Aggregate radiated power control for multi-band/multi-mode satellite radiotelephone communications systems and methods

• US 7,113,778 B2
• Filed: 04/07/2004
• Issued: 09/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: ATC Technology Corporation (FedEx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: ATC Technology Corporation (FedEx Corporation)
• Inventors: Karabinis, Peter D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Nay
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tu X.
• Application Number:
  US10/819,542
• Publication Number:
  US 20040192293A1
• Time in Patent Office: 902 Days
• Field of Search: 455/69, 455/522, 455/427, 455/12.1, 455/101
• US Class Current: 455/427
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18513 Transmission in a satellite or space-based system
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18543 for adaptation of transmission parameters, e.g. power control for detecting or preventing errors in the information received H04L1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18563 Arrangements for interconnecting multiple systems data switching networks H04L12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/216 Code division or spread-spectrum multiple access [CDMA, SSMA]

Abstract

A satellite radiotelephone system includes a space-based component that is configured to communicate with multiple radiotelephones over multiple frequency bands and/or multiple air interfaces. An ancillary terrestrial network is configured to communicate terrestrially with the multiple radiotelephones over substantially the multiple frequency bands and/or substantially the multiple air interfaces. An aggregate radiated power controller is configured to limit an aggregate radiated power by the multiple radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power.

Claims

1. A satellite radiotelephone system comprising:

a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces;

an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces; and

an aggregate radiated power controller that is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the plurality of frequency bands and/or the plurality of air interfaces comprise a GSM air interface and a CDMA air interface and wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power substantially according to the following;

N_GSM+13,800N_CDMA/107,894=13,800;

where N_GSM denotes a number of co-frequency time slots that are using the GSM air interface and N_CDMA denotes a number of co-frequency codes that are using the CDMA air interface.

2. A system according to claim 1 wherein the N_GSM GSM time slots are at least partially co-frequency with the N_CDMA CDMA codes.

3. A satellite radiotelephone system comprising:

a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces;

an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces; and

an aggregate radiated power controller that is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the plurality of frequency bands and/or the plurality of air interfaces comprise a GSM air interface, a cdma2000 air interface and/or a W-CDMA air interface and wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power substantially according to the following;

N/8+M/50+L/200=R;

where N denotes a number of co-frequency time slots that are using the GSM air interface, M denotes a number of co-frequency codes that are using the cdma2000 air interface, L denotes a number of co-frequency codes that are using the W-CDMA air interface and R denotes an authorized GSM-based frequency reuse.

4. A system according to claim 3, wherein the N GSM time slots, the M cdma2000 codes and the L W-CDMA codes are at least partially co-frequency.

5. A satellite radiotelephone system comprising:

a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces;

an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces; and

an aggregate radiated power controller that is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power according to the following;

6. A satellite radiotelephone system comprising:

a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces;

an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces; and

an aggregate radiated power controller that is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power according to the following;

7. A satellite radiotelephone system comprising:

a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces;

an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces; and

an aggregate radiated power controller that is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by a plurality of co-frequency radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power according to the following;

8. A system according to claim 7 where (psd)_i is determined substantially according to the following:

(psd)_i=10<sup>[log(pi/BWi)+log(α

i)]</sup>;

where 10log(p_i) denotes a measure of maximum radiated power from an i^th radiotelephone in a direction of a satellite, BW_i denotes a bandwidth occupied by a carrier that is radiated by the i^th radiotelephone and 10log(α

_i) denotes a measure of signal attenuation between the i^th radiotelephone and the satellite.

9. A system according to claim 7 wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network by controlling at least one selected radiotelephone and/or at least one radiotelephone that is subject to a low structural attenuation margin, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by a plurality of co-frequency radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power.

10. A system according to claim 7 wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network by controlling at least one radiotelephone that is communicating with the ancillary terrestrial network over a frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface that has exceeded a maximum aggregate radiated power for the frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones for the frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface to a maximum aggregate radiated power for the frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface.

11. A system according to claim 7 wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network by reducing a radiated power of at least one of the radiotelephones, by reducing a vocoder rate of at least one of the radiotelephones, by reducing a rate of information transmission of at least one of the radiotelephones and/or by controlling at least one of the radiotelephones to communicate using a frequency that has not exceeded the maximum aggregated radiated power, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to the maximum aggregate radiated power.

12. A system according to claim 7 wherein the ancillary terrestrial network comprises a plurality of ancillary terrestrial components and wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network to diversity combine signals that are received from at least one radiotelephone by at least two ancillary terrestrial components and/or by an ancillary terrestrial component and an auxiliary antenna system to thereby reduce the radiated power by the at least one radiotelephone.

13. A system according to claim 7 wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control a subset of the plurality of radiotelephones so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the subset of the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power.

14. A system according to claim 13 wherein the plurality of frequency bands comprises a first frequency band and a second frequency band and wherein the subset of the plurality of radiotelephones comprises radiotelephones that communicate terrestrially with the ancillary terrestrial network over substantially the first frequency band.

15. A system according to claim 14 wherein the first frequency band comprises L-band frequencies.

16. A system according to claim 15 wherein the second frequency band comprises S-band frequencies.

17. A system according to claim 14 wherein the first frequency band comprises L-band frequencies that are used substantially inter-radio-horizon by another system and wherein the second frequency band comprises L-band frequencies that are not used substantially inter-radio-horizon by another system.

18. A system according to claim 17 wherein the second frequency band further comprises S-band frequencies.

19. A system according to claim 7 wherein the space-based component comprises a gateway and wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is located at least in part in the gateway, in the ancillary terrestrial network and/or in a stand-alone component that interfaces with the gateway and/or the ancillary terrestrial network.

20. A system according to claim 7 wherein the ancillary terrestrial network comprises a first portion that is configured to communicate terrestrially with a first radiotelephone over substantially a first frequency band and/or substantially a first air interface, and a second portion that is configured to communicate terrestrially with a second and/or the first radiotelephone over substantially a second frequency band and/or substantially a second air interface.

21. A system according to claim 7 further comprising a plurality of radiotelephones that are controlled by the aggregate radiated power controller.

22. A system according to claim 7 wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to determine the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones and to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to the maximum aggregate radiated power.

23. A system according to claim 7 wherein the maximum aggregate radiated power is independent of the number the radiotelephones.

24. A satellite radiotelephone communications method comprising:

communicating between a space-based component and a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces;

communicating terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces; and

controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the plurality of frequency bands and/or the plurality of air interfaces comprise a GSM air interface and a CDMA air interface and wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power comprises controlling the plurality of radiotelephones substantially according to the following;

N_GSM+13,800N_CDMA/107,894=13,800;

where N_GSM denotes a number of co-frequency time slots that are using the GSM air interface and N_CDMA denotes a number of co-frequency codes that are using the CDMA air interface.

25. A method according to claim 24 wherein the N_GSM GSM time slots are at least partially co-frequency with the N_CDMA CDMA codes.

26. A satellite radiotelephone communications method comprising:

communicating between a space-based component and a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces;

communicating terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces; and

controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces comprise a GSM air interface, a cdma2000 air interface and/or a W-CDMA air interface and wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power comprises controlling the plurality of radiotelephones substantially according to the following;

N/8+M/50+L/200=R;

where N denotes a number of co-frequency time slots that are using the GSM air interface, M denotes a number of co-frequency codes that are using the cdma2000 air interface, L denotes a number of co-frequency codes that are using the W-CDMA air interface, and R denotes an authorized GSM-based frequency reuse.

27. A method according to claim 26, wherein the N GSM time slots, the M cdma2000 codes and the L W-CDMA codes are at least partially co-frequency.

28. A satellite radiotelephone communications method comprising:

communicating between a space-based component and a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces;

communicating terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces; and

controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power is performed according to the following;

29. A satellite radiotelephone communications method comprising:

communicating between a space-based component and a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces;

communicating terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces; and

controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power is performed according to the following;

30. A satellite radiotelephone communications method comprising:

communicating between a space-based component and a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces;

communicating terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces; and

controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by a plurality of co-frequency radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power is performed according to the following;

31. A method according to claim 30 where (psd)_i is determined substantially according to the following:

(psd)_i=10<sup>[log(pi/BWi)+log(α

i)]</sup>;

where 10log(p_i) denotes a measure of maximum radiated power from an i^th radiotelephone in a direction of a satellite, BW_i denotes a bandwidth occupied by a carrier that is radiated by the i^th radiotelephone and 10log(α

_i) denotes a measure of signal attenuation between the i^th radiotelephone and the satellite.

32. A method according to claim 30 wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network comprises controlling at least one selected radiotelephone and/or at least one radiotelephone that is subject to a lowest structural attenuation margin, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by a plurality of co-frequency radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power.

33. A method according to claim 30 wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network comprises controlling at least one radiotelephone that is communicating with the ancillary terrestrial network over a frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface that has exceeded a maximum aggregate radiated power for the frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones for the frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface to a maximum aggregate radiated power for the frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface.

34. A method according to claim 30 wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network comprises reducing a radiated power of at least one of the radiotelephones, by reducing a vocoder rate of at least one of the radiotelephones, and/or by reducing a rate of information transmission of at least one of the radiotelephones and/or controlling at least one of to radiotelephones to communicate using a frequency that has not exceeded the maximum aggregated radiated power, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to the maximum aggregate radiated power.

35. A method according to claim 30 wherein the ancillary terrestrial network comprises a plurality of ancillary terrestrial components and wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network comprises diversity combining signals that are received from at least one radiotelephone by at least two ancillary terrestrial components and/or by an ancillary terrestrial component and an auxiliary antenna system to thereby reduce the radiated power by the at least one radiotelephone.

36. A method according to claim 30 wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network comprises controlling a subset of the plurality of radiotelephones so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the subset of the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power.

37. A method according to claim 36 wherein the plurality of frequency bands comprises a first frequency band and a second frequency band and wherein the subset of the plurality of radiotelephones comprises radiotelephones that communicate terrestrially with the ancillary terrestrial network over substantially the first frequency band.

38. A method according to claim 37 wherein the first frequency band comprises L-band frequencies.

39. A method according to claim 38 wherein the second frequency band comprises S-band frequencies.

40. A method according to claim 37 wherein the first frequency band comprises L-band frequencies that are used substantially inter-radio-horizon by another system and wherein the second frequency band comprises L-band frequencies that are not used substantially inter-radio-horizon by another system.

41. A method according to claim 40 wherein the second frequency band further comprises S-band frequencies.

42. A method according to claim 30 wherein the space-based component comprises a gateway and wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power is performed at least in part in the gateway, in the ancillary terrestrial network, and/or in a stand-alone component that interfaces with the gateway and/or the ancillary terrestrial network.

43. A method according to claim 30 wherein communicating terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces is performed by respective first and second portions of an ancillary terrestrial network that are configured to communicate terrestrially with a first radiotelephone over substantially the first frequency band and/or substantially the first air interface, and to communicate terrestrially with the second and/or first radiotelephone over substantially the second frequency band and/or substantially the second air interface, respectively.

44. A method according to claim 43 wherein the first portion is operated by a first wireless network operator and the second portion is operated by a second wireless network operator.

45. A method according to claim 30 wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network is preceded by determining the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones.

46. A method according to claim 30 wherein the maximum aggregate radiated power is independent of the number the radiotelephones.

47. Apparatus for controlling a satellite radiotelephone system that comprises a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces and an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces, the apparatus comprising:

an aggregate radiated power controller that is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the plurality of frequency bands and/or the plurality of air interfaces comprise a GSM air interface and a CDMA air interface and wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power substantially according to the following;

N_GSM+13,800N_CDMA/107,894=13,800;

where N_GSM denotes a number of co-frequency time slots that are using the GSM air interface and N_CDMA denotes a number of co-frequency codes that are using the CDMA air interface.

48. An apparatus according to claim 47 wherein the N_GSM GSM time slots are at least partially co-frequency with the N_CDMA CDMA codes.

49. Apparatus for controlling a satellite radiotelephone system that comprises a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces and an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces, the apparatus comprising:

an aggregate radiated power controller that is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the plurality of frequency bands and/or the plurality of air interfaces comprise a GSM air interface, a cdma2000 air interface and/or a W-CDMA air interface and wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power substantially according to the following;

N/8+M/50+L/200=R;

where N denotes a number of co-frequency time slots that are using the GSM air interface, M denotes a number of co-frequency codes that are using the cdma2000 air interface, L denotes a number of co-frequency codes that are using the W-CDMA air interface, and R denotes an authorized GSM-based frequency reuse.

50. An apparatus according to claim 49 wherein the N GSM time slots, the M cdma2000 codes and the L W-CDMA codes are at least partially co-frequency.

51. Apparatus for controlling a satellite radiotelephone system that comprises a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces and an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces, the apparatus comprising:

an aggregate radiated power controller that is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power according to the following;

52. Apparatus for controlling a satellite radiotelephone system that comprises a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces and an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces, the apparatus comprising:

an aggregate radiated power controller that is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power according to the following;

53. Apparatus for controlling a satellite radiotelephone system that comprises a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces and an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces, the apparatus comprising:

an aggregate radiated power controller that is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by a plurality of co-frequency radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power according to the following;

54. An apparatus according to claim 53 where (psd)_i is determined substantially according to the following:

(psd)_i=10<sup>[log(pi/BWi)+log(α

i)]</sup>;

where 10log(p_i) denotes a measure of maximum radiated power from an i^th radiotelephone in a direction of a satellite, BW_i denotes a bandwidth occupied by a carrier that is radiated by the i^th radiotelephone and 10log(α

_i) denotes a measure of signal attenuation between the i^th radiotelephone and the satellite.

55. An apparatus according to claim 53 wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network by controlling at least one selected radiotelephone and/or at least one radiotelephone that is subject to a low structural attenuation margin, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by a plurality of co-frequency radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power.

56. An apparatus according to claim 53 wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network by controlling at least one radiotelephone that is communicating with the ancillary terrestrial network over a frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface that has exceeded a maximum aggregate radiated power for the frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones for the frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface to a maximum aggregate radiated power for the frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface.

57. An apparatus according to claim 53 wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network by reducing a radiated power of at least one of the radiotelephones, by reducing a vocoder rate of at least one of the radiotelephones, by reducing a rate of information transmission of at least one of the radiotelephones and/or by controlling at least one of the radiotelephones to communicate using a frequency that has not exceeded the maximum aggregated radiated power, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to the maximum aggregate radiated power.

58. An apparatus according to claim 53 wherein the ancillary terrestrial network comprises a plurality of ancillary terrestrial components and wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control the ancillary terrestrial network to diversity combine signals that are received from at least one radiotelephone by at least two ancillary terrestrial components and/or by an ancillary terrestrial component and an auxiliary antenna system to thereby reduce the radiated power by the at least one radiotelephone.

59. An apparatus according to claim 53 wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to control a subset of the plurality of radiotelephones so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the subset of the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power.

60. An apparatus according to claim 59 wherein the plurality of frequency bands comprises a first frequency band and a second frequency band and wherein the subset of the plurality of radiotelephones comprises radiotelephones that communicate terrestrially with the ancillary terrestrial network over substantially the first frequency band.

61. An apparatus according to claim 60 wherein the first frequency band comprises L-band frequencies.

62. An apparatus according to claim 61 wherein the second frequency band comprises S-band frequencies.

63. An apparatus according to claim 60 wherein the first frequency band comprises L-band frequencies that are used substantially inter-radio-horizon by another system and wherein the second frequency band comprises L-band frequencies that are not used substantially inter-radio-horizon by another system.

64. An apparatus according to claim 63 wherein the second frequency band further comprises S-band frequencies.

65. An apparatus according to claim 53 wherein the space-based component comprises a gateway and wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is located at least in part in the gateway, in the ancillary terrestrial network and/or in a stand-alone component that interfaces with the gateway and/or the ancillary terrestrial network.

66. An apparatus according to claim 53 wherein the ancillary terrestrial network comprises a first portion that is configured to communicate terrestrially with a first radiotelephone over substantially a first frequency band and/or substantially a first air interface, and a second portion that is configured to communicate terrestrially with a second and/or the first radiotelephone over substantially a second frequency band and/or substantially a second air interface.

67. An apparatus according to claim 53 further comprising a plurality of radiotelephones that are controlled by the aggregate radiated power controller.

68. An apparatus according to claim 53 wherein the aggregate radiated power controller is configured to determine the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones and to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to the maximum aggregate radiated power.

69. An apparatus according to claim 53 wherein the maximum aggregate radiated power is independent of the number the radiotelephones.

70. A method for controlling a satellite radiotelephone system that comprises a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces and an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces, the apparatus comprising:

controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the plurality of frequency bands and/or the plurality of air interfaces comprise a GSM air interface and a CDMA air interface and wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power comprises controlling the plurality of radiotelephones substantially according to the following;

N_GSM+13,800N_CDMA/107,894=13,800;

where N_GSM denotes a number of co-frequency time slots that are using the GSM air interface and N_CDMA denotes a number of co-frequency codes that are using the CDMA air interface.

71. A method according to claim 70 wherein the N_GSM GSM time slots are at least partially co-frequency with the N_CDMA CDMA codes.

72. A method for controlling a satellite radiotelephone system that comprises a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces and an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces, the apparatus comprising:

controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein the plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces comprise a GSM air interface, a cdma2000 air interface and/or a W-CDMA air interface and wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power comprises controlling the plurality of radiotelephones substantially according to the following;

N/8+M/50+L/200=R;

where N denotes a number of co-frequency time slots that are using the GSM air interface, M denotes a number of co-frequency codes that are using the cdma2000 air interface, L denotes a number of co-frequency codes that are using the W-CDMA air interface, and R denotes an authorized GSM-based frequency reuse.

73. A method according to claim 72, wherein the N GSM time slots, the M cdma2000 codes and the L W-CDMA codes are at least partially co-frequency.

74. A method for controlling a satellite radiotelephone system that comprises a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces and an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces, the apparatus comprising:

controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power is performed according to the following;

75. A method for controlling a satellite radiotelephone system that comprises a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces and an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces, the apparatus comprising:

controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power is performed according to the following;

76. A method for controlling a satellite radiotelephone system that comprises a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a plurality of frequency bands and/or a plurality of air interfaces and an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces, the apparatus comprising:

controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power;

wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by a plurality of co-frequency radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power is performed according to the following;

77. A method according to claim 76 where (psd)_i is determined substantially according to the following:

(psd)_i=10<sup>[log(pi/BWi)+log(α

i)]</sup>;

where 10log(p_i) denotes a measure of maximum radiated power from an i^th radiotelephone in a direction of a satellite, BW_i denotes a bandwidth occupied by a carrier that is radiated by the i^th radiotelephone and 10log(α

_i) denotes a measure of signal attenuation between the i^th radiotelephone and the satellite.

78. A method according to claim 76 wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network comprises controlling at least one selected radiotelephone and/or at least one radiotelephone that is subject to a low structural attenuation margin, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by a plurality of co-frequency radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power.

79. A method according to claim 76 wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network comprises controlling at least one radiotelephone that is communicating with the ancillary terrestrial network over a frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface that has exceeded a maximum aggregate radiated power for the frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones for the frequency band and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface to a maximum aggregate radiated power for the frequency bend and/or carrier frequency and/or air interface.

80. A method according to claim 76 wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network comprises reducing a radiated power of at least one of the radiotelephones, by reducing a vocoder rate of at least one of the radiotelephones, and/or by reducing a rate of information transmission of at least one of the radiotelephones and/or controlling at least one of the radiotelephones to communicate using a frequency that has not exceeded the maximum aggregated radiated power, so as to limit the aggregate radiated power byte plurality of radiotelephones to the maximum aggregate radiated power.

81. A method according to claim 76 wherein the ancillary terrestrial network comprises a plurality of ancillary terrestrial components and wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network comprises diversity combining signals that are received from at least one radiotelephone by at least two ancillary terrestrial components and/or by an ancillary terrestrial component and an auxiliary antenna system to thereby reduce the radiated power by the at least one radiotelephone.

82. A method according to claim 76 wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network comprises controlling a subset of the plurality of radiotelephones so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the subset of the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power.

83. A method according to claim 82 wherein the plurality of frequency bands comprises a first frequency band and a second frequency band and wherein the subset of the plurality of radiotelephones comprises radiotelephones that communicate terrestrially with the ancillary terrestrial network over substantially the first frequency band.

84. A method according to claim 83 wherein the first frequency band comprises L-band frequencies.

85. A method according to claim 84 wherein the second frequency band comprises S-band frequencies.

86. A method according to claim 83 wherein the first frequency band comprises L-band frequencies that are used substantially inter-radio-horizon by another system and wherein the second frequency band comprises L-band frequencies that are not used substantially inter-radio-horizon by another system.

87. A method according to claim 86 wherein the second frequency band further comprises S-band frequencies.

88. A method according to claim 76 wherein the space-based component comprises a gateway and wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network so as to limit an aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones to a maximum aggregate radiated power is performed at least in part in the gateway, in the ancillary terrestrial network, and/or in a stand-alone component that interfaces with the gateway and/or the ancillary terrestrial network.

89. A method according to claim 76 wherein communicating terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the plurality of frequency bands and/or substantially the plurality of air interfaces is performed by respective first and second portions of an ancillary terrestrial network that are configured to communicate terrestrially with a first radiotelephone over substantially the first frequency band and/or substantially the first air interface, and to communicate terrestrially with the second and/or first radiotelephone over substantially the second frequency band and/or substantially the second air interface, respectively.

90. A method according to claim 89 wherein the first portion is operated by a first wireless network operator and the second portion is operated by a second wireless network operator.

91. A method according to claim 76 wherein controlling the plurality of radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network is preceded by determining the aggregate radiated power by the plurality of radiotelephones.

92. A method according to claim 76 wherein the maximum aggregate radiated power is independent of the number the radiotelephones.

94. An ancillary terrestrial network according to claim 91 wherein the second ancillary terrestrial component is adjacent the first ancillary terrestrial component.

96. An ancillary terrestrial network according to claim 94 wherein the first ancillary terrestrial component communicates with the plurality of radiotelephones over an area that defines a cell, and wherein the auxiliary antenna system is located within and/or outside the cell.

93. An ancillary terrestrial network for a satellite radiotelephone system that includes a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a satellite frequency band, the ancillary terrestrial network comprising:

a plurality of ancillary terrestrial components that are configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the satellite frequency band; and

a diversity receiver that is configured to diversity combine at least two satellite frequency band signals from a radiotelephone that are received by a first ancillary terrestrial component, that are received by a second ancillary terrestrial component and/or that are received by an auxiliary antenna system.

95. An ancillary terrestrial network according to claim 93 in combination with the auxiliary antenna system.

97. An ancillary terrestrial network according to claim 93 wherein the diversity receiver that is configured to diversity combine at least two satellite frequency band signals from a radiotelephone that are received by a first ancillary terrestrial component, that are received by a second ancillary terrestrial component and/or that are received by an auxiliary antenna system comprises a space diversity and/or a polarization diversity receiver and wherein the at least two satellite frequency band signals from the radiotelephone are received by the first ancillary terrestrial component, by the second ancillary terrestrial component and/or by the auxiliary antenna system using at least two spatially separated antennas and/or at least two different antenna polarizations.

98. A first ancillary terrestrial component for a satellite radiotelephone system that includes a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a satellite frequency band, the first ancillary terrestrial component comprising:

a subsystem that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the satellite frequency band; and

a diversity receiver that is configured to diversity combine at least two satellite frequency band signals from a radiotelephone that are received by the first ancillary terrestrial component, by a second ancillary terrestrial component and/or by an auxiliary antenna system.

99. A first ancillary terrestrial network component according to claim 98 wherein the second ancillary terrestrial component is adjacent the first ancillary terrestrial component.

100. A first ancillary terrestrial component according to claim 98 in combination with the auxiliary antenna system.

101. A first ancillary terrestrial network according to claim 99 wherein the first ancillary terrestrial component communicates with the plurality of radiotelephones over an area that defines a cell, and wherein the auxiliary antenna system is located within and/or outside the cell.

102. A first ancillary terrestrial component according to claim 98 wherein the diversity receiver that is configured to diversity combine at least two satellite frequency band signals from a radiotelephone that are received by the first ancillary terrestrial component, that are received by a second ancillary terrestrial component and/or that are received by an auxiliary antenna system comprises a space diversity and/or a polarization diversity receiver and wherein the at least two satellite frequency band signals from the radiotelephone are received by the first ancillary terrestrial component, by the second ancillary terrestrial component and/or by the auxiliary antenna system using at least two spatially separated antennas and/or at least two different antenna polarizations.

106. A method according to claim 101 wherein diversity combining at least two satellite frequency band signals from a radiotelephone that are received by a first ancillary terrestrial component, that are received by a second ancillary terrestrial component and/or that are received by an auxiliary antenna system comprises space and/or polarization diversity combining least two satellite frequency band signals from the radiotelephone that are received by the first ancillary terrestrial component by the second ancillary terrestrial component and/or by the auxiliary antenna system using at least two spatially separated antennas and/or at least two different antenna polarizations.

103. A method for increasing link margin in a satellite radiotelephone system that includes a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones over a satellite frequency band and a plurality of ancillary terrestrial components that are configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones over substantially the satellite frequency band, the method comprising:

diversity combining at least two satellite frequency band signals from a radiotelephone that are received by a first ancillary terrestrial component, that are received by a second ancillary terrestrial component and/or that are received by an auxiliary antenna system.

104. A method according to claim 103 wherein the first ancillary terrestrial component is adjacent the second ancillary terrestrial component.

105. A method according to claim 103 wherein the first ancillary terrestrial component communicates with the plurality of radiotelephones over an area that defines a cell, and wherein the auxiliary antenna system is located within and/or outside the cell.

107. An ancillary terrestrial network for a satellite radiotelephone system that includes a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones, the ancillary terrestrial network comprising:

a plurality of ancillary terrestrial components that are configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones using satellite frequency band signals; and

a diversity receiver that is configured to diversity combine at least two satellite frequency band signals from a radiotelephone that are received by a first ancillary terrestrial component, that are received by a second ancillary terrestrial component and/or that are received by an auxiliary antenna system.

108. An ancillary terrestrial network according to claim 107 wherein the second ancillary terrestrial component is adjacent the first ancillary terrestrial component.

109. An ancillary terrestrial network according to claim 107 in combination with the auxiliary antenna system.

110. An ancillary terrestrial network according to claim 108 wherein the first ancillary terrestrial component communicates with the plurality of radiotelephones over an area that defines a cell, and wherein the auxiliary antenna system is located within and/or outside the cell.

111. An ancillary terrestrial network according to claim 107 wherein the diversity receiver that is configured to diversity combine at least two satellite frequency band signals from a radiotelephone that are received by a first ancillary terrestrial component, that are received by a second ancillary terrestrial component and/or that are received by an auxiliary antenna system comprises a space diversity and/or a polarization diversity receiver and wherein the at least two satellite frequency band signals from the radiotelephone are received by the first ancillary terrestrial component, by the second ancillary terrestrial component and/or by the auxiliary antenna system using at least two spatially separated antennas and/or at least two different antenna polarizations.

112. A first ancillary terrestrial component for a satellite radiotelephone system that includes a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones, the first ancillary terrestrial component comprising:

a subsystem that is configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones using satellite frequency band signals; and

a diversity receiver that is configured to diversity combine at least two satellite frequency band signals from a radiotelephone that are received by the first ancillary terrestrial component, by a second ancillary terrestrial component and/or by an auxiliary antenna system.

113. A first ancillary terrestrial component according to claim 112 wherein the second ancillary terrestrial component is adjacent the first ancillary terrestrial component.

114. A first ancillary terrestrial component according to claim 112 in combination with the auxiliary antenna system.

115. A first ancillary terrestrial component according to claim 113 wherein the first ancillary terrestrial component communicates with the plurality of radiotelephones over an area that defines a cell, and wherein the auxiliary antenna system is located within and/or outside the cell.

116. A first ancillary terrestrial component according to claim 112 wherein the diversity receiver that is configured to diversity combine at least two satellite frequency band signals from a radiotelephone that are received by the first ancillary terrestrial component, that are received by a second ancillary terrestrial component and/or that are received by an auxiliary antenna system comprises a space diversity and/or a polarization diversity receiver and wherein the at least two satellite frequency band signals from the radiotelephone are received by the first ancillary terrestrial component, by the second ancillary terrestrial component and/or by the auxiliary antenna system using at least two spatially separated antennas and/or at least two different antenna polarizations.

117. A method for increasing link margin in a satellite radiotelephone system that includes a space-based component that is configured to communicate with a plurality of radiotelephones and a plurality of ancillary terrestrial components that are configured to communicate terrestrially with the plurality of radiotelephones using satellite frequency band signals, the method comprising:

diversity combining at least two satellite frequency band signals from a radiotelephone that are received by a first ancillary terrestrial component, that are received by a second ancillary terrestrial component and/or that are received by an auxiliary antenna system.

118. A method according to claim 117 wherein the first ancillary terrestrial component is adjacent the second ancillary terrestrial component.

119. A method according to claim 117 wherein the first ancillary terrestrial component communicates with the plurality of radiotelephones over an area that defines a cell, and wherein the auxiliary antenna system is located within and/or outside the cell.

120. A method according to claim 117 wherein diversity combining at least two satellite frequency band signals from a radiotelephone that are received by a first ancillary terrestrial component, that are received by a second ancillary terrestrial component and/or that are received by an auxiliary antenna system comprises space and/or polarization diversity combining at least two satellite frequency band signals from the radiotelephone that are received by the first ancillary terrestrial component by the second ancillary terrestrial component and/or by the auxiliary antenna system using at least two spatially separated antennas and/or at least two different antenna polarizations.