SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SATELLITE AUGMENTED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS

• US 20080261512A1
• Filed: 02/15/2008
• Published: 10/23/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Slacker, Inc. (LiveOne, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Slacker, Inc. (LiveOne, Inc.)
• Inventors: Milbrandt, Celite, Asghar, Safdar Mahmood
• Application Number:
  US12/032,637
• Publication Number:
  US 20080261512A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/3.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/1858 Arrangements for data transmission on the physical system, i.e. for data bit transmission between network components

Abstract

A system and method for a satellite augmented wireless communication network is disclosed. The method includes transmitting at least a portion of digital data via a satellite communication network to a satellite signal receiving device, receiving the digital data by the satellite signal receiving device, and providing the received digital data to a wireless communication device, wherein the wireless communication device is operable in a wireless communication network and is communicatively coupled to the satellite receiving device. The system includes a wireless communication device operative in a wireless communication network comprising a plurality of terrestrial receivers and terrestrial transmitters, each serving a designated service region, and a satellite signal receiving device operative in a satellite communication network comprising a plurality of satellite and satellite transponders, wherein the satellite receiver is communicatively coupled with the wireless communication device.

Claims

1. A method of receiving digital data at a wireless enabled device, comprising:

receiving, at the wireless device, a first portion of the digital data from a satellite included within a satellite communication network;

storing, at the wireless device, at least part of said first portion of said digital data; and

receiving, at the wireless device, a second portion of the digital data from a terrestrial wireless network.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating and sending, from the wireless device, a request for satellite data transmission via the terrestrial wireless network.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the request for satellite data transmission is generated automatically by the wireless device.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the request for satellite data transmission is generated in response to a user input.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the terrestrial wireless network is a cellular network.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the terrestrial wireless network is a local area network (LAN).

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the LAN is an 802.11 based LAN.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting, at the wireless device, a portion of the other digital data for storage; and

storing, at the wireless device, said portion of the digital data.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said portion of the digital data is selected based at least in part on a user supplied selection criteria.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein said selected digital data from said first portion is selected based at least in part on a user supplied selection criteria.

11. A method of providing digital data to a wireless device, comprising:

receiving, at a control unit, a request for transmission of digital data to the wireless device;

allocating, at the control unit, a first portion of the digital data for transmission to the wireless device via a satellite network; and

sending, to a satellite uplink, said first portion of the digital data.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising sending a second portion of the digital data to the wireless device via a terrestrial wireless network.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein said allocating comprises:

determining if a transmission requirement of the digital data exceeds a capacity of a terrestrial wireless network, wherein the wireless device is configured to operate in the terrestrial wireless network; and

selecting said first portion responsive to said determining.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the transmission requirement comprises a minimum bandwidth and the capacity comprises a maximum bandwidth.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the transmission requirement comprises a size of the digital data and the capacity comprises a maximum data size.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the transmission requirement comprises a set of cost of service parameters and the capacity comprises a maximum cost.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the transmission requirement comprises a throughput parameter and the capacity comprises a maximum throughput.

18. A computer readable medium, comprising executable instructions to:

facilitate receiving, at the wireless device, a first portion of the digital data provided from a satellite included within a satellite network;

select, at the wireless device, at least part of said first portion for storage;

store, at the wireless device, said selected digital data from said first portion; and

facilitate receiving, at the wireless device, a second portion of the digital data provided via a terrestrial wireless network.

19. The medium of claim 18 further comprising instructions to generate and send, via the terrestrial wireless network, a request for satellite data transmission.

20. The medium of claim 19 wherein the request for satellite data transmission is generated automatically by the wireless device.

21. The medium of claim 19 wherein the request for satellite data transmission is generated in response to a user input.

22. The medium of claim 19 wherein the terrestrial wireless network is a cellular network.

23. The medium of claim 19 wherein the terrestrial wireless network is a local area network (LAN).

24. The medium of claim 23 wherein the LAN is an 802.11 based LAN.

25. The method of claim 19 further comprising instructions to:

select, at the wireless device, at least part of said second portion for storage; and

store, at the wireless device, said selected part of said second portion.

26. The medium of claim 25 wherein said selected part of said first portion and said selected part of said second portion are chosen based at least in part on a user supplied selection criteria.

27. The medium of claim 19 wherein said selected part of said first portion is selected based at least in part on a user supplied selection criteria.

28. A computer readable medium, comprising executable instructions to:

facilitate receiving, at a control unit, a request for transmission of digital data to a wireless device, said request provided via a terrestrial wireless network;

allocate, at the control unit, a first portion of the digital data for transmission to the wireless device via a satellite network; and

send, to a satellite uplink, from the server, said first portion of the digital data.

29. The medium of claim 28 wherein the instructions for allocating comprise instructions to:

determine if a transmission requirement of the digital data exceeds a capacity of a terrestrial wireless network, wherein the wireless device is configured to operate in the terrestrial wireless network; and

select said first portion responsive to said determining.

30. The medium of claim 29 wherein the transmission requirement comprises a minimum bandwidth and the capacity comprises a maximum bandwidth.

31. The medium of claim 29 wherein the transmission requirement comprises a size of the digital data and the capacity comprises a maximum data size.

32. The medium of claim 29 wherein the transmission requirement comprises a set of cost of service parameters and the capacity comprises a maximum cost.

33. The medium of claim 29 wherein the transmission requirement comprises a throughput parameter and the capacity comprises a maximum throughput.