Network engineering/systems engineering system for mobile satellite communication system

• US 5,713,075 A
• Filed: 02/15/1996
• Issued: 01/27/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ATC Technology Corporation (FedEx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Amsc Subsidiary Corp. (PetIQ, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lin, ShihChao, Threadgill, Michael E.
• Primary Examiner(s): VO, NGUYEN THANH
• Application Number:
  US08/601,749
• Time in Patent Office: 712 Days
• Field of Search: 455/422, 455/427, 455/428, 455/430, 455/429, 455/453, 455/12.1, 455/13.1, 455/517, 455/524, 455/67.1, 370/316
• US Class Current: 455/427
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18508 with satellite system used as relay, i.e. aeronautical mobile satellite service
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18539 Arrangements for managing radio, resources, i.e. for establishing or releasing a connection

Abstract

A mobile satellite system includes a network engineering/systems engineering (NE/SE) system. The NE/SE performs the processes of comparing expected traffic loads with capability and availability of space and ground resources in the mobile satellite system, formulating tactical plans to maximize available resources of the satellite, and producing frequency plans for different geographical regions and defining circuit pools for different groups of users of the METs. The NE/SE also performs the processes of defining contingency plans for failure situations, such as failure in the satellite or a ground-based equipment outage, configuring the mobile satellite system including logical resources and physical components generating logical and physical configurations, the logical and physical configurations designed to expand the mobile satellite system capacity for increases in traffic demand, while also supporting new features and services of the mobile satellite system. The NE/SE further configures communication paths to external organizations operatively connected to the mobile satellite system, and tracks logistics of network additions to the mobile satellite system via generation of work orders.

Claims

1. In a mobile satellite system including a satellite communication switching office having a satellite antenna for receiving/transmitting a satellite message via a satellite from/to a vehicle using a mobile communication system, a satellite interface system, a central controller receiving/transmitting the satellite message from/to the satellite communication switching office issued from the vehicle via the satellite and the satellite interface system, the mobile satellite system, responsively connected to said mobile communication system, the mobile satellite system comprising:

a network operations controller (NOC) managing and controlling the resources of the mobile satellite system and performing administrative functions associated with the management of the mobile satellite system;

a feederlink earth station (FES) managing communications links between mobile earth terminals (METs), a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and private networks once a communication channel is established with a MET, and performing call completion and service feature management via signaling over the communication channel;

a network control center (NCC), operatively connected to said FES and said NOC, said NCC managing real time allocation of communication channels between the METs and said FES, and available communication channels are held in circuit pools managed by at least one Group Controller (GC) within said NCC, said NCC communicating with said NOC via a satellite network Internetwork, said NCC communicating with said FES via Ku-to-Ku band interstation signaling channels or terrestrial links, and said NCC communicating with the METs via Ku-to-L band signaling channels; and

a network engineering/systems engineering (NE/SE) system operatively connected to said NOC, said NE/SE system performing the following processes;

comparing expected traffic loads with capability and availability of space and ground resources in the mobile satellite system;

formulating tactical plans to maximize available resources of the satellite;

producing frequency plans for different geographical regions and defining circuit pools for different groups of users of the METs;

configuring the mobile satellite system including logical resources and physical components generating logical and physical configurations, the logical and physical configurations designed to expand the mobile satellite system capacity for increases in traffic demand, while also supporting new features and services of the mobile satellite system;

configuring communication paths to external organizations operatively connected to the mobile satellite system; and

tracking logistics of network additions to the mobile satellite system via generation of work orders, including collecting and reporting traffic and performance data for long term planning.

2. A mobile satellite system according to claim 1, wherein communication between said NE/SE and said NOC is accomplished using ASN.1 encoded messages via a TCP/IP protocol stack for the following messages:

event messages,

configuration updates,

restoral plan download file name messages,

logs and statistics collection requests, and

file transfer requests.

3. A mobile satellite system according to claim 2, wherein said NE/SE further comprises an NE/SE server, and wherein an event listener process is initiated by said NE/SE server at startup of said NE/SE and said NE/SE server listens for the event messages sent to said NE/SE by said NOC regarding events occurring in the mobile satellite system.

4. A mobile satellite system according to claim 1, wherein communication between said NE/SE and said NOC is accomplished using file transfer protocol for transferring files between said NE/SE and said NOC for:

NOC configuration upload files,

NOC configuration download files,

NOC logs and statistics files, and

restoral plan files.

5. A mobile satellite system according to claim 1, wherein said NE/SE is operatively connected to, and further communicates with:

a Customer Management Information System; and

a Gateway Switch.

6. A mobile satellite system according to claim 5, wherein said Gateway Switch (GWS) comprises a GWS Maintenance Administrative Position (MAP), and a GWS Traffic Data Collection system, and said NE/SE communicates with the GWS MAP, and the GWS Traffic Data Collection system.

7. A mobile satellite system according to claim 1, wherein said NE/SE configures the mobile satellite system including logical resources and physical components including:

Satellite Power Management,

Satellite power allocation graph,

Channel power allocation graph,

Control Group (CG) Configuration,

L-Band Frequency Allocation,

Beam geography graphical display,

Network Control Center (NCC),

Feederlink Earth Station (FES),

Radio Frequency Equipment (RFE),

Channel Unit Subsystem (CUS),

Test and Monitor Station (TMS),

Support Resources, and

Audit and Reconciliation.

8. A mobile satellite system according to claim 1, wherein said NE/SE configures the mobile satellite system including the logical resources and the physical components therein by creating and making available configuration data, and said NE/SE verifies the configuration data against user defined configuration rules and deploys the configuration data to said NOC for distribution when verified, and said NE/SE maintains consistency between databases associated with said NOC and said NE/SE.

9. A mobile satellite system according to claim 1, wherein said NE/SE comprises a client-server architecture.

10. A mobile satellite system according to claim 1, further comprising a customer management information system (CMIS) operatively connected to said NE/SE, providing customers and service providers with assistance and information including problem resolution, service changes,

wherein said NE/SE providing registration support to CMIS and performing consistency checks on the configuration data sent to said CMIS from said NE/SE.

11. A mobile satellite system according to claim 1, wherein said NE/SE initiates NOC database uploads.

12. A mobile satellite system according to claim 1, wherein said NE/SE partitions the satellite, satellite beams, and control groups into resources including circuit pools, virtual networks and frequency plans.

13. In a mobile satellite system including a satellite communication switching office having a satellite antenna for receiving/transmitting a satellite message via a satellite from/to a vehicle using a mobile communication system, a satellite interface system, a central controller receiving/transmitting the satellite message from/to the satellite communication switching office issued from the vehicle via the satellite and the satellite interface system, the mobile satellite system, responsively connected to said mobile communication system, the mobile satellite system including a network operations controller (NOC) managing and controlling the resources of the mobile satellite system and performing administrative functions associated with the management of the mobile satellite system, a feederlink earth station (FES) managing communications links between mobile earth terminals (METs), a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and private networks once a communication channel is established with a MET, and performing call completion and service feature management via signaling over the communication channel, a network control center (NCC), operatively connected to said FES and said NOC, said NCC managing real time allocation of communication channels between the METs and said FES, and available communication channels are held in circuit pools managed by at least one Group Controller (GC) within said NCC, said NCC communicating with said NOC via a satellite network Internetwork, said NCC communicating with said FES via Ku-to-Ku band interstation signaling channels or terrestrial links, and said NCC communicating with the METs via Ku-to-L band signaling channels, and a network engineering/systems engineering (NE/SE) system operatively connected to said NOC, a method for engineering the mobile satellite system comprising the steps of:

(a) comparing expected traffic loads with capability and availability of space and ground resources in the mobile. satellite system;

(b) formulating tactical plans to maximize available resources of the satellite;

(c) producing frequency plans for different geographical regions and defining circuit pools for different groups of users of the METs;

(d) configuring the mobile satellite system including logical resources and physical components generating logical and physical configurations, the logical and physical configurations designed to expand the mobile satellite system capacity for increases in traffic demand, while also supporting new features and services of the mobile satellite system;

(e) configuring communication paths to external organizations operatively connected to the mobile satellite system; and

(f) tracking logistics of network additions to the mobile satellite system via generation of work orders, including collecting and reporting traffic and performance data for long term planning.

14. A method for engineering a mobile satellite system according to claim 13, further comprising the step of communicating between the NE/SE and the NOC using ASN.1 encoded messages via a TCP/IP protocol stack for the following messages:

event messages,

configuration updates,

restoral plan download file name messages,

logs and statistics collection requests, and

file transfer requests.

15. A method for engineering a mobile satellite system according to claim 14, wherein the NE/SE further comprises an NE/SE server, and wherein said method further comprising the step of initiating an event listener process by the NE/SE server at startup of the NE/SE, and listening by the NE/SE server for the event messages sent to the NE/SE by the NOC regarding events occurring in the mobile satellite system.

16. A method for engineering a mobile satellite system according to claim 13, further comprising the step of communicating between the NE/SE and the NOC using file transfer protocol for transferring files between the NE/SE and the NOC for:

NOC configuration upload files,

NOC configuration download files,

NOC logs and statistics files, and restoral plan files.

17. A method for engineering a mobile satellite system according to claim 13, further coofrising the step of communicating with:

a Customer Management Information System; and

a Gateway Switch.

18. A method for engineering a mobile satellite system according to claim 17, wherein the Gateway Switch (GWS) comprises a GWS Maintenance Administrative Position (MAP), and a GWS Traffic Data Collection system, and said method further comprising the step of communicating with the GWS MAP, and the GWS Traffic Data Collection system.

19. A method for engineering a mobile satellite system according to claim 13, wherein said configuring step (d) further comprises the step of configuring the mobile satellite system including logical resources and physical components including:

Satellite Power Management,

Satellite power allocation graph,

Channel power allocation graph,

Control Group (CG) Configuration,

L-Band Frequency Allocation,

Beam geography graphical display,

Network Control Center (NCC),

Feederlink Earth Station (FES),

Radio Frequency Equipment (RFE),

Channel Unit Subsystem (CUS),

Test and Monitor Station (TMS),

Support Resources, and

Audit and Reconciliation.

20. A method for engineering a mobile satellite system according to claim 13, wherein said configuring step (d) further comprises the step of configuring the mobile satellite system including the logical resources and the physical components therein by creating and making available configuration data, verifying the configuration data against user defined configuration rules and deploys the configuration data to the NOC for distribution when verified, and maintaining consistency between databases associated with the NOC and the NE/SE.

21. A method for engineering a mobile satellite system according to claim 13, wherein the NE/SE comprises a client-server architecture for implementing said method.

22. A method for engineering a mobile satellite system according to claim 13, wherein the mobile satellite system further comprises a customer management information system (CMIS) operatively connected to the NE/SE, and said method further comprising the step of providing customers and service providers with assistance and information including problem resolution, service changes, and providing registration support and consistency checks on the configuration data sent to the CMIS from the NE/SE.

23. A method for engineering a mobile satellite system according to claim 13, further comprising the step of initiating NOC database uploads from the NE/SE.

24. A method for engineering a mobile satellite system according to claim 13, further comprising the step of partitioning the satellite, satellite beams, and control groups into resources including circuit pools, virtual networks and frequency plans.

25. In a mobile satellite system including a satellite communication switching office having a satellite antenna for receiving/transmitting a satellite message via a satellite from/to a vehicle using a mobile communication system, a satellite interface system, a central controller receiving/transmitting the satellite message from/to the satellite communication switching office issued from the vehicle via the satellite and the satellite interface system, the mobile satellite system, responsively connected to said mobile communication system, the mobile satellite system including a network operations controller (NOC) managing and controlling the resources of the mobile satellite system and performing administrative functions associated with the management of the mobile satellite system, a feederlink earth station (FES) managing communications links between mobile earth terminals (METs), a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and private networks once a communication channel is established with a MET, and performing call completion and service feature management via signaling over the communication channel, a network control center (NCC), operatively connected to said FES and said NOC, said NCC managing real time allocation of communication channels between the METs and said FES, and available communication channels are held in circuit pools managed by at least one Group Controller (GC) within said NCC, said NCC communicating with said NOC via a satellite network Internetwork, said NCC communicating with said FES via Ku-to-Ku band interstation signaling channels or terrestrial links, and said NCC communicating with the METs via Ku-to-L band signaling channels, said mobile satellite system comprising:

a network engineering/systems engineering (NE/SE) system operatively connected to said NOC, said NE/SE performing the following processes;

comparing expected traffic loads with capability and availability of space and ground resources in the mobile satellite system;

formulating tactical plans to maximize available resources of the satellite;

producing frequency plans for different geographical regions and defining circuit pools for different groups of users of the METs;

configuring the mobile satellite system including logical resources and physical components generating logical and physical configurations, the logical and physical configurations designed to expand the mobile satellite system capacity for increases in traffic demand, while also supporting new features and services of the mobile satellite system;

configuring communication paths to external organizations operatively connected to the mobile satellite system; and

tracking logistics of network additions to the mobile satellite system via generation of work orders, including collecting and reporting traffic and performance data for long term planning.