Satellite cellular telephone and data communication system at an inclined orbit
First Claim
1. An improved satellite cellular communication system of the type having a plurality of satellite switching units and a link means for coupling users to at least one of said satellite switching units, each of said satellite switching units communicating with adjacent satellite switching units, and wherein the improvement comprises:
- said satellite switching units being positioned surrounding earth in a low-earth orbit at an angle of inclination between thirty and ninety degrees, wherein satellite spacing (SS) between a number of satellite switching units in a same orbital plane is based on 360 degrees divided by the number of satellite switching units, and spacing between a first satellite switching unit in a first orbital plane and a second satellite switching unit in a second orbital plane is based on √
3 (SS)÷
2 sin i and SS [0.5-(√
3÷
2 tan i)] and L=√
3 (SS)÷
2 sin (i+30).
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved satellite cellular telephone and data communication system facilitates dual satellite coverage over at least eighty-five percent of the earth. This improved system permits communication with hand held and mobile mounted cellular telephones (120). The system permits two-way communications anywhere on or above the earth up to a particular height above the earth of several hundred nautical miles. The system employs a number of low-earth orbiting satellites (12) moving about the earth in orbit. The satellites (12) are inclined at an angle between 30 and 90 degrees. Links (102) are provided from the satellites directly to the users (120) and via the public switched telephone network (20) to other users. The satellites (12) are interconnected via links in a ring structure surrounding the earth. Switching is performed by each of the satellites (12).
59 Citations
18 Claims
-
1. An improved satellite cellular communication system of the type having a plurality of satellite switching units and a link means for coupling users to at least one of said satellite switching units, each of said satellite switching units communicating with adjacent satellite switching units, and wherein the improvement comprises:
said satellite switching units being positioned surrounding earth in a low-earth orbit at an angle of inclination between thirty and ninety degrees, wherein satellite spacing (SS) between a number of satellite switching units in a same orbital plane is based on 360 degrees divided by the number of satellite switching units, and spacing between a first satellite switching unit in a first orbital plane and a second satellite switching unit in a second orbital plane is based on √
3 (SS)÷
2 sin i and SS [0.5-(√
3÷
2 tan i)] and L=√
3 (SS)÷
2 sin (i+30).- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
8. An improved satellite cellular communication system of the type having a plurality of satellite switching units and a link means for coupling users to at least one of said satellite switching units, each of said satellite switching units communicating with adjacent satellite switching units, and wherein the improvement comprises:
said satellite switching units being positioned in a triangular geometric relationship to each other and surrounding earth in a low-earth orbit at an angle of inclination between thirty and ninety degrees, wherein satellite spacing (SS) between a number of satellite switching units in a same orbital plane is based on 360 degrees divided by the number of satellite switching units, and spacing between a first satellite switching unit in a first orbital plane and a second satellite switching unit in a second orbital plane is based on √
3 (SS)÷
2 sin i and SS [0.5-(√
3÷
2 tan i)] and L=√
3 (SS)÷
2 sin (i+30).- View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
9. An improved satellite cellular communication system of the type having a plurality of satellite switching units and a link means for coupling users to at least one of said satellite switching units, each of said satellite switching units communicating with adjacent satellite switching units, and wherein the improvement comprises:
said satellite switching units being positioned in a parallelogram geometric relationship to each other and surrounding earth in a low-earth orbit at an angle of inclination between thirty and ninety degrees, wherein satellite spacing (SS) between a number of satellite switching units in a same orbital plane is based on 360 degrees divided by the number of satellite switching units, and spacing between a first satellite switching unit in a first orbital plane and a second satellite switching unit in a second orbital plane is based on √
3 (SS)÷
2 sin i and SS [0.5-(√
3÷
2 tan i)] and L=√
3 (SS)÷
2 sin (i+30).
-
10. An improved satellite cellular communication system of the type having a plurality of satellite switching units and a link means for coupling users to at least one of said satellite switching units, each of said satellite switching units communicating with adjacent satellite switching units, and wherein the improvement comprises:
said satellite switching units being positioned in a triangular geometric relationship to each other and surrounding earth in a low-earth orbit at an angle of inclination between thirty and ninety degrees to provide continuous dual coverage over at least eighty-five percent of the earth, wherein satellite spacing (SS) between a number of satellite switching units in a same orbital plane is based on 360 degrees divided by the number of satellite switching units, and spacing between a first satellite switching unit in a first orbital plane and a second satellite switching unit in a second orbital plane is based on √
3 (SS)÷
2 sin i and SS [0.5-(√
3÷
2 tan i)] and L=√
3 (SS)÷
2 sin (i+30).
-
17. An improved satellite cellular communication system of the type having a plurality of satellite switching units and a link means for coupling users to at least one of said satellite switching units, each of said satellite switching units communicating with adjacent satellite switching units, and wherein the improvement comprises:
said satellite switching units being positioned surrounding earth in a low-earth orbit at an angle of inclination between thirty and ninety degrees so that said satellite cellular communication system does not have a counter-rotating seam, wherein satellite spacing (SS) between a number of satellite switching units in a same orbital plane is based on 360 degrees divided by the number of satellite switching units, and spacing between a first satellite switching unit in a first orbital plane and a second satellite switching unit in a second orbital plane is based on √
3 (SS)÷
2 sin i and SS [5-(√
3÷
2 tan i)] and L=√
3 (SS)÷
2 sin (i+30).
-
18. An improved satellite cellular communication system of the type having a plurality of satellite switching units and a link means for coupling users to at least one of said satellite switching units, each of said satellite switching units communicating with adjacent satellite switching units, and wherein the improvement comprises:
said satellite switching units being positioned in an equilateral triangular geometric relationship to each other and surrounding earth in a low-earth orbit at an angle of inclination between thirty and ninety degrees, wherein satellite spacing (SS) between a number of satellite switching units in a same orbital plane is based on 360 degrees divided by the number of satellite switching units, and spacing between a first satellite switching unit in a first orbital plane and a second satellite switching unit in a second orbital plane is based on √
3 (SS)÷
2 sin i and SS [0.5-(√
3÷
2 tan i)] and L=√
3 (SS)÷
2 sin (i+30).
Specification