Aeronautical cellular network
First Claim
1. A cellular telephone system for use within an aircraft, which system comprises a plurality of user terminals distributed within an aircraft for location each adjacent a seat or a group of seats, an optical interface system for interfacing the user terminals to a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) within the aircraft, the optical interface system being distributed throughout the aircraft, and comprising a plurality of optical fibres interconnecting an array of transducer units with a master unit, each transducer unit and said master unit providing a bidirectional communication path with conversion between optical and radio signals, each transducer unit being located near and connected to a user terminal or group of user terminals by respective cable connections, said master unit being connected to the BTS, said base Transceiver Station being connected to an Aeronautical Earth Station (AES) for transmitting and receiving signals via satellite to a Ground Earth Station.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A cellular telephone system for use in an aircraft (12) comprises a plurality of user terminals distributed throughout the seating array, each group of terminals being connected through short cables to an optical/RF transducer (30) which is linked through an optical fibre array (50) to a further transducer (26) connected by short cables (27,28) to a Base Transceiver Station (22).
116 Citations
12 Claims
- 1. A cellular telephone system for use within an aircraft, which system comprises a plurality of user terminals distributed within an aircraft for location each adjacent a seat or a group of seats, an optical interface system for interfacing the user terminals to a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) within the aircraft, the optical interface system being distributed throughout the aircraft, and comprising a plurality of optical fibres interconnecting an array of transducer units with a master unit, each transducer unit and said master unit providing a bidirectional communication path with conversion between optical and radio signals, each transducer unit being located near and connected to a user terminal or group of user terminals by respective cable connections, said master unit being connected to the BTS, said base Transceiver Station being connected to an Aeronautical Earth Station (AES) for transmitting and receiving signals via satellite to a Ground Earth Station.
- 9. A method of operating a cellular telephone system within an aircraft, which method comprises establishing a radio frequency connection through a cable connection from a user terminal in the aircraft to a transducer located close to the user terminal, effecting bidirectional conversion between radio frequency signals and optical signals in said transducer, providing an optical signal through an optical fibre network distributed throughout the aircraft and providing a connection between a master unit and a plurality of said transducers, effecting bidirectional conversion between radio frequency signals and optical signals in said master unit, and providing a screened radio frequency cable connection between said master unit and a Base Transceiver Station for use in input and output of telephone messages.
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12. An aircraft cellular phone system comprising:
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an Aeronautical Earth Station (AES) within an aircraft, the AES being capable of transmitting and receiving signals via satellite to a Ground Earth Station, the AES being communicably connected to a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) within the aircraft; user terminals disposed within the aircraft, each user terminal being capable of bi-directional RF communication with the BTS; and an optical interface system within the aircraft for bi-directionally communicating RF signals between the user terminals and BTS, the optical interface system comprising optical fibers, at least one transducer unit, and a master unit, wherein the transducer unit is connected to at least one of the user terminals for converting between optical and RF signals, the master unit is connected to the BTS for converting between optical and RF signals, and the optical fibers connect the transducer unit and master unit for conducting optical signals therebetween.
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Specification