Technique for sharing radio frequency spectrum in multiple satellite communication systems
First Claim
1. A system for sharing a radio frequency spectrum between first and second satellite communication systems, the system comprising:
- a first plurality of Earth-based communication stations operating as an Earth-bound portion of the first satellite communication system;
a second plurality of Earth-based communication stations operating as an Earth-bound portion of the second satellite communication system;
a first plurality of satellites in non-geostationary low-Earth orbits and operating as a satellite portion of the first satellite communication system to communicate with said first plurality of Earth-based communication stations and not communicating with said second plurality of Earth-based stations, each of said satellites in said first plurality of satellites orbiting the Earth in one of a first plurality of near polar orbital planes; and
a second plurality of satellites in non-geostationary low-Earth orbits and operating as a satellite portion of the second satellite communication system to communicate with said second plurality of Earth-based communication stations and not communicating with said first plurality of Earth-based stations, each of said satellites in said second plurality of satellites orbiting the Earth in one of a second plurality of near polar orbital planes different from said first plurality of near polar orbital planes, each of said second plurality of near polar orbital planes being located interleaved with said first plurality of near polar orbital planes, whereby said satellites of one of the first and second satellite communication systems and said Earth-based communication stations of the other system share the radio frequency spectrum by interleaving said near polar orbital planes of said first and second pluralities of satellites while maintaining interference between the satellite communication systems at an acceptable level.
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Abstract
A technique for sharing radio frequency spectrum in a multiple communication satellite system with a plurality of satellites in each of a plurality of non-geostationary (non-GSO) Earth orbits. A first satellite communication system uses a plurality of predefined non-GSO Earth orbits and a second satellite communication system uses a plurality of predefined orbits that are interleaved with the orbital planes of the first satellite communication system. In this manner, it is possible to achieve satisfactory discrimination between satellites and Earth-based stations. With near polar orbits, the topocentric separation between satellites decreases as the latitude of the Earth-based stations increases due to the convergence of orbital planes near the poles. To compensate for the decreased topocentric separation, the system utilizes one or more mitigation techniques to select one of a plurality of possible satellites to communicate with the Earth-based station in order to effectively increase topocentric separation.
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Citations
47 Claims
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1. A system for sharing a radio frequency spectrum between first and second satellite communication systems, the system comprising:
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a first plurality of Earth-based communication stations operating as an Earth-bound portion of the first satellite communication system; a second plurality of Earth-based communication stations operating as an Earth-bound portion of the second satellite communication system; a first plurality of satellites in non-geostationary low-Earth orbits and operating as a satellite portion of the first satellite communication system to communicate with said first plurality of Earth-based communication stations and not communicating with said second plurality of Earth-based stations, each of said satellites in said first plurality of satellites orbiting the Earth in one of a first plurality of near polar orbital planes; and a second plurality of satellites in non-geostationary low-Earth orbits and operating as a satellite portion of the second satellite communication system to communicate with said second plurality of Earth-based communication stations and not communicating with said first plurality of Earth-based stations, each of said satellites in said second plurality of satellites orbiting the Earth in one of a second plurality of near polar orbital planes different from said first plurality of near polar orbital planes, each of said second plurality of near polar orbital planes being located interleaved with said first plurality of near polar orbital planes, whereby said satellites of one of the first and second satellite communication systems and said Earth-based communication stations of the other system share the radio frequency spectrum by interleaving said near polar orbital planes of said first and second pluralities of satellites while maintaining interference between the satellite communication systems at an acceptable level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system for sharing a radio frequency spectrum between first and second satellite communication systems, the system comprising:
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a first plurality of Earth-based communication stations operating as an Earth-bound portion of the first satellite communication system; a second plurality of Earth-based communication stations operating as an Earth-bound portion of the second satellite communication system; a first plurality of satellites in non-geostationary Earth orbits and operating as a satellite portion of the first satellite communication system to communicate with said first plurality of Earth-based communication stations and not communicating with said second plurality of Earth-based stations, each of said satellites in said first plurality of satellites orbiting the Earth in one of a first plurality of orbital planes; and a second plurality of satellites in non-geostationary Earth orbits and operating as a satellite portion of the second satellite communication system to communicate with said second plurality of Earth-based communication stations and not communicating with said first plurality of Earth-based stations, each of said satellites in said second plurality of satellites orbiting the Earth in one of a second plurality of orbital planes different from said first plurality of orbital planes, each of said second plurality of orbital planes being located interleaved with said first plurality of orbital planes. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A system for sharing a radio frequency spectrum between first and second satellite communication systems, the system comprising:
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a first Earth-based communication station operating as an Earth-bound portion of the first satellite communication system; a second Earth-based communication station operating as an Earth-bound portion of the second satellite communication system; first and second satellites in a non-geostationary Earth orbit and operating as a satellite portion of the first satellite communication system to communicate with said first Earth-based communication station and not communicating with said second Earth-based communication station, said first and second satellites being placed in an Earth orbit in first and second predetermined planes, respectively; and a third satellite in a non-geostationary Earth orbit and operating as a satellite portion of the second satellite communication system to communicate with said second Earth-based communication station and not communicating with said first Earth-based communication station, said third satellite being placed in an Earth orbit in a third predetermined plane located intermediate said first and second predetermined planes. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for sharing a radio frequency spectrum between a plurality of satellite communication systems, the system comprising:
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an Earth-based communication station for each of the plurality of satellite communication systems and operating as an Earth-bound portion of the respective satellite communication system; a set of orbital planes for each of the plurality of satellite communications systems, each of said set of orbital planes being interleaved in an ordered repetitive sequence; and a satellite in non-geostationary Earth orbit in each of the orbital planes in each of said set of orbital planes, said satellites in each of said sets of orbital planes operating as a satellite portion of the respective satellite communication system to communicate only with said Earth-based communication station corresponding to the respective satellite communication system.
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21. A method for sharing a radio frequency spectrum between first and second satellite communication systems, the method comprising the steps of:
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operating a first plurality of Earth-based communication stations as an Earth-bound portion of the first satellite communication system; operating a second plurality of Earth-based communication stations as an Earth-bound portion of the second satellite communication system; operating a first plurality of satellites in non-geostationary Earth orbits as a satellite portion of the first satellite communication system to communicate with said first plurality of Earth-based communication stations and not communicating with said second plurality of Earth-based stations, each of said satellites in said first plurality of satellites orbiting the Earth in one of a first plurality of orbital planes; and operating a second plurality of satellites in non-geostationary Earth orbits as a satellite portion of the second satellite communication system to communicate with said second plurality of Earth-based communication stations and not communicating with said first plurality of Earth-based stations, each of said satellites in said second plurality of satellites orbiting the Earth in one of a second plurality of orbital planes different from said first plurality of orbital planes, each of said second plurality of orbital planes being located interleaved with said first plurality of orbital planes. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A method for sharing a radio frequency spectrum between first and second satellite communication systems wherein the first satellite communication system operates a first Earth-based communication station and first and second satellites in non-geostationary orbits to communicate with the first Earth-based communication station, the first and second satellites being placed in an Earth orbit in first and second predetermined planes, respectively, the method comprising:
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operating a second Earth-based communication station as an Earth-bound portion of the second satellite communication system; and operating a third satellite in a non-geostationary Earth orbit as a satellite portion of the second satellite communication system to communicate with said second Earth-based communication station and not communicating with the first Earth-based communication station, said third satellite being placed in an Earth orbit in a third predetermined plane located intermediate said first and second predetermined planes. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method for sharing a radio frequency spectrum between first and second satellite communication systems including a first Earth-based communication station as an Earth-bound portion of the first satellite communication system and a second Earth-based communication station as an Earth-bound portion of the second satellite communication system, the method comprising the steps of:
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inserting a first satellite into a first non-geostationary Earth orbit as a satellite portion of the first satellite communication system to communicate with the first Earth-based communication station and not communicating with the second Earth-based communication station, said first Earth orbit having a first predetermined orbital plane; inserting a second satellite into a second non-geostationary Earth orbit as a satellite portion of the first satellite communication system to communicate with the first Earth-based communication station and not communicating with the second Earth-based communication station, said second Earth orbit having a second predetermined orbital plane different from said first predetermined orbital plane; and inserting a third satellite into a third non-geostationary Earth orbit as a satellite portion of the second satellite communication system to communicate with the second Earth-based communication station and not communicating with the first Earth-based communication station, said third Earth orbit having a third predetermined orbital plane different from said first and second predetermined orbital planes located intermediate said first and second predetermined orbital planes. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A system for sharing a radio frequency spectrum between first and second satellite communication systems, the system comprising:
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a first Earth-based communication station operating as an Earth-bound portion of the first satellite communication system; a second Earth-based communication station operating as an Earth-bound portion of the second satellite communication system; first and second satellites in a non-geostationary Earth orbit and operating as a satellite portion of the first satellite communication system to communicate with said first Earth-based communication station, said first and second satellites being placed in an Earth orbit in first and second predetermined planes, respectively; a third satellite in a non-geostationary Earth orbit and operating as a satellite portion of the second satellite communication system to communicate with said second Earth-based communication station, said third satellite being placed in an Earth orbit in a third predetermined plane located intermediate said first and second predetermined planes; and a first directional antenna coupled to said first Earth-based communication station, said antenna coupled to said first Earth-based communication station being capable of communicating with both said first and second satellites and oriented to communicate with a selected one of said first and second satellites based on a minimum acceptable topocentric separation between said selected satellite and said third satellite to thereby minimize direction of radio beams received by said third satellite. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39)
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40. A system for sharing a radio frequency spectrum between first and second satellite communication systems, the system comprising:
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a first Earth-based communication station operating as an Earth-bound portion of the first satellite communication system; a second Earth-based communication station operating as an Earth-bound portion of the second satellite communication system; first and second satellites in a non-geostationary Earth orbit and operating as a satellite portion of the first satellite communication system to communicate with said first Earth-based communication station, said first and second satellites being placed in an Earth orbit in first and second predetermined planes, respectively; a third satellite in a non-geostationary Earth orbit and operating as a satellite portion of the second satellite communication system to communicate with said second Earth-based communication station, said third satellite being placed in an Earth orbit in a third predetermined plane located intermediate said first and second predetermined planes; and a first directional antenna coupled to said first Earth-based communication station, said first directional antenna coupled to said first Earth-based communication station being capable of communicating with both said first and second satellites and oriented to communicate with a selected one of said first and second satellites based on a lowest slant range.
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41. A method for sharing a radio frequency spectrum between first and second satellite communication systems, the method comprising:
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operating a first Earth-based communication station as an Earth-bound portion of the first satellite communication system; operating a second Earth-based communication station as an Earth-bound portion of the second satellite communication system;
operating first and second satellites in a non-geostationary Earth orbit as a satellite portion of the first satellite communication system to communicate with said first Earth-based communication station, said first and second satellites being placed in an Earth orbit in first and second predetermined planes, respectively; andoperating a third satellite in a non-geostationary Earth orbit as a satellite portion of the second satellite communication system to communicate with said second Earth-based communication station, said third satellite being placed in an Earth orbit in a third predetermined plane located intermediate said first and second predetermined planes, wherein said first Earth-based communication station is capable of communicating with both said first and second satellites, said act of operating said first Earth-based communication station comprising communicating with a selected one of said first and second satellites selected to have at least a minimum acceptable topocentric separation between said selected satellite and said third satellite. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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45. A method for sharing a radio frequency spectrum between first and second satellite communication systems including a first Earth-based communication station as an Earth-bound portion of the first satellite communication system and a second Earth-based communication station as an Earth-bound portion of the second satellite communication system, the method comprising the steps of:
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inserting a first satellite into a first non-geostationary Earth orbit as a satellite portion of the first satellite communication system to communicate with the first Earth-based communication station, said first Earth orbit having a first predetermined orbital plane; inserting a second satellite into a second non-geostationary Earth orbit as a satellite portion of the first satellite communication system to communicate with the first Earth-based communication station, said second Earth orbit having a second predetermined orbital plane different from said first predetermined orbital plane; and inserting a third satellite into a third non-geostationary Earth orbit as a satellite portion of the second satellite communication system to communicate with the second Earth-based communication station, said third Earth orbit having a third predetermined orbital plane different from said first and second predetermined orbital planes located intermediate said first and second predetermined orbital planes wherein said first Earth-based communication station is capable of communicating with both said first and second satellites, said act of operating said first Earth-based communication station comprising communicating with a selected one of said first and second satellites selected to have at least a minimum acceptable topocentric separation between said selected satellite and said third satellite. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47)
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Specification