ANTENNA BEAM MANAGEMENT AND GATEWAY DESIGN FOR BROADBAND ACCESS USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) PLATFORMS

• US 20160013858A1
• Filed: 09/15/2014
• Published: 01/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bridgewest Finance, LLC
• Original Assignee: Ubiqomm LLC
• Inventors: Jalali, Ahmad, Radhakrishnan, Dhinakar
• Granted Patent: US 9,614,608 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/28 Adaptation for use in or on aircraft, missiles, satellites, or balloons
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 25/00 Antennas or antenna systems providing at least two radiating patterns arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern H01Q3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0617 for beam forming
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0695 using beam selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18504 Aircraft used as relay or high altitude atmospheric platform
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2041 Spot beam multiple access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/06 based on characteristics of available antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/06 Airborne or Satellite Networks space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems and methods for creating beams from a non-terrestrial vehicle (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)) toward user terminals and gateways on the ground. Another aspect of the disclosure includes systems and methods for switching the UAV beams toward the user terminals and gateways as the UAV moves in its orbit. Still another aspect of the disclosure describes systems and methods for routing traffic from user terminals to the internet via multiple gateways.

Claims

1. A system for providing broadband access using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), comprising:

a first antenna system comprising multiple first antenna sub-apertures, where each first antenna sub-aperture is configured to form at least one first beam toward one or more user terminals;

a second antenna system comprising multiple second antenna sub-apertures, where each second antenna sub-aperture is configured to form at least one second beam toward one or more gateways of a set of ground gateways configured to provide connectivity to a core network;

a first set of radio transceivers and modems configured to transmit and receive a plurality of first signals to/from the one or more user terminals;

a second set of radio transceivers and modems configured to transmit and receive a plurality of second signals to/from the one or more gateways; and

a router/processor sub-system configured to route packets between the one or more user terminals and the one or more gateways and to manage the at least one first and at least one second beams.

2. The system of claim 1, where:

the multiple second antenna sub-apertures are comprised of K antenna elements, each spaced at substantially a half wavelength apart from an adjacent antenna element;

each of the second antenna sub-apertures are configured to form M beams via one or more appropriate phases of the K antenna elements, and

wherein the router/processor sub-system selects one of the M beams based on a determined signal quality.

3. The system of claim 1, where the router/processor sub-system is configured to:

measure at least two signal to interference plus noise ratios (SINRs) from a received signal on a primary beam associated with a primary gateway and at least one other candidate beam;

compare the at least two SINRs associated with the primary beam and the at least one other candidate beam; and

determine when the primary beam should be switched to the at least one other candidate beam based at least in part on the comparison.

4. The system of claim 1, where the router/processor sub-system is configured to:

measure at least two signal to interference plus noise ratios (SINRs) from a received signal on a primary beam and at least one other neighbor beam;

compare the at least two SINRs associated with the primary beam and the at least one other neighbor beam; and

determine when the primary beam should be switched to a neighbor beam based at least in part on the comparison; and

execute the beam switch from the primary beam to the neighbor beam.

5. The system of claim 1, where the router/processor sub-system is configured to:

determine a minimum transmit power to achieve a target signal quality for a given beam; and

adjust a power amplifier associated with the given beam to achieve the minimum transmit power.

6. The system of claim 5, where the target signal quality is indicative of a rain fade condition and the adjustment of the power amplifier comprising increasing the transmit power in order to compensate for the rain fade condition.

7. The system of claim 1, where the router/processor sub-system is configured to:

receive a beam change request originating from the one or more user terminals; and

execute the beam change request so as to switch beams for the one or more user terminals.

8. The system of claim 1, where the router/processor sub-system is configured to:

measure at least two signal to interference plus noise ratios (SINRs) from a received signal on a primary beam associated with a primary gateway and at least one inactive beam;

compare the at least two SINRs associated with the primary beam and the at least one inactive beam; and

determine when the primary beam should be switched to the at least one inactive beam based at least in part on the comparison.

9. An antenna fixture for providing broadband access using UAVs, comprising:

a multi-faceted antenna structure comprising a plurality of apertures, each of the apertures further comprising a plurality of sub-apertures;

wherein each sub-apertures is responsible for forming at least one beam.

10. The antenna fixture of claim 9, wherein the multi-faceted antenna structure comprising a plurality of apertures that are placed at an angle with respect to a given aperture, the plurality of apertures that are placed at an angle are further configured to provide coverage to a location at the edge of a coverage area for the antenna fixture.

11. The antenna fixture of claim 10, wherein the multi-faceted antenna structure is further configured to form at least one beam toward one or more gateways of a set of ground gateways that are configured to provide connectivity to a core network.

12. The antenna fixture of claim 11, wherein the formed at least one beam originates from one of the plurality of apertures that are placed at an angle with respect to the given aperture.

13. A system for providing broadband access, comprising:

a plurality of gateways, each of the gateways being coupled to a core network;

one or more user terminals; and

an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the UAV comprising;

a first antenna system configured to form at least one first beam towards the one or more user terminals;

a second antenna system configured to form at least one second beam toward the one or more gateways;

a first set of radio transceivers and modems configured to transmit and receive a first plurality of signals to/from the one or more user terminals;

a second set of radio transceivers and modems configured to transmit and receive a second plurality of signals to/from the one or more gateways; and

a router/processor sub-system configured to route packets between the one or more user terminals and at least one of the plurality of gateways and to manage the at least one first and at least one second beams.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the system collectively comprises a beam network, the beam network having a frequency reuse of at least three such that a given beam is assigned a given frequency such that adjacently located beams to the given beam do not share the given frequency.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the frequency reuse reduces interference between adjacent beams thereby increasing a signal to noise plus interference ratio (SINR) and an achieved data rate.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the plurality of gateways comprises a first gateway disposed at a first location of a UAV coverage area and a second gateway is disposed at a second location of the UAV coverage area, the first and second locations being disposed at opposite ends of the UAV coverage area thereby providing a gateway diversity for the system.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the second gateway provides connectivity for the UAV to the core network when the first gateway is blocked from providing connectivity to the UAV during UAV maneuvering.

18. The system of claim 13, where the router/processor sub-system of the UAV is configured to:

measure at least two signal to interference plus noise ratios (SINRs) from a received signal on a primary beam associated with a primary gateway and at least one other candidate beam;

compare the at least two SINRs associated with the primary beam and the at least one other candidate beam; and

determine when the primary beam should be switched to the at least one other candidate beam based at least in part on the comparison.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the at least one other candidate beam comprises an inactive beam.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the UAV further comprises a power management subsystem, the power management subsystem configured to manage power consumption for the UAV based at least in part on measured atmospheric conditions.