APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING THE POWER UTILIZATION OF A SATELLITE SPOT BEAM TRANSPONDER FOR A MULTICARRIER TRANSMISSION

• US 20160191145A1
• Filed: 12/31/2014
• Published: 06/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hughes Network Systems LLC (Echostar Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hughes Network Systems Incorporated (Echostar Corporation)
• Inventors: FANG, Russell, SESHADRI, Rohit Iyer
• Granted Patent: US 10,103,804 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18513 Transmission in a satellite or space-based system
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

An approach for optimizing power utilization of a satellite transponder, and thereby optimizing achievable modulation/coding schemes and data rates for terminals across the transponder beam, is provided. A signal power level is allocated to each of a plurality of carriers. The plurality of carriers are to be transmitted within a downlink beam via a transponder, each of the carriers is associated with a region of the beam, and the total power allocated to the carriers does not exceed a desired aggregate power level for the transponder. The signal power allocated to each carrier is determined relative to a gain realizable by satellite terminals within the respective beam region and assigned to receive the respective carrier, and the realizable gain of the terminals is based on locations within the beam. The signal power level allocated to each carrier is different from the power allocated to the other carriers.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

allocating a signal power level to each of a plurality of carriers for a multicarrier satellite transmission;

wherein the plurality of carriers are to be transmitted within a downlink beam via a satellite transponder, each of the carriers is associated with a respective region of the downlink beam, and the total power allocated to the carriers does not exceed a desired aggregate power level for the transponder;

wherein the signal power level allocated to each carrier is determined relative to a gain realizable by at least one satellite terminal within the respective beam region and assigned to receive the respective carrier, and the realizable gain of the at least one satellite terminal is based on its location within the downlink beam; and

wherein the signal power level allocated to at least one of the carriers is different from the signal power level allocated to at least another one of the carriers.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein each satellite terminal within a given region is assigned to receive the respective carrier associated with that region, and the allocation of the signal power level to each carrier is configured to maximize the level of modulation and coding schemes realizable by the satellite terminals of each region and the overall downlink beam.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, for the allocation of the signal power level to each carrier, the at least one satellite terminal, relative to which the signal power level is allocated, is at a location within the respective beam region whereby the realizable gain is at a relatively minimum level for the beam region.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the beam regions are bounded by concentric rings located successively further out from a center of the downlink beam, a center region is bounded by a first ring closest to the beam center, and each successive region is bounded by the outer ring of the preceding region and the next outer ring.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the beam regions are formed such that each region contains a relatively equal number of satellite terminals as the other regions.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein, for the allocation of the signal power level to each carrier, the at least one satellite terminal, relative to which the signal power level is allocated, is located at the outer ring of the respective beam region.