partially upon at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies.

144. The method of claim 136 wherein the at least one terrestrial cell is at least partially within the first substantially central portion and provides terrestrial communications based at least partially upon at least one frequency of a set of frequencies associated with at least one spot beam adjacent the first satellite spot beam.

145. The method of claim 136 further comprising the steps of:

configuring at least one second terrestrial cell having a fourth set of frequencies associated therewith and having at least partially overlapping coverage with the second satellite spot beam; and

at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one second terrestrial cell, at least one of a portion of the first set of frequencies and a portion of the second set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the fourth set of frequencies.

146. The method of claim 136 wherein the at least one terrestrial cell comprises a service region that is at least partially within a service region of the first satellite spot beam and at a distance from a boundary with a satellite spot beam that is adjacent to the first satellite spot beam, wherein the at least one terrestrial cell provides communications based at least partially upon at least one frequency of a set of frequencies associated with the satellite spot beam that is adjacent to the first satellite spot beam.

147. The method of claim 136 wherein the at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell and non-usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first and/or second satellite spot beam(s) and/or non-usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first and/or second satellite spot beam(s).

148. The method of claim 145 wherein at least some frequencies of the first, second, third and/or fourth set of frequencies provide communications based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

150. The method of claim 136 wherein the at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies comprises usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the at least one terrestrial cell and usage of the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies by the first and/or second satellite spot beam(s) and/or usage of the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies by the first and/or second satellite spot beam(s)

151. The method of claim 147 wherein the usage is based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

152. The method of claim 151 wherein the cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

153. The method of claim 150 wherein the usage by at least the at least one terrestrial cell is based upon a cellular terrestrial technology.

154. The method of claim 153 wherein the cellular terrestrial technology comprises Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

149. A method of establishing communications based upon a cellular terrestrial technology using a satellite communications system that assigns and/or reuses frequencies between a first satellite spot beam and a second satellite spot beam, the method comprising the steps of:

determining that a communications cannot be established due to an unavailability of a first set of frequencies associated with the first satellite spot beam; and

establishing the communications by at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the first satellite spot beam, at least one frequency of a second set of frequencies associated with the second satellite spot beam.