SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING GLOBAL, HIGH QUALITY MOVEMENT OF VERY LARGE DATA FILES
First Claim
1. A system for transmitting large data files of at least an aggregated 100 gigabytes from a source terminal to a geographically distant destination terminal in substantially non-real-time, the system comprising:
- at least one satellite in a non-geostationary orbit, wherein the satellite is configured to store and forward data files and includes;
a wireless transceiver,mass data storage, andat least one processor coupled among the wireless transceiver and the mass data storage; and
at least first and second terrestrial or sea-based stations,wherein the first station has at least a wireless transmitter and is configured toreceive a large data file from the source terminal, wherein the large data file represents an aggregate of least 100 gigabytes,process the large data file for transmission by at least encoding the large data file with block coding and forward error correction, andtransmit the large data file to the satellite at a predetermined time, wherein the large data file includes an electronic address for the destination terminal;
wherein the second station has at least a wireless receiver and is configured toreceive the large data file from the satellite andtransfer the large data file to the destination terminal based in part on the electronic address for the destination terminal;
wherein the satellite stores the large data file for more than several minutes before transmitting it to the second station;
wherein at least the first station or satellite are further configured to monitor a signal quality from a beacon channel for an indication that a wireless channel with the satellite is of acceptable quality before the large data file is transmitted over the wireless channel, or configured to monitor the signal quality from the beacon channel and suspend transmissions, adjusting power or adjusting a bandwidth for communications over the wireless channel based on the monitored signal quality; and
wherein the first and second stations further each include transceivers for communicating over a low bandwidth communication channel, wherein the low bandwidth communication channel is of a much lower bandwidth than the wireless channel, and wherein the second station is further configured todetect blocks of data in the received large data file that contain uncorrectable errors andrequest the first station to retransmit, over the low bandwidth communication channel, any data blocks from the large data file that contain errors, whereby the system provides a bit error rate (BER) on an order of at least 10−
15.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for providing communication services between geographically disbursed source and destination terminals includes at least one airborne or spaceborne wireless communication device, such as a satellite. The wireless communication device is configured to store and forward large data files of at least an aggregated 10 gigabytes. The wireless communication device includes a wireless transceiver for communicating with the source and destination terminals over at least one high bandwidth channel. A mass data storage device stores the large data files for a predetermined period of time that is greater than approximately two minutes. At least one processor is coupled among the mass data storage and wireless transceiver. The processor is configured to control receipt of a large data file from the source terminal and to transmit it to the destination terminal as the wireless communication device nears the destination terminal.
65 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system for transmitting large data files of at least an aggregated 100 gigabytes from a source terminal to a geographically distant destination terminal in substantially non-real-time, the system comprising:
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at least one satellite in a non-geostationary orbit, wherein the satellite is configured to store and forward data files and includes; a wireless transceiver, mass data storage, and at least one processor coupled among the wireless transceiver and the mass data storage; and at least first and second terrestrial or sea-based stations, wherein the first station has at least a wireless transmitter and is configured to receive a large data file from the source terminal, wherein the large data file represents an aggregate of least 100 gigabytes, process the large data file for transmission by at least encoding the large data file with block coding and forward error correction, and transmit the large data file to the satellite at a predetermined time, wherein the large data file includes an electronic address for the destination terminal; wherein the second station has at least a wireless receiver and is configured to receive the large data file from the satellite and transfer the large data file to the destination terminal based in part on the electronic address for the destination terminal; wherein the satellite stores the large data file for more than several minutes before transmitting it to the second station; wherein at least the first station or satellite are further configured to monitor a signal quality from a beacon channel for an indication that a wireless channel with the satellite is of acceptable quality before the large data file is transmitted over the wireless channel, or configured to monitor the signal quality from the beacon channel and suspend transmissions, adjusting power or adjusting a bandwidth for communications over the wireless channel based on the monitored signal quality; and wherein the first and second stations further each include transceivers for communicating over a low bandwidth communication channel, wherein the low bandwidth communication channel is of a much lower bandwidth than the wireless channel, and wherein the second station is further configured to detect blocks of data in the received large data file that contain uncorrectable errors and request the first station to retransmit, over the low bandwidth communication channel, any data blocks from the large data file that contain errors, whereby the system provides a bit error rate (BER) on an order of at least 10−
15. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents cause at least one land- or sea-based communications terminal to perform a method to process data for wireless transmission to at least one satellite in a non-geostationary orbit, wherein the satellite is configured to store and forward data packages to a destination terminal, the method comprising:
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at the communications terminal, receiving at a first time a large data file of at least 10 gigabytes at the communications terminal, dividing the large data file into multiple smaller groups of data; at the communications terminal, coding the large data file for error correction after transmission of the large data file; determining whether a quality of a wireless, high bandwidth communications channel with the satellite is acceptable; at the communications terminal, and at a second time after the first time, transmitting the divided and coded large data file to the satellite when the quality of the wireless, high bandwidth communications channel is acceptable and when the satellite is at an originating geographic location; and providing information to the satellite regarding the destination terminal, wherein the satellite stores the divided and coded large data file until the satellite is within sight of the destination terminal for transmission to the destination terminal at a third time, wherein the third time is at least two minutes after the second time, and wherein the destination terminal is geographically remote from the originating geographic location - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. In a communications system employing at least one satellite in a non-geostationary orbit configured to store large data files from a source terminal, and forward the data files to a geographically distant destination terminal, a method for controlling wireless telecommunications in the system comprising:
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monitoring a beacon channel between the satellite and at least the source or destination terminals, wherein the beacon channel provides an indication of a quality of at least one high bandwidth wireless channel between the satellite and the source or destination terminals; determining a quality of the high bandwidth wireless channel based on the monitoring of the beacon channel; and postponing transmission of all or portions of a large data file over the high bandwidth wireless channel if the determined channel quality is unacceptable, or adjusting a bandwidth for communications over the high bandwidth wireless channel based on the determined channel quality, wherein the satellite receives and stores a large data file at the source terminal, wherein the satellite transmits the large data file at least two minutes later to the geographically distant destination terminal, and wherein the large data file is at least an aggregated 10 gigabytes. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. In a wireless communications system, an apparatus for controlling data transmissions with respect to at least one non-geostationary orbiting satellite, wherein the satellite is configured to store and forward data packages between land- or sea-based terminals, the apparatus comprising:
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means for monitoring a beacon channel, wherein the beacon channel provides an indication of a quality of at least one high bandwidth wireless channel between the satellite and a land- or sea-based terminal; means for signaling the satellite, based on the monitored channel quality, to transmit a large data package over the high bandwidth wireless channel if the channel quality is acceptable, or postpone transmission of a large data package over the high bandwidth wireless channel if the channel quality is unacceptable, or adjust a transmit power and/or adjust a bandwidth for communications over the high bandwidth wireless channel if the channel quality is between acceptable and unacceptable; and means for communicating under at least a simplex transmission scheme over the high bandwidth channel with the satellite. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification