System and method for receiving broadcast content on a mobile platform during international travel
First Claim
1. A vehicle information system suitable for presenting direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television content provided via a selected satellite, comprising:
- a multi-regional antenna subsystem for receiving DBS television content from the selected satellite in response to antenna status and control data and having an antenna steering system for directing said multi-regional antenna subsystem toward the selected satellite in response to antenna positioning data;
an antenna control subsystem for providing the antenna positioning data based upon a comparison of a position of the vehicle information system with a position of the selected satellite and including a predictive process for maintaining a pointing accuracy of said multi-regional antenna subsystem, said predictive process comprising a second-order predictive process for directing said multi-regional antenna subsystem toward the selected satellite based upon rate of position change data;
a multi-regional receiver subsystem having at least one DBS receiver subsystem for receiving the DBS television content from said multi-regional antenna subsystem via an intermediate multiplexer and for providing a plurality of channels of the DBS television content and at least one encoder for encoding the channels of the DBS television content to provide a plurality of channels of encoded DBS television content for presentation in response to receiver status and control data; and
an processor-based subsystem for providing the antenna status and control data and the receiver status and control data each being based upon a comparison of the position of the vehicle information system with contour boundary data for a coverage region of the selected satellite based upon a preselected signal strength.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle information system for passenger vehicles, such as automobiles and aircraft, and methods for manufacturing and using same. The vehicle information system includes a multi-regional antenna subsystem and a multi-regional receiver system for receiving viewing content provided by diverse content sources during travel, including international travel. The multi-regional antenna and receiver system provide selected viewing content for distribution throughout the vehicle information system and presentation via one or more passenger interfaces. As the vehicle approaches the coverage region of a selected content source, the vehicle information system automatically reconfigures the multi-regional antenna and receiver system to receive viewing content from the content source without requiring manual adjustment to, or replacement of, the multi-regional antenna subsystem and/or receiver system. Passengers traveling aboard the vehicle thereby can continuously enjoy the viewing content during travel with limited interruption in service and without unwanted travel delays.
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Citations
65 Claims
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1. A vehicle information system suitable for presenting direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television content provided via a selected satellite, comprising:
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a multi-regional antenna subsystem for receiving DBS television content from the selected satellite in response to antenna status and control data and having an antenna steering system for directing said multi-regional antenna subsystem toward the selected satellite in response to antenna positioning data; an antenna control subsystem for providing the antenna positioning data based upon a comparison of a position of the vehicle information system with a position of the selected satellite and including a predictive process for maintaining a pointing accuracy of said multi-regional antenna subsystem, said predictive process comprising a second-order predictive process for directing said multi-regional antenna subsystem toward the selected satellite based upon rate of position change data; a multi-regional receiver subsystem having at least one DBS receiver subsystem for receiving the DBS television content from said multi-regional antenna subsystem via an intermediate multiplexer and for providing a plurality of channels of the DBS television content and at least one encoder for encoding the channels of the DBS television content to provide a plurality of channels of encoded DBS television content for presentation in response to receiver status and control data; and an processor-based subsystem for providing the antenna status and control data and the receiver status and control data each being based upon a comparison of the position of the vehicle information system with contour boundary data for a coverage region of the selected satellite based upon a preselected signal strength. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A vehicle information system for installation aboard a passenger vehicle and for presenting direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television content provided via a selected satellite, comprising:
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a vehicle position subsystem for providing a vehicle position of the vehicle; a multi-regional antenna subsystem for receiving DBS television content from the selected satellite in response to antenna status and control data and having an antenna steering system for directing said multi-regional antenna subsystem toward the selected satellite in response to antenna positioning data; a predictive process for maintaining a pointing accuracy of the multi-regional antenna subsystem and a second-order predictive process for directing the multi-regional antenna subsystem toward the selected satellite based upon rate of position change data; an antenna control subsystem for providing the antenna positioning data based upon a comparison of said vehicle position with a position of the selected satellite; a down-conversion subsystem for converting the DBS television content provided by said multi-regional receiver subsystem into converted DBS television content having an intermediate frequency in response to interface control data; a multi-regional receiver subsystem having at least one DBS receiver subsystem for receiving the converted DBS television content from said down-conversion subsystem via an intermediate multiplexer and for providing a plurality of channels of the DBS television content and at least one encoder for encoding the channels of the DBS television content to provide a plurality of channels of encoded DBS television content for presentation in response to receiver status and control data; a distribution subsystem for distributing the DBS television content to at least one passenger interface subsystem within the vehicle information system; and an processor-based subsystem for providing the antenna status and control data and the receiver status and control data and having a database system for providing contour boundary data for at least one coverage region associated with a plurality of satellites based upon a preselected signal strength, the antenna status and control data and the receiver status and control data each being based upon a comparison of said vehicle position with the contour boundary data for the selected satellite. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. An aircraft, comprising:
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a fuselage and a plurality of passengers seat arranged within the fuselage; and a vehicle information system for presenting direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television content provided via a selected satellite, said vehicle information system coupled with said fuselage and comprising; a vehicle position subsystem for providing a vehicle position of the vehicle; a multi-regional antenna subsystem for receiving DBS television content from the selected satellite in response to antenna status and control data and having an antenna steering system for directing said multi-regional antenna subsystem toward the selected satellite in response to antenna positioning data; a predictive process for maintaining a pointing accuracy of the multi-regional antenna subsystem and a second-order predictive process for directing the multi-regional antenna subsystem toward the selected satellite based upon rate of position change data; an antenna control subsystem for providing the antenna positioning data based upon a comparison of said vehicle position with a position of the selected satellite; a multi-regional receiver subsystem having at least one DBS receiver subsystem for receiving converted DBS television content from said multi-regional antenna subsystem via an intermediate multiplexer and for providing a plurality of channels of the DBS television content and at least one encoder for encoding the channels of the DBS television content to provide a plurality of channels of encoded DBS television content for presentation in response to receiver status and control data; a passenger interface subsystem for presenting the DBS television content distributed via a distribution subsystem; and an processor-based subsystem for providing the antenna status and control data and the receiver status and control data and having a database system for providing contour boundary data for at least one coverage region associated with a plurality of satellites based upon a preselected signal strength, the antenna status and control data and the receiver status and control data each being based upon a comparison of said vehicle position with the contour boundary data for the selected satellite.
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31. A method for presenting direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television content provided via a selected satellite, comprising:
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providing an information system having a multi-regional antenna subsystem and a multi-regional receiver subsystem; determining a position of the vehicle information system; comparing the position of the vehicle information system with a position of the selected satellite to provide antenna positioning data; comparing the position of the vehicle information system with contour boundary data for the selected satellite to provide antenna status and control data and receiver status and control data, the contour boundary data defining a coverage region of the selected satellite based upon a preselected signal strength; directing the multi-regional antenna subsystem toward the selected satellite in response to the antenna positioning data; maintaining a pointing accuracy of the multi-regional antenna subsystem via a second-order predictive process for directing the multi-regional antenna subsystem toward the selected satellite based upon rate of position change data; configuring the multi-regional antenna subsystem to receive DBS television content from the selected satellite in response to the antenna status and control data; configuring the multi-regional receiver subsystem to process the received DBS television content in response to the receiver status and control data; receiving the DBS television content via the multi-regional antenna subsystem; selecting a relevant portion of the DBS television content; generating a plurality of channels from the selected DBS television content; encoding the channels to provide a plurality of channels of encoded DBS television content; and providing the channels of encoded DBS television content for presentation. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A computer program product for presenting direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television content via a vehicle information system having a multi-regional antenna subsystem and a multi-regional receiver subsystem for receiving the DBS television content from a selected satellite, the computer program product being encoded on one or more machine-readable storage media and comprising:
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instruction for determining a position of the vehicle information system; instruction for comparing the position of the vehicle information system with a position of the selected satellite to provide antenna positioning data; instruction for comparing the position of the vehicle information system with contour boundary data for the selected satellite to provide antenna status and control data and receiver status and control data, the contour boundary data defining a coverage region of the selected satellite based upon a preselected signal strength; instruction for directing the multi-regional antenna subsystem toward the selected satellite in response to the antenna positioning data; instruction for maintaining a pointing accuracy of the multi-regional antenna subsystem via a predictive process, and wherein said instruction for maintaining said pointing accuracy of the multi-regional antenna subsystem includes instruction for maintaining said pointing accuracy of the multi-regional antenna subsystem via a second-order predictive process for directing the multi-regional antenna subsystem toward the selected satellite based upon rate of position change data; instruction for configuring the multi-regional antenna subsystem to receive DBS television content from the selected satellite in response to the antenna status and control data; instruction for configuring the multi-regional receiver subsystem to process the received DBS television content in response to the receiver status and control data; instruction for receiving the DBS television content via the multi-regional antenna subsystem; instruction for selecting a relevant portion of the DBS television content; instruction for generating a plurality of channels from the selected DBS television content; instruction for encoding the channels to provide a plurality of channels of encoded DBS television content; and instruction for providing the channels of encoded DBS television content for presentation. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
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Specification