Satellite system using equatorial and polar orbit relays
First Claim
1. A satellite communications system comprising:
- a plurality of Equatorial, polar and middle latitude relay stations (34, 61,
65);
said relay stations (34, 61,
65) being located circumferentially along Earth'"'"'s Equator (16), near Earth'"'"'s poles (NP, SP) and in regions of Earth'"'"'s middle-latitudes, respectively;
a first satellite (12) operating in an Equatorial, low Earth orbit (14);
a second satellite (12) operating in an inclined, low Earth orbit (60, 63,
210);
said first satellite (12) being capable of communicating with said plurality of Equatorial relay stations (34) over uplinks (35a) and downlinks (35b);
said second satellite (12) being capable of communicating with at least one of said plurality of polar relay stations (61) with at least one of said plurality of middle-latitude relay stations (65) and with at least one of said plurality of Equatorial relay stations (34);
said first satellite (12) being capable of storing a message from a first Equatorial relay station (34) and forwarding said message to a second Equatorial relay station (34); and
said second satellite (12) capable of receiving said message from said second Equatorial relay station (34) and forwarding said message to one of said plurality of polar and middle-latitude relay stations (61,
65).
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A satellite communications system is disclosed. One of the embodiments of the present invention includes six to fourteen satellites (12) which operate in a single Equatorial orbit (14). These satellites (12) are capable of providing communications services to locations on the Earth (E) which are within thirty degrees of the Equator (16). Another embodiment of the invention utilizes both the single Equatorial orbit plane (14) in combination with other satellites (12) moving in polar or inclined orbits (60, 63, 210). The embodiment that combines satellites (12) in Equatorial (14), polar (60) and inclined (63, 210) orbits will provide a wide variety of data services to virtually any point on the globe. In the preferred embodiments, the satellites (12) are designed to operate in a circular low Earth orbit at an altitude of from 800 to 1852 kilometers. Although the preferred embodiments utilize this specific range of altitudes, the satellites (12) are designed to fly in any orbit that is not a geosynchronous orbit. The satellites (12) are also capable of speeding packetized messages (225) around the globe either by working in combination with relay stations (34, 61, 65) on the ground, by transferring message payloads (225) across different orbits via the relay stations (34, 61, 65) or by conveying packetized payloads (225) through the use of inter-satellite links (55).
-
Citations
37 Claims
-
1. A satellite communications system comprising:
-
a plurality of Equatorial, polar and middle latitude relay stations (34, 61,
65);
said relay stations (34, 61,
65) being located circumferentially along Earth'"'"'s Equator (16), near Earth'"'"'s poles (NP, SP) and in regions of Earth'"'"'s middle-latitudes, respectively;a first satellite (12) operating in an Equatorial, low Earth orbit (14); a second satellite (12) operating in an inclined, low Earth orbit (60, 63,
210);said first satellite (12) being capable of communicating with said plurality of Equatorial relay stations (34) over uplinks (35a) and downlinks (35b); said second satellite (12) being capable of communicating with at least one of said plurality of polar relay stations (61) with at least one of said plurality of middle-latitude relay stations (65) and with at least one of said plurality of Equatorial relay stations (34); said first satellite (12) being capable of storing a message from a first Equatorial relay station (34) and forwarding said message to a second Equatorial relay station (34); and said second satellite (12) capable of receiving said message from said second Equatorial relay station (34) and forwarding said message to one of said plurality of polar and middle-latitude relay stations (61,
65). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A satellite communications system comprising:
-
a plurality of relay stations (34, 61,
65);a plurality of user terminals (212); a plurality of satellites (12) operating in a plurality of Equatorial (14) and polar (60) or inclined (63,
210) low Earth orbits;each of said plurality of satellites (12) being capable of communicating with at least one of said plurality of relay stations and with one of said plurality of user terminals (212); said plurality of user terminals (212) being randomly distributed, primarily in portions of the Earth (E) which are inhabited; said plurality of relay stations (34) being distributed at locations on the Earth (E) which maximizes coverage for communicating and minimizes time to forward messages and data between any two of said plurality of user terminals (212); at least one of said plurality of relay stations (34) being capable of functioning as a network operation and control center (NOCC); and said relay stations (34) being capable of communicating with each other. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A method of satellite communications comprising the steps of:
-
providing a plurality of relay stations (34, 61,
65);distributing said plurality of relay stations (34) at locations on the Earth (E) which maximize coverage for communicating and minimize time to forward messages and data between any two user terminals (212); providing a plurality of user terminals (212); distributing said plurality of user terminals (212) randomly, primarily in portions of the Earth (E) which are inhabited; operating a plurality of satellites (12) in a plurality of Equatorial (14), polar (60) and inclined (63,
210) low Earth orbits;communicating between each of said plurality of satellites (12) and at least one of said plurality of relay stations (34) and said plurality of user terminals (212); and communicating, one with another, between said relay stations (34). - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
-
36. A method of satellite communications comprising the steps of:
-
providing a plurality of Equatorial, middle-latitude and polar relay stations (34,
61);said relay stations being located circumferentially along Earth'"'"'s Equator (16), in regions of Earth'"'"'s middle-latitudes and near Earth'"'"'s poles, respectively; operating a first satellite (12) in an Equatorial, low Earth orbit (14); operating a second satellite (12) in an inclined, low Earth orbit (60, 63,
210);communicating between said first satellite (12) and one of said plurality of Equatorial relay stations (34) over uplinks (35a) and downlinks (35b), and with one of said plurality of satellites in Equatorial orbit (14) over inter-satellite links (55); communicating between said second satellite (12) and at least one of said plurality of Equatorial relay stations (34), middle-latitude relay stations (34) and polar relay stations (61); storing a message from a first Equatorial relay station (34) in said first satellite (12) and forwarding said message to a second Equatorial relay station(34); and receiving said message from said second Equatorial relay station (34) with said second satellite (12) and forwarding said message to at least one of said plurality of middle-latitude relay stations (34) and polar relay stations (61). - View Dependent Claims (37)
-
Specification