Dynamic balloon network coverage map

• US 9,830,835 B1
• Filed: 06/05/2014
• Issued: 11/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SOFTBANK Corporation (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: X Development LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Teller, Eric, DeVaul, Richard Wayne, Cassidy, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Ulrich, Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US14/297,510
• Time in Patent Office: 1,272 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64B 1/40 Balloons B64B1/58 takes precedence; toy balloons A63H27/10
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/30 Lighter-than-air aircraft, e.g. aerostatic aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/006 Representation of non-cartographic information on maps, e.g. population distribution, wind direction, radiation levels, air and sea routes
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18502 Airborne stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0894 Packet rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/24 Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2491 Mapping quality of service [QoS] requirements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/805 QOS or priority aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/821 Prioritising resource allocation or reservation requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/829 Topology based
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/24 Cell structures
• 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

Example embodiments may relate to web interfaces for a balloon-network. For example, a computing device may display a graphical interface that provides information related to a balloon network configured to provide service in a geographic area, where the graphical interface includes a map. The computing device may receive real-time bandwidth data related to balloons in the balloon network, where the balloons are each configured to change position via altitudinal movement and via horizontal movement with respect to the ground. Based at least in part on the received real-time bandwidth data, the computing device may display, on the map, a visual representation of bandwidth information corresponding to one or more regions in the geographic area, where the visual representation of bandwidth information updates from time to time based at least in part on a change in position of one or more balloons in the balloon network.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:

displaying a graphical interface that provides information related to a balloon network that is configured to provide service in a geographic area, wherein the graphical interface comprises a map representative of at least a portion of the geographic area;

receiving real-time bandwidth data related to a plurality of balloons in the balloon network, wherein the plurality of balloons are each configured to change position with respect to a ground, wherein a given balloon is configured to change position via altitudinal movement and via horizontal movement with respect to the ground;

receiving, via the graphical interface, input data that designates, on the map, a shape defining a sub-area within the geographic area; and

based at least in part on the received real-time bandwidth data and on the received input data that designates the shape on the map, displaying, on the map, a visual representation of bandwidth information corresponding to the defined sub-area within the geographic area, wherein the visual representation of bandwidth information updates from time to time based at least in part on a change in position of one or more balloons from the plurality of balloons in the balloon network.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the bandwidth data comprises at least one of downlink bandwidth data and uplink bandwidth data.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 2, the instructions executable by the computing device to perform functions further comprising:

receiving user-input indicating a selection to display, on the map, the visual representation of bandwidth information such that the visual representation of bandwidth information comprises one or more of (i) a visual representation of the downlink bandwidth data and (ii) a visual representation of the uplink bandwidth data.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the bandwidth information comprises one or more bandwidth levels corresponding to one or more regions in the defined sub-area within the geographic area.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the bandwidth information comprises one or more bandwidth ranges corresponding to one or more regions in the defined sub-area within the geographic area.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the bandwidth information indicates a current per-client-device bandwidth, and wherein the current per-client-device bandwidth is associated with client devices operating in the defined sub-area within the geographic area.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the bandwidth information indicates an average per-client-device bandwidth over a time period, wherein the average per-client-device bandwidth is associated with client devices operating in the defined sub-area within the geographic area, and wherein the visual representation of bandwidth information updates from time to time to represent the average per-client-device bandwidth over a moving window of time.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the bandwidth information comprises a total amount of bandwidth provided by the balloon network in the defined sub-area within the geographic area.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the bandwidth information comprises historical bandwidth information corresponding to the defined sub-area within the geographic area.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the bandwidth information comprises predicted future bandwidth information corresponding to the defined sub-area within the geographic area.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the predicted future bandwidth information is determined based on one or more of (i) historical bandwidth information, (ii) bandwidth service requests, (iii) information received from one or more client devices, and (iv) fleet-planning decisions for the balloon network.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 1, the instructions executable by the computing device to perform functions further comprising:

receiving user-input indicating a selection of a specific location on the map; and

in response to receiving the user-input, displaying, on the map, a visual representation of bandwidth at the specific location.

13. A method comprising:

displaying, by a computing device, a graphical interface that provides information related to a balloon network configured to provide service in a geographic area, wherein the graphical interface comprises a map representative of at least a portion of the geographic area;

receiving, by the computing device, real-time bandwidth data related to a plurality of balloons in the balloon network, wherein the plurality of balloons are each configured to change position with respect to a ground, wherein a given balloon is configured to change position via altitudinal movement and via horizontal movement with respect to the ground;

receiving, via the graphical interface, input data that designates, on the map, a shape defining a sub-area within the geographic area; and

based at least in part on the received real-time bandwidth data and on the received input data that designates the shape on the map, displaying, on the map, a visual representation of bandwidth information corresponding to the defined sub-area within the geographic area, wherein the visual representation of bandwidth information updates from time to time based at least in part on a change in position of one or more balloons from the plurality of balloons in the balloon network.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the bandwidth data comprises downlink bandwidth data and uplink bandwidth data.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving user-input, by the computing device, indicating a selection to display, on the map, the visual representation of bandwidth information such that the visual representation of bandwidth information comprises one or more of (i) a visual representation of the downlink bandwidth data and (ii) a visual representation of the uplink bandwidth data.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:

displaying a graphical interface that provides information related to a balloon network configured to provide service in a geographic area, wherein the graphical interface comprises a map representative of at least a portion of the geographic area;

receiving real-time performance data related to a plurality of balloons in the balloon network, wherein the plurality of balloons are each configured to change position with respect to a ground, wherein a given balloon is configured to change position via altitudinal movement and via horizontal movement with respect to the ground, wherein the performance data comprises one or more of;

(i) latency data, (ii) throughput data, (iii) jitter data, and (iv) error rate data;

receiving, via the graphical interface, input data that designates, on the map, a shape defining a sub-area within the geographic area; and

based at least in part on the received real-time performance data and on the received input data that designates the shape on the map, displaying, on the map, a visual representation of performance information corresponding to the defined sub-area within the geographic area, wherein the visual representation of performance information updates from time to time based at least in part on a change in position of one or more balloons from the plurality of balloons in the balloon network.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the performance information comprises one or more latency levels corresponding to the defined sub-area within the geographic area.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 16, the instructions executable by the computing device to perform functions further comprising:

receiving user-input indicating a selection of a specific location on the map; and

in response to receiving the user-input, displaying, on the map, a visual representation of latency at the specific location.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the performance information comprises historical latency information corresponding to the defined sub-area within the geographic area.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the performance information comprises predicted future latency information corresponding to the defined sub-area within the geographic area.