Data delivery to devices on vehicles using multiple forward links

• US 9,197,314 B1
• Filed: 03/25/2014
• Issued: 11/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gogo Business Aviation LLC (GOGO Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Gogo LLC (GOGO Incorporated)
• Inventors: Lauer, Bryan Adrian, Loganathan, Rukmani, Sasi, Sajit, Walsh, Patrick J., Chari, Anand
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, KHAI MINH
• Application Number:
  US14/225,050
• Publication Number:
  US 20150318913A1
• Time in Patent Office: 609 Days
• Field of Search: 455/431, 455/435.1, 455/435.2, 455/437, 455/550.1, 455/422.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18506 Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18508 with satellite system used as relay, i.e. aeronautical mobile satellite service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0268 using specific QoS parameters for wireless networks, e.g. QoS class identifier [QCI] or guaranteed bit rate [GBR] negotiating SLA or negotiating QoS H04W28/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/005 Moving wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/06 Airborne or Satellite Networks space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185

Abstract

Data content that is to be utilized, as a whole, at a target device on-board a vehicle is apportioned for delivery onto the vehicle via multiple forward links, each of which is included in a different frequency band and/or used a different protocol. A mapping or selection of a specific portion of the data content for a specific forward link may based on a data content type of the specific portion, as well as on other dynamic or static criteria. The target device may operate on the subsets of the data content as it receives each subset. Thus, time critical/foundational portions of the data content may be delivered using a faster forward link, larger elements of the data content may be delivered using a higher-bandwidth forward link, and/or portions of the data content requiring a higher degree of accuracy may be delivered using a more robust forward link, for example.

Claims

1. A method of distributively delivering content to devices being transported by vehicles, comprising:

obtaining, at an hybrid communications distributor disposed in a terrestrial location, content that is to be delivered to a device, the device being a mobile computing device that is temporarily being transported by a vehicle that is in-flight;

selecting, at a processor of the hybrid communications distributor, a first portion of the content, the selection based on a type of data included in the first portion;

selecting, by the processor of the hybrid communications distributor and based on the type of data included in the first portion of the content, at least one of a first forward link included in a first wireless communication link supported by a first frequency band or a second forward link included in a second wireless communication link supported by a second frequency band;

causing, by the hybrid communications distributor, a first transmission to be sent to the in-flight vehicle using the first forward link, the first transmission including the first portion of the content; and

causing, by the hybrid communications distributor, a second transmission to be sent to the in-flight vehicle using the second forward link, the second transmission including a second portion of the content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of data that is included in the first portion of the content is excluded from the second portion of the content.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the at least one of the first forward link or the second forward link comprises selecting the at least one of the first forward link or the second forward link further based on a size of a data stream in which the content is included.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the at least one of the first forward link or the second forward link comprises selecting the at least one of the first forward link or the second forward link further based on at least one of:

a current capacity of the first wireless communication link;

a current capacity of the second wireless communication link;

a current availability of the first wireless communication link;

a current availability of the second wireless communication link;

a transmission quality of the first wireless communication link;

or

a transmission quality of the second wireless communication link.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the at least one of the first forward link or the second forward link comprises selecting the at least one of the first forward link or the second forward link further based on at least one of a time requirement for delivery of the first portion or a time requirement for delivery of the second portion.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the first portion of the content further based on at least one of:

a type of data that is to be included in one of the first portion of the content or the second portion of the content and that is to be excluded from the other one of the first portion of the content or the second portion of the content;

a time requirement for delivery of the type of data;

an application corresponding to the content;

a user of the device;

or

a socket used by the first communication link or by the second communication link.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the content to be delivered to the device is first content, and wherein the method further comprises:

multiplexing the first portion of the first content with other content to be delivered to the device or to another device that is temporarily being transported by the in-flight vehicle; and

including, in the first transmission sent to the in-flight vehicle, the multiplexed contents.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein multiplexing the first portion of the content with the other content comprises multiplexing the first portion of the content and the other content at at least one of:

an application level, a packet level, a stream level, a level based in geographical location, or a level corresponding to a user of the device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of:

causing the first transmission to be sent to the in-flight vehicle using the first forward link included in the first communication link supported by the first frequency band comprises causing the first transmission to be sent to the in-flight vehicle using a forward link that is at least one of;

an L band communication link, a Ku band communication link, a Ka communication link, a Wi-Fi communication link, a WiMAX communication link, a communication link supported by one or more satellites, or a communication link supporting a broadband protocol;

or

causing the second transmission to be sent to the in-flight vehicle using the second forward link included in the second communication link supported by the second frequency band comprises causing the second transmission to be sent to the in-flight vehicle using a forward link of an air-to-ground (ATG) communication link that is configured to deliver data directly between the in-flight vehicle and terrestrial ground stations while the in-flight vehicle is in-flight.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the content that is to be delivered to the device comprises obtaining content that includes at least one of:

information that is to be presented, as a whole, on a user interface of the device;

a web page;

a response to a request generated at the device;

or

streaming data.

11. A system for distributively delivering content to devices that are being transported by vehicles, comprising:

a hybrid communications distributor that is communicatively connected to a vehicle via a plurality of forward links while the vehicle is in-flight, wherein each forward link of the plurality of forward links uses a different respective wireless communication protocol, the hybrid communications distributor including;

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the hybrid communications distributor to;

obtain content that is to be presented, as a whole, at a user interface of a device being transported by the in-flight vehicle;

select a first portion of the content based on a type of data included in the first portion;

select a first communication link based on the type of data included in the first portion of the content;

cause a first transmission to be sent to the in-flight vehicle using a first forward link of the plurality of forward links, the first forward link included in the first communication link, and the first transmission including the first portion of the content that is to be presented, as a whole, at the user interface of the device; and

cause a second transmission to be sent to the in-flight vehicle using a second forward link of the plurality of forward links, the second forward link included in a second communication link, and the second transmission including a second portion of the content that is to be presented, as a whole, at the user interface of the device.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the hybrid communications distributor further to select at least one of the first forward link or the second forward link based on a type of data that is included in one of the first portion of the content or the second portion of the content, and that is excluded from the other one of the first portion of the content or the second portion of the content.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein one or more associations between particular types of data and particular forward links are predetermined, and wherein the selection of the at least one of the first forward link or the second forward link is based on the one or more associations.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the selection of the at least one of the first forward link or the second forward link is further based on:

a size of a data stream in which the content is included;

at least one of a current capacity, a current availability, or a current transmission quality of the first communication link;

at least one of a current capacity, a current availability, or a current transmission quality of the second communication link;

or

feedback information received by the hybrid communications distributor, the feedback information corresponding to a previous forward transmission.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the hybrid communications distributor further to:

multiplex, at at least one of an application level, a packet level, a stream level, or a user level, the first portion of the content to be delivered to the device with other content to be delivered to the device or to another device being transported by the in-flight vehicle; and

include the multiplexed contents in the first transmission that is caused to be sent to the in-flight vehicle using the first forward link.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein each forward link included in the plurality of forward links is supported by a different frequency band selected from:

an L frequency band, a Ku frequency band;

a Ka frequency band;

a first other frequency band allocated to support satellite communications, a second other frequency band allocated to support another wireless broadband communication protocol;

or a frequency band allocated for direct wireless communications between in-flight vehicles and ground stations.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the hybrid communications distributor further to cause a third transmission to be sent to the in-flight vehicle using a third forward link of the plurality of forward links, the third forward link included in a third communication link, and the third transmission including a third portion of the content that is to be presented at the user interface of the device.

18. A method of receiving distributed content at devices being transported by vehicles, comprising:

receiving, at a vehicle via a first forward link of a plurality of forward links configured to wirelessly deliver data to the vehicle, a first transmission including a first portion of information that is to be displayed, as a whole, at a user interface of a device, the device being a mobile computing device that is temporarily being transported by a vehicle, the first forward link included in a first wireless communication link supported by a first frequency band, and the first portion of the information and the first wireless communication link each selected based on a type of data included in the first portion of the information;

causing, by a processor of a hybrid communications collector fixedly connected to the vehicle, the first portion of the information that is to be displayed, as a whole, at the user interface of the device to be sent to the device using a wireless network contained within the vehicle;

receiving, at the vehicle via a second forward link of the plurality of forward links, a subsequent transmission including a second portion of the information that is to displayed at the user interface of the device; and

causing, by the processor of the hybrid communications collector, the second portion of the information that is to be displayed, as a whole, at the user interface of the device to be sent to the device using the wireless network contained within the vehicle,

wherein at least one of;

the first portion of the information to be displayed at the user interface of the device is a first selected portion,

the second portion of the information to be displayed at the user interface of the device is a second selected portion,

the first forward link is a first selected forward link, or

the second forward link is a second selected forward link.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein receiving the first portion of the information that is to be displayed, as a whole, at the user interface of the device comprises receiving a first portion of at least one of:

a web page, a response to a request received at the user interface of the device, or streaming data.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising causing, by the hybrid communications collector, feedback information corresponding to at least one of the first transmission or the second transmission to be sent from the vehicle using a reverse link.