Multiple satellite system power allocation by communication link optimization
First Claim
1. A satellite communications system operative with at least one existing terrestrial communication system for carrying communications traffic, comprising:
- a plurality of satellites in earth orbit, each of said satellites transmitting one or more forward links containing said traffic to one or more terrestrial users,one or more terrestrial gateways, said gateways being bidirectionally linked to one or more satellites of said plurality of satellites for carrying said traffic;
a computing center, linked to said gateways; and
a communication link allocation system for calculating optimized available resources and for allocating said traffic according to said optimized resources, said communication link allocation system comprising;
first means to generate and store a fading model descriptive of fading characteristics for each of said one or more forward links;
second means to generate and store a link performance model descriptive of losses in each of said one or more forward links including said fading model; and
third means to generate and store a power allocation model based on power constraints for each satellite and said fading model and said link performance model, said third means computing a traffic allocation solution based on said models which allows said communication link allocation system to allocate traffic in accordance therewith.
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Abstract
A satellite communications system is described. The system includes a plurality of satellites, each of which transmits one or more forward links containing traffic to one or more terrestrial users. Each forward link of each of the satellites has a maximum radiation limit. At least one terrestrial user is capable of concurrently receiving at least two of the forward links. The concurrently received forward links redundantly contain the traffic addressed to the user. A computing center has a traffic controller for allocating the traffic to the satellites using gateways. The traffic controller includes a fading model descriptive of fading characteristics for each of the one or more forward links; a link performance model descriptive of losses in each of the forward links; and a power allocation model for computing a traffic allocation for each satellite of the constellation of satellites. The traffic allocation causes transmitted satellite power to be less than the maximum radiation limit for each link. The traffic control system may be located within a gateway so as to optimize traffic associated with that gateway alone. The optimization may also be directed to minimize total radiation from all forward links for particular satellites.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A satellite communications system operative with at least one existing terrestrial communication system for carrying communications traffic, comprising:
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a plurality of satellites in earth orbit, each of said satellites transmitting one or more forward links containing said traffic to one or more terrestrial users, one or more terrestrial gateways, said gateways being bidirectionally linked to one or more satellites of said plurality of satellites for carrying said traffic; a computing center, linked to said gateways; and a communication link allocation system for calculating optimized available resources and for allocating said traffic according to said optimized resources, said communication link allocation system comprising; first means to generate and store a fading model descriptive of fading characteristics for each of said one or more forward links; second means to generate and store a link performance model descriptive of losses in each of said one or more forward links including said fading model; and third means to generate and store a power allocation model based on power constraints for each satellite and said fading model and said link performance model, said third means computing a traffic allocation solution based on said models which allows said communication link allocation system to allocate traffic in accordance therewith. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. In a satellite communication system operative with at least one existing terrestrial communication system, said communication system comprising a plurality of satellites, a plurality of terrestrial user terminals, and at least one terrestrial gateway for establishing communication links between the user terminals and the terrestrial communication system via one or more of the satellites, and further comprising a communications link allocation system, a method of allocating communications traffic comprising the steps of:
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computing a fading model descriptive of fading characteristics in each of said one or more communication links; computing a link performance model including said fading model descriptive of losses in each of said one or more forward links; computing a power allocation model based on power constraints for each satellite and said fading model and said link performance model, and computing a traffic allocation solution based on said models which allows said communication link allocation system to allocate traffic in accordance therewith. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification