Satellite communications system having distributed user assignment and resource assignment with terrestrial gateways
First Claim
1. A satellite communications system, comprising:
- at least one satellite;
a plurality of gateways; and
at least one user terminal comprising means for bidirectionally communicating with at least one of said gateways through said at least one satellite;
wherein individual ones of said plurality of gateways comprise means for receiving an access request from said at least one user terminal through said at least one satellite, and further comprise means for notifying said requesting user terminal through said at least one satellite that the user terminal is one of accepted by the gateway for establishing a communication link or not accepted by the gateway for establishing the communication link, wherein said notifying means of each of said plurality of gateways makes a decision as to whether to accept a requesting user terminal or to not accept a requesting user terminal based on at least one criterion being satisfied and without requiring decision making assistance from said at least one satellite.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A satellite communications system (10) includes at least one satellite (12); a system controller (38); a plurality of gateways (18); and at least one user terminal (13) operable for bidirectionally communicating with at least one of the gateways through the at least one satellite. Individual ones of the plurality of gateways are bidirectionally coupled to at least one terrestrial communications system (4) and act to couple the user terminal to the terrestrial communication system through at least one satellite. In accordance with an aspect of this invention, individual ones of the plurality of gateways are operable for receiving an access request from the user terminal, through at least one satellite, and are further operable for notifying the requesting user terminal, through at least one satellite, that the user terminal is one of accepted by the gateway for establishing a communication link and not accepted by the gateway for establishing the communication link. A gateway that does not accept a user terminal can indicate to the user terminal, based at least in part on a determined location of the user terminal, an identification of a gateway to which the user terminal should apply for access or log-in purposes. The system further includes a data network (39) that interconnects the system controller and the plurality of gateways. The data network may be conveyed by and embodied in one of a wired network, a wireless network, and a combination of a wired network and a wireless network.
369 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A satellite communications system, comprising:
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at least one satellite; a plurality of gateways; and at least one user terminal comprising means for bidirectionally communicating with at least one of said gateways through said at least one satellite; wherein individual ones of said plurality of gateways comprise means for receiving an access request from said at least one user terminal through said at least one satellite, and further comprise means for notifying said requesting user terminal through said at least one satellite that the user terminal is one of accepted by the gateway for establishing a communication link or not accepted by the gateway for establishing the communication link, wherein said notifying means of each of said plurality of gateways makes a decision as to whether to accept a requesting user terminal or to not accept a requesting user terminal based on at least one criterion being satisfied and without requiring decision making assistance from said at least one satellite. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A satellite communications system, comprising:
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at least one user terminal comprising a first transceiver for transmitting signals, including a request for service signal, to a first RF link and for receiving signals from said first RF link; at least one satellite comprising means for receiving signals from and for transmitting signals to said first Rf link and for transmitting signals to and receiving signals from a second RF link; and at least one gateway, said at least one gateway having at least one service area associated therewith and comprising a second transceiver for transmitting signals to and for receiving signals from said second RF link, said second transceiver being bidirectionally coupled to at least one terrestrial communication network for forwarding a communication signal for said at least one user terminal from said at least one communication network to said second RF link and for forwarding a communication signal from said at least one user terminal from said second RF link to said at least one communication network, said at least one gateway further comprising decision means having an input for receiving, from said second RF link, a request for service signal from said at least one user terminal, said decision means operating to determine whether to accept or not accept the request for service from a requesting user terminal in accordance with at least one criterion, wherein said decision means of said at least one gateway makes a decision as to whether to accept a requesting user terminal or to not accept a requesting user terminal based on said least one criterion being fulfilled and without requiring decision making assistance from said at least one satellite. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for operating a telecommunications system having at least one earth orbiting satellite for conveying signals between a user terminal and one of a plurality of gateways, at least one of the gateways being coupled to a terrestrial telecommunications system, comprising the steps of:
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in the user terminal, attempting to receive a signal from a last-used gateway; if successful, transmitting an access request to the last-used gateway; if unsuccessful, attempting to receive a predetermined communications channel; if successful, obtaining a list of gateways from a gateway transmitting the predetermined communications channel and storing the list of gateways within the user terminal; determining if a predetermined gateway is included within the list of gateways and, if yes, transmitting an access request from the user terminal to the predetermined gateway; if the predetermined gateway is determined to not be included within the list, selecting one of the gateways from the list and transmitting the access request to the selected gateway; and in a gateway receiving the transmitted access request through said at least one satellite, making a decision as to whether to accept the user terminal that transmitted the access request or to not accept the user terminal based on at least one criterion being fulfilled and without requiring decision making assistance from the at least one satellite. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for operating a telecommunications system having at least one earth orbiting satellite for conveying signals between a user terminal and one of a plurality of gateways, at least one of the gateways being coupled to at least one terrestrial telecommunications system, comprising the steps of:
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receiving, at a gateway, a service request from the user terminal, the service request passing through the at least one satellite; and based on at least one criterion, notifying the requesting user terminal that the user terminal is one of accepted by the gateway for establishing a communication link or not accepted by the gateway for establishing the communication link, the step of notifying comprising a step, executed in a gateway that receives the service request through the at least one satellite, of making a decision as to whether to accept the user terminal that transmitted the service request or to not accept the user terminal based on the at least one criterion being fulfilled and without requiring decision making assistance from the at least one satellite. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for operating a telecommunications system having at least one earth orbiting satellite for conveying signals between a user terminal and one of a plurality of gateways, at least one of the gateways being coupled to at least one terrestrial telecommunications system, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a service request that is transmitted from the user terminal; and based on at least one criterion, determining if the requesting user terminal is accepted for service and notifying the requesting user terminal that the user terminal is one of accepted for service or not accepted for service, wherein the at least one criterion includes at least one of a location of the user terminal, a current communications traffic loading of the system, a predicted communications traffic loading of the system, the presence or absence of any system impairments, a type of user terminal, and the presence or absence of a roaming agreement with the requesting user terminal'"'"'s service provider, and wherein the steps of deciding and notifying are executed in a gateway that receives the service request through the at least one satellite, wherein the decision as to whether to accept the user terminal that transmitted the service request or to not accept the user terminal is based on the at least one criterion and without requiring decision making assistance from the at least one satellite.
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28. A method for operating a telecommunications system having at least one earth orbiting satellite for conveying signals between a user terminal and one of a plurality of gateways, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a service request that is transmitted from the user terminal, the service request being received at a first gateway and indicating a destination telephone number to which a call is to be placed; determining in the first gateway if the first gateway is capable of serving the destination telephone number; and
, if not,transmitting a message to the user terminal, the message rejecting the service request and including an indication of another gateway that is capable of serving the destination telephone number. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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31. A method for operating a telecommunications system having at least one earth orbiting satellite for conveying signals between a user terminal and one of a plurality of gateways, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a service request that is transmitted from the user terminal, the service request being received at a first gateway and indicating a destination telephone number to which a call is to be placed; determining in the first gateway if the first gateway can connect the call to the destination telephone number at less expense than another gateway can connect the call to the destination telephone number; and
, if not,transmitting a message to the user terminal from the first gateway, the message rejecting the service request and including an indication of at least one other gateway that is determined to be capable of connecting the call with less expense than the first gateway.
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Specification