Ground-to-air telephone calling system and related method for establishing a telephone link between a ground-based caller and a passenger on board an aircraft

• US 5,651,050 A
• Filed: 05/02/1995
• Issued: 07/22/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/1988
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Skytel Corporation (Bell Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Mobile Telecommunications Technologies, LLC (Mobitex Technology AB)
• Inventors: Oswalt, Ernest A., Hays, William D., Bhagat, Jai P.
• Primary Examiner(s): CUMMING, WILLIAM D
• Application Number:
  US08/433,537
• Time in Patent Office: 812 Days
• Field of Search: 379/58, 379/59, 379/63, 379/62, 455/12.1, 455/13.1, 455/56.1, 455/33.1, 340/825.44, 370/120, 358/86
• US Class Current: 455/431
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18508 with satellite system used as relay, i.e. aeronautical mobile satellite service

Abstract

A ground-to-air telephone calling system is provided including a computer for receiving an airborne telephone number and a call-back number from a calling party and forming the telephone numbers into a data signal comporting with existing protocol filed in the FCC, an uplink unit for uplinking the data signal to a satellite and a plurality of downlink stations for receiving the data signal from the satellite; a plurality of ground stations corresponding to each of the downlink units for receiving the data signals and passing a call signal identifying the airborne telephone and particular ground station to a corresponding transmit/receive unit for subsequent transmission to the aircraft; a call being initiated from the ground station to the calling party over the public switched telephone network if the aircraft responds to the call signal. An alternative embodiment provides for a plurality of telephones on board the aircraft, and is capable of directing a call from a ground based caller to a particular telephone assigned to a passenger on the aircraft.

Claims

1. A system for establishing a communication link between a ground-based caller and a passenger on board an aircraft having a plurality of telephones, comprising:

a ground station, including;

a) a receiving device to receive a call for a passenger and collect the caller'"'"'s telephone number, and

b) signal a generator to generate a signal including the caller'"'"'s telephone number;

one or more transmitters to transmit the signal over a predetermined geographic region;

a correlation device to correlate the passenger to a predetermined aircraft seat associated with a predetermined telephone;

a receiver on the aircraft to receive the signal;

an indicator on the predetermined telephone to inform the passenger of the call;

transmitting means on the aircraft for generating a response signal and transmitting the response signal to the ground station; and

a dialer at the ground station to dial the caller'"'"'s telephone number when the ground station receives the response signal.

2. A method of establishing a communication link between a ground-based caller and a passenger on board an aircraft having a plurality of telephones, the method comprising the steps of:

correlating the passenger to a predetermined aircraft seat having a predetermined telephone;

receiving a call for the passenger;

receiving the caller'"'"'s telephone number;

transmitting a signal over a predetermined geographic region, said signal including information to alert said passenger to a call;

receiving said signal at the aircraft;

alerting said passenger via said predetermined telephone that said signal has been received;

transmitting a response signal from the aircraft to a ground station in response to said signal; and

establishing a communication link between the predetermined telephone and the caller in response to the response signal.