Hybrid communications for devices on vehicles

• US 9,369,991 B2
• Filed: 03/25/2014
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• 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, Pat, Chari, Anand
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Chi H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lopata, Robert
• Application Number:
  US14/225,017
• Publication Number:
  US 20150131513A1
• Time in Patent Office: 812 Days
• Field of Search: 370/312
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18506 Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

Techniques for providing hybrid communications to devices on vehicles include using a forward link to deliver data, that is intended to be received by an on-board device, onto a vehicle, and using a reverse link in a different frequency band to send reverse data from the vehicle. A subsequent forward link is selected, based on the reverse data, from a plurality of forward links, each of which is supported by a different frequency band. Forward data may be multiplexed and/or multicast, and in some cases, multiple forward links may be used for distributed forward data delivery. These techniques allow for efficient data delivery to the vehicle, and in particular while the vehicle is in transit and link conditions are dynamic.

Claims

1. A method of providing communications to and from devices being transported by vehicles, comprising:

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

responsive to obtaining the first content;

causing, by the hybrid communications distributor, a forward transmission to be sent to the vehicle using a forward link included in a first communication link supported by a first frequency band, the forward transmission including (i) the first content, and (ii) an indication of the device;

receiving, from the vehicle at the hybrid communications distributor via a reverse link included in a second communication link supported by a second frequency band, feedback information corresponding to the forward transmission, the second communication link being a bi-directional communication link supported by the second frequency band;

selecting, by the hybrid communications distributor based on the feedback information, one of the first communication link or the second communication link for delivery of a subsequent forward transmission to the vehicle, the subsequent forward transmission including second content to be delivered to the device or to another device being transported by the vehicle; and

causing, by the hybrid communications distributor, the subsequent forward transmission to be sent to the vehicle using the selected communication link.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the vehicle is a particular vehicle; and

causing the forward transmission to be sent to the particular vehicle comprises causing the forward transmission to be multicast to a plurality of vehicles, the plurality of vehicles including the particular vehicle.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the device to which the first content is to be delivered is a particular device;

causing the forward transmission to be multicast to the plurality of vehicles comprises causing the forward transmission to be multicast to the plurality of vehicles transporting a plurality of devices, the plurality of devices including the particular device, and causing the first content to be delivered to only the particular device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the feedback information via the reverse link comprises receiving a unicast transmission including the feedback information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting, based on the feedback information, the one of the first communication link or the second communication link comprises selecting the one of the first communication link or the second communication link based on an indication of a quality of the forward link.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein selecting the one of the first communication link or the second communication link comprises selecting the one of the first communication link or the second communication link further based on a type of data included in the second content.

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

causing the forward transmission to be sent to the vehicle comprises causing the forward transmission to be sent to the vehicle while the vehicle is in-flight;

or

causing the subsequent forward transmission to be sent to the vehicle comprises causing the subsequent forward transmission to be sent to the vehicle while the vehicle is in-flight.

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

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

an L band communication link, a K_u band communication link, a K_a communication link, a Wi-Fi communication link, a WiMAX communication link, a communication link configured to communicate information with one or more satellites, or a communication link supporting a wireless broadband protocol;

or

receiving the feedback information via the reverse link included in the second communication link supported by the second frequency band comprises receiving the feedback information via a reverse link of an air-to-ground (ATG) communication link that is configured to deliver data to and from the vehicle while the vehicle is in-flight.

9. A hybrid communication system for communicating with 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, 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 first content that is to be delivered to a device being transported by a vehicle;

responsive to obtaining the first content, cause a forward transmission to be sent to the vehicle using a particular forward link of the plurality of forward links, the particular forward link included in a first communication link, and the forward transmission including (i) the first content, and (ii) an indication of the device;

receive, from the vehicle via a reverse link included in a second communication link, feedback information corresponding to the forward transmission;

select, based on the feedback information, one of the plurality of forward links for delivery of a subsequent forward transmission to the vehicle, the subsequent forward transmission including second content to be delivered to the device or to another device being transported by the vehicle; and

cause the subsequent forward transmission to be sent to the vehicle using the selected forward link.

10. The hybrid communication system of claim 9, wherein:

the forward transmission is multicast to a plurality of vehicles in which the vehicle is included;

the device is included in a plurality of devices being transported by the plurality of vehicles; and

the device is an only device of the plurality of devices to which the first content is to be delivered.

11. The hybrid communication system of claim 9, wherein the feedback information includes data corresponding to at least one of:

an acknowledgement of a reception of the forward transmission;

an indication that the forward transmission was not received;

or

an indication of a quality of transmission of the forward link.

12. The hybrid communication system of claim 9, wherein the first communication link includes at least one of:

an L band communication link;

a K_u band communication link;

a K_a band communication link;

a Wi-Fi communication link;

a WiMAX communication link;

a communication link for communicating with a satellite;

or

a communication link supporting a wireless broadband communication protocol.

13. The hybrid communication system of claim 9, wherein:

the second communication link is a bi-directional communication link used by the vehicle, the bi-directional communication link including the reverse link and an active forward link that is included in the plurality of forward links; and

one of;

the first communication link is a unidirectional communication link used by the vehicle;

or

the first communication link includes a reverse link that is not used by the vehicle.

14. The hybrid communication system of claim 9, wherein the first communication link is supported by a first frequency band allocated for broadband communications, and the second communication link is an air-to-ground communication link supported by a second frequency band different from the first frequency and allocated for direct communications between in-flight vehicles and ground stations.

15. The hybrid communication system of claim 9, wherein the selected forward link is one of:

(i) the forward link using a first wireless protocol and included in the first communication link supported by a first frequency band, (ii) a forward link using a second wireless protocol and included in the second communication link supported by a second frequency band, or (iii) a forward link using a third wireless protocol and included in a third communication link supported by a third frequency band.

16. A method of providing communications to and from devices being transported by vehicles, comprising:

receiving, at a hybrid communications collector fixedly connected to a vehicle that is in-flight, a forward transmission including first content that is to be delivered to a device, the device being a mobile computing device that is temporarily being transported by the in-flight vehicle, and the forward transmission received at the in-flight vehicle via a first forward link included in a first wireless communication link supported by a first frequency band, the first forward link included in a plurality of forward links configured to wirelessly deliver data to the in-flight vehicle;

causing, by the hybrid communications collector, the first content to be sent to the device using a wireless network contained within the in-flight vehicle;

responsive to causing the first content to be sent, causing, by the hybrid communications collector, feedback information corresponding to the forward transmission to be transmitted from the in-flight vehicle using a reverse link included in a second wireless communication link supported by a second frequency band;

receiving, at the hybrid communications collector, a subsequent forward transmission including second content that is to be delivered to the device or to another device being transported by the in-flight vehicle, the subsequent forward transmission received at the in-flight vehicle via a selected forward link included in the plurality of forward links, and the selected forward link selected from the plurality of forward links by another controller based on the feedback information; and

causing the second content to be sent to the device or to the another device using the wireless network contained within the in-flight vehicle.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein causing the feedback information to be transmitted from the in-flight vehicle comprises causing feedback information to be transmitted from the in-flight vehicle wherein the feedback information corresponds to at least one of:

the forward transmission;

the first content;

a lack of a receipt of expected content;

a reception of unexpected content;

a quality of transmission of the forward link included in the first wireless communication link;

or

a quality of transmission of the second wireless communication link.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein:

the in-flight vehicle is included in a plurality of in-flight vehicles;

the device is included in a plurality of devices being transported by the plurality of in-flight vehicles, and the device is an only device of the plurality of devices to which the first content is to be delivered;

receiving, at the in-flight vehicle, the forward transmission including first content comprises receiving, at the in-flight vehicle, a forward transmission that includes the first content and that is a multicast transmission to the plurality of in-flight vehicles; and

causing the feedback information to be transmitted from the in-flight vehicle comprises causing the feedback to be transmitted from the in-flight vehicle in a unicast transmission.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein:

receiving the forward transmission comprises receiving the forward transmission using a first wireless protocol; and

causing the feedback information to be transmitted from the in-flight vehicle comprises causing the feedback information to be transmitted from the in-flight vehicle using a second wireless protocol.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises at least one of:

using, by the hybrid communications collector, the first wireless communication link as a receive-only link;

or

using, by the hybrid communications collector, the second wireless communication link as a bi-directional communication link.