Router for aircraft communications with simultaneous satellite connections

• US 9,553,658 B1
• Filed: 04/23/2014
• Issued: 01/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Satcom Direct, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Satcom Direct, Inc.
• Inventors: Bantoft, Ken, Gray, Curt
• Primary Examiner(s): Ngo, Ricky
• Assistant Examiner(s): NG, CHRISTINE Y
• Application Number:
  US14/259,588
• Time in Patent Office: 1,007 Days
• Field of Search: 370/316, 370/328, 370/338, 370/401, 370/465
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18508 with satellite system used as relay, i.e. aeronautical mobile satellite service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

Methods, devices, routers and systems for a satellite-ready Satcom Direct router with simultaneous use of Inmarsat, SwiftBroadband, Swift 64, Ku-Band and Ka-Band satellite connections with intelligent traffic control, along with Wi-Fi access and 3G/4G cellular network connectivity. The router is compatible with existing Wi-Fi access points and is backward-compatible with 802.11b/g. Up to four or more simultaneous wireless networks can be supported, allowing multiple systems to operate on aircraft without additional wireless access points and providing 3G/4G network connectivity when the aircraft is on the ground. A downloadable Satcom Direct router mobile App provides on-board cabin services including one or more of moving maps, flight tracker and command and control of satellite links.

Claims

1. An onboard network router for aviation customers to manage voice and data cabin communications onboard an aircraft comprising:

a processing device connected with memory;

a communication link to simultaneously use two or more satellite connections with in orbit communication satellites while the aircraft is in flight;

a set of instructions for traffic control stored in the memory and executable by the processing device to manage cabin communication systems onboard the aircraft;

plural Ethernet interfaces each configurable as one of a WAN port and a LAN port; and

an ISDN interface and two or more simultaneous network interfaces to allow multiple avionic systems to operate on the aircraft wherein the satellite communication link allows simultaneous use of two or more of Inmarsat, Swiftbroadband, Swift64, Ku-Band, and Ka-Band satellite connections to deterministically forward data communications over two or more of said communication links based on preset policies by a user

said router including QoS/Prioritization to locate bandwidth per device or person and prevents a single device from consuming all available bandwidth as well as prioritizing traffic for a VVIP.

2. The onboard network router of claim 1, wherein the intelligent traffic control set of instructions comprises:

a first subset of instruction for optimizing data transmission using one or more of data acceleration, data compression and data caching; and

a second subset of instruction for bandwidth allocation.

3. The onboard network router of claim 2, wherein the intelligent traffic control set of instructions further comprises:

a priority set of instructions configurable by the user for prioritizing traffic, a data packet routed according to the user configured policy.

4. The onboard network router of claim 1, wherein the cellular network connectivity comprises:

a Wi-Fi access port for WiFi network connectivity on the aircraft; and

a 3G/4G port for cellular network connectivity when the aircraft is on the ground.

5. The onboard network router of claim 4 wherein the Wi-Fi access port comprises:

an 802.11n Dual-Band WiFi connection that is backward compatible with 802.11b/g to support two or more different radio frequencies to reduce interference.

6. The onboard network router of claim 1, wherein the plural Ethernet interfaces comprises:

eight individual gigabit Ethernet ports.

7. The onboard network router of claim 1 further comprising:

four or more discrete inputs and four or more discrete outputs.

8. The onboard network router of claim 1 further comprising:

a configuration module with a Subscriber Identity Module card; and

a data plan for domestic and global roaming through the use of the configuration module and Subscriber Identity Module card.

9. The onboard network router of claim 1 further comprising:

a globally unique configuration key for each router installed on the aircraft to activate one or more aircraft services.

10. The onboard network router of claim 1, further comprising:

a mobile application downloadable to a mobile communication device for using one or more onboard cabin services selected from a group consisting of moving map, flight tracker, command and control of satellite links and real-time connection status reporting.

11. The onboard network router of claim 1, further comprising:

an interface to integrate the onboard network router with an avionic Aero X module to provide acceleration, compression, optimization and caching of the two or more satellite connections.

12. The onboard network router of claim 1 further comprising:

an ARINC 429 data port for position reporting and avionics monitoring.

13. The onboard network router of claim 1, wherein the satellite communication link allows simultaneous use of Inmarsat, Swiftbroadband, Swift64, Ku-Band, and Ka-Band satellite connections to deterministically forward data communications over two or more of said communication links based on preset policies by the user.

14. A method for managing cabin communication onboard an aircraft comprising the steps of:

installing a router to manage cabin communication system onboard the aircraft including simultaneous use of multiple satellite connections, multiple gigabit Ethernet ports and support multiple simultaneous wireless networks; and

providing a downloadable router mobile App to provide on-board cabin services including one or more of moving maps, flight tracker and command and control of satellite links, wherein the satellite communication link allows simultaneous use of two or more of Inmarsat, Swiftbroadband, Swift64, Ku-Band, and Ka-Band satellite connections to deterministically forward data communications over two or more of said communication links based on preset policies by a user, said router including QoS/Prioritization to locate bandwidth per device or person and prevents a single device from consuming all available bandwidth as well as prioritizing traffic for a VVIP.

15. The cabin communication management method of claim 14 wherein the router installation step includes the steps of:

providing an 802.11n dual-band Wi-Fi port backward-compatible with 802.11b/g; and

providing 3G/4G network connectivity for remote avionic equipment support and Internet access when the aircraft is on the ground.

16. The cabin communication management method of claim 14 wherein the router installation step includes the step of:

interfacing with a Satcom Direct Aero XR®

to provide acceleration, compression, optimization and caching of multiple satellite links.

17. The cabin communication management method of claim 14 wherein the router installation step includes the steps of:

providing an ARINC 429 interface for one or more of location services and avionics monitoring.

18. The cabin communication management method of claim 14 further comprising the step of:

activating one or more optional flex keys to activate one or more of Aero X®

to accelerate data transfer rates, moving maps and Flight tracking, Aero V for voice over IP, Sky Shield, Sky Ticket, and remote aeronautic equipment maintenance access.

19. The cabin communication management method of claim 14 wherein the router installation step includes the steps of:

integrating the router with two or more services selected from a group consisting of;

AeroV®

, SD Flight Tracker, SkyTicket, SkyShield and Aero XR®

.

20. The cabin communication management method of claim 14, wherein the step of

providing a downloadable the router mobile App step includes the step of:

allowing simultaneous use of Inmarsat, Swiftbroadband, Swift64, Ku-Band, and Ka-Band satellite connections to deterministically forward data communications over two or more of said communication links based on preset policies by the user.