Airborne wireless communication systems, airborne communication methods, and communication methods

• US 8,078,162 B2
• Filed: 10/10/2007
• Issued: 12/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Battelle Energy Alliance LLC (Battelle Memorial Institute)
• Original Assignee: Battelle Energy Alliance LLC (Battelle Memorial Institute)
• Inventors: Deaton, Juan D., Schmitt, Michael J., Jones, Warren F.
• Primary Examiner(s): MILLER, BRANDON J
• Application Number:
  US11/870,357
• Publication Number:
  US 20090098850A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,525 Days
• Field of Search: 455/8, 455/445, 455/12.1, 455/422.1, 455/561, 455427-431, 455/404.1, 455423-424, 455/426.1
• US Class Current: 455/431
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18506 Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/04 for emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0079 involving restoration of networks, e.g. disaster recovery, self-healing networks

Abstract

An airborne wireless communication system includes circuitry configured to access information describing a configuration of a terrestrial wireless communication base station that has become disabled. The terrestrial base station is configured to implement wireless communication between wireless devices located within a geographical area and a network when the terrestrial base station is not disabled. The circuitry is further configured, based on the information, to configure the airborne station to have the configuration of the terrestrial base station. An airborne communication method includes answering a 911 call from a terrestrial cellular wireless phone using an airborne wireless communication system.

Claims

1. An airborne wireless communication system, comprising:

radio circuitry; and

processing circuitry operably coupled with the radio circuitry, and configured to access configuration information describing a configuration of a specific terrestrial base station in response to receiving a status update that the specific terrestrial base station has become disabled, and further configured to configure the radio circuitry according to the configuration information to replicate the configuration of the specific terrestrial base station, and to enable communication of the radio circuitry with wireless devices within a geographical area and a network of the specific terrestrial base station.

2. The airborne wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the wireless devices comprise cellular communication devices.

3. The airborne wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the radio circuitry is configured by the processing circuitry to simultaneously implement wireless communication for at least two different specific terrestrial base stations that use at least two different wireless modulation technologies.

4. The airborne wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the configuration information comprises channel numbers indicative of radio frequencies used by the specific terrestrial base station to communicate with the wireless devices.

5. The airborne wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of a plurality of modulation schemes used by the specific terrestrial base station to communicate with the wireless devices when the specific terrestrial base station is not disabled.

6. The airborne wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the configuration information comprises a description of the geographical area of the specific terrestrial base station.

7. The airborne wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to focus a directional antenna of the airborne wireless communication system onto the geographical area.

8. The airborne wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to access the configuration information while onboard an airborne vehicle within the atmosphere Earth.

9. The airborne wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to access the configuration information from at least one of a Network Operations Center and a Mobile Switching Center.

10. The airborne wireless communication system of claim 1, further comprising storage circuitry, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to access the configuration information from storage circuitry.

11. The airborne wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of a height, an orientation, and a type of an antenna of the specific terrestrial base station.

12. An airborne wireless communication system comprising circuitry configured to:

access first information regarding a geographical area associated with a specific terrestrial base station in response to receiving a status update that the specific terrestrial base station has become disabled, wherein the specific terrestrial base station is configured to provide wireless communication within the geographical area while the specific terrestrial base station is operational;

access second information regarding a moving airborne vehicle comprising the airborne wireless communication system;

use the first information and the second information to control the airborne wireless communication system so that a coverage area of the airborne wireless communication system includes the geographical area as the airborne vehicle moves; and

implement wireless communication between wireless communication devices located within the geographical area and a network using the airborne wireless communication system while the specific terrestrial base station is disabled.

13. The airborne wireless communication system of claim 12, wherein the circuitry comprises processing circuitry configured to use the first information and the second information to control a directional antenna to cover the geographical area.

14. A communication method, comprising:

implementing wireless communication between wireless devices and a specific terrestrial base station of a network while the specific terrestrial base station is operational, the wireless devices being located within a geographical area associated with coverage of the specific terrestrial base station;

receiving a status update regarding the specific terrestrial base station becoming disabled;

accessing configuration information associated with the specific terrestrial base station in response to receiving the status update that the specific terrestrial base station has become disabled;

configuring radio circuitry of an airborne wireless communication system to have the configuration of the specific terrestrial base station according to the configuration information of the specific terrestrial base station; and

implementing wireless communication between the wireless devices and the network through the airborne wireless communication system while the specific terrestrial base station is disabled.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the wireless devices are cellular communication devices, and wherein implementing wireless communication between the wireless devices and the network through the airborne wireless communication system is implemented in an airborne vehicle within the atmosphere of the Earth.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein implementing wireless communication between the wireless devices and the network through the airborne wireless communication system occurs while the airborne wireless communication system travels in an orbit near the geographical area.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein implementing wireless communication between the wireless devices and the network through the airborne wireless communication system comprises focusing a directional antenna of the airborne wireless communication system onto the geographical area.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein accessing configuration information includes receiving the configuration information from storage circuitry.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising loading the configuration information on the storage circuitry after the aircraft is airborne.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein accessing configuration information includes receiving the configuration information from at least one of a Network Operations Center and a Mobile Switching Center.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a status update regarding the specific terrestrial base station;

discontinuing wireless communication between the wireless devices and the network through the airborne wireless communication system after the status update indicates that the specific terrestrial base station is again operational.

22. An airborne communication method, comprising:

receiving a status update indicating a specific terrestrial base station has become disabled from providing wireless communication;

accessing first information regarding a geographical area associated with the specific terrestrial base station in response to receiving the status update;

accessing second information regarding a moving airborne vehicle comprising an airborne wireless communication system; and

using the first information and the second information, configuring the airborne wireless communication system so that a coverage area of the airborne wireless communication system includes the geographical area as the airborne vehicle moves.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the specific terrestrial base station comprises a cellular terrestrial base station, and further comprising implementing wireless communication between wireless communication devices located within the geographical area and a network using the configured airborne wireless communication system.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the second information comprises a position of the airborne vehicle.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the configuring the airborne wireless communication system comprises focusing a directional antenna of the airborne wireless communication system onto the geographical area.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the coverage area of the airborne wireless communication system is substantially the same as the geographical area.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the specific terrestrial base station is configured to provide wireless communication between wireless devices located within the geographical area and a switching center of the network during times when the specific terrestrial base station is enabled, and the method further comprising:

replacing communication between the specific terrestrial base station and the wireless devices with communication between the airborne wireless communication system and the wireless devices during a time that the specific terrestrial base station is disabled; and

replacing communication between the specific terrestrial base station and the network with communication between the airborne wireless communication system and a temporary switching center of the network during a time that the switching center of the network is disabled.