Network and method for controlling steerable beams
First Claim
1. A method for controlling an antenna system in a communication network to multiplex individual communication links between a network node and subscriber units, the method comprising steps of:
- (a) gathering bandwidth requirements from each of the subscriber units;
(b) determining a hopping beam schedule for an antenna beam of the antenna system based on the bandwidth requirements gathered in step (a); and
(c) steering the antenna beam in response to the hopping beam schedule.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A satellite communication network (10) coordinates multiple steerable satellite beams (28) with user requests for connections requiring varying bandwidth in real-time. A control station (22) gathers user requests for connections (64) and transmits those requests (70) to a satellite (20) over an uplink (70). Requests for bandwidth (72) are processed in the satellite (20) where time slot assignments (74) and steerable beam schedules (84) are determined in response to user requests (74). Steerable beam schedule (84) and time slot assignments (74) are transmitted to subscriber units (24) and control station (22) over a broadcast downlink (86). Subscriber units (24) complete a data transfer interval of a call (62) while a steerable beam schedule (84) is executed in real-time.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for controlling an antenna system in a communication network to multiplex individual communication links between a network node and subscriber units, the method comprising steps of:
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(a) gathering bandwidth requirements from each of the subscriber units; (b) determining a hopping beam schedule for an antenna beam of the antenna system based on the bandwidth requirements gathered in step (a); and (c) steering the antenna beam in response to the hopping beam schedule. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A network in which communication links between a network node of the network and subscriber units are multiplexed, the communications links having diverse bandwidth requirements, the network comprising:
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the network node; an antenna system coupled to the network node, the antenna system having antenna beams each of which is individually steerable; and a controller, coupled to the antenna system, the controller being configured to gather bandwidth requirements of the subscriber units, to determine a hopping beam schedule for each of the antenna beams, and to steer the antenna beams in accordance with the hopping beam schedule. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for controlling an antenna system in a communication network to multiplex communication links between a network node and subscriber units, the communication links each having bandwidth requirements, the method comprising steps of:
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(a) gathering the bandwidth requirements from each of subscriber units; (b) transmitting the bandwidth requirements to the network node; (c) determining time slot assignments for the subscriber units in response to the bandwidth requirements; (d) determining a hopping beam schedule for a plurality of antenna beams of the antenna system in response to the bandwidth requirements gathered in step (a); (e) transmitting the time slot assignments to the subscriber units; and (f) steering the plurality of antenna beams to project over one of a plurality of cells at a time and to project over the plurality of cells within a frame in response to the hopping beam schedule.
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Specification