Hybrid air-to-ground and satellite system traffic management
First Claim
1. A method for operating a communications system on an aircraft comprising:
- allocating, by a controller on the aircraft, to a communications session between equipment on the aircraft and other equipment, a first bandwidth allocation of a selected communications system selected from the group consisting of a non-terrestrial communications system and an air-to-ground communications system, the allocating being based on a latency tolerance of the communications session and a prioritization level of the communications session and the allocating being further based on a non-terrestrial communications system bandwidth allocated to the aircraft and an air-to-ground communications system bandwidth allocated to the aircraft, the equipment on the aircraft being one of aircraft passenger user equipment, avionics equipment, an in-flight entertainment system, and aircraft personnel communications equipment, a prioritization level of the avionics equipment being greater than a prioritization level of aircraft personnel communications equipment, and the prioritization level of the aircraft personnel communications equipment being greater than a prioritization level of the aircraft passenger user equipment,in response to selecting the air-to-ground communications system, communicating signals of the communications session in A, B, C or D frequency bands using a first Wireless Communications Service (WCS)-band radio unit coupled to a first modem and a first antenna or communicating signals in C or D frequency bands using a second WCS-band radio unit coupled to a second modem and a second antenna;
adjusting the first bandwidth allocation, by the controller, in response to an event associated with a second communications session between equipment on the aircraft and other equipment, the second communications session having a prioritization level higher than the prioritization level of the communications session; and
communicating signals of the communications session using the first bandwidth allocation of the selected communications system.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A technique for providing users with in-flight connectivity includes a method for operating a communications system on an aircraft comprising allocating to a communications session between equipment on the aircraft and other equipment, a first bandwidth allocation of a selected communications system selected from the group consisting of a satellite communications system and an air-to-ground communications system. The allocating is based on a latency tolerance of the communications session and a prioritization level of the communications session. The method includes communicating signals of the communications session using the first bandwidth allocation of the selected communications system.
43 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for operating a communications system on an aircraft comprising:
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allocating, by a controller on the aircraft, to a communications session between equipment on the aircraft and other equipment, a first bandwidth allocation of a selected communications system selected from the group consisting of a non-terrestrial communications system and an air-to-ground communications system, the allocating being based on a latency tolerance of the communications session and a prioritization level of the communications session and the allocating being further based on a non-terrestrial communications system bandwidth allocated to the aircraft and an air-to-ground communications system bandwidth allocated to the aircraft, the equipment on the aircraft being one of aircraft passenger user equipment, avionics equipment, an in-flight entertainment system, and aircraft personnel communications equipment, a prioritization level of the avionics equipment being greater than a prioritization level of aircraft personnel communications equipment, and the prioritization level of the aircraft personnel communications equipment being greater than a prioritization level of the aircraft passenger user equipment, in response to selecting the air-to-ground communications system, communicating signals of the communications session in A, B, C or D frequency bands using a first Wireless Communications Service (WCS)-band radio unit coupled to a first modem and a first antenna or communicating signals in C or D frequency bands using a second WCS-band radio unit coupled to a second modem and a second antenna; adjusting the first bandwidth allocation, by the controller, in response to an event associated with a second communications session between equipment on the aircraft and other equipment, the second communications session having a prioritization level higher than the prioritization level of the communications session; and communicating signals of the communications session using the first bandwidth allocation of the selected communications system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for communications on an aircraft comprising:
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a first modem configured to process signals on the aircraft, the signals being communicated with a non-terrestrial relay point; a second modem configured to process signals on the aircraft, the signals being communicated with a terrestrial relay point; a Wireless Communications Service (WCS)-band radio unit coupled to the second modem and a first antenna configured to transmit signals from the aircraft using A, B, C or D frequency bands; a second WCS-band radio unit coupled to the second modem and a second antenna configured to transmit signals from the aircraft using C or D frequency bands; and a controller on the aircraft, the controller being configured to allocate to a communications session between equipment on the aircraft and other equipment, and configured to adjust the first bandwidth allocation in response to an event associated with a second communications session between equipment on the aircraft and other equipment, the second communications session having a prioritization level higher than the prioritization level of the communications session, a first bandwidth allocation of a selected communications system selected from the group consisting of a satellite communications system and an air-to-ground communications system, the first bandwidth being allocated based on a latency tolerance of the communications session and a prioritization level of the communications session and the first bandwidth being allocated further based on a non-terrestrial communications system bandwidth allocated to the aircraft and an air-to-ground communications system bandwidth allocated to the aircraft, the controller communicating signals of the communications session with the selected communications system using one of the first modem and the second modem according to the first bandwidth allocation, the equipment on the aircraft being one of aircraft passenger user equipment, avionics equipment, an in-flight entertainment system, and aircraft personnel communications equipment, a prioritization level of the avionics equipment being greater than a prioritization level of aircraft personnel communications equipment, and the prioritization level of the aircraft personnel communications equipment being greater than a prioritization level of the aircraft passenger user equipment. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for operating a communications system on an aircraft comprising:
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allocating, by a controller on the aircraft, to a communications session between equipment on the aircraft and other equipment, a first bandwidth allocation of a selected communications system selected from the group consisting of a non-terrestrial communications system and an air-to-ground communications system, the allocating being based on a latency tolerance of the communications session and a prioritization level of the communications session and the allocating being further based on a non-terrestrial communications system bandwidth allocated to the aircraft and an air-to-ground communications system bandwidth allocated to the aircraft, the equipment on the aircraft being one of aircraft passenger user equipment, avionics equipment, an in-flight entertainment system, and aircraft personnel communications equipment, a prioritization level of the avionics equipment being greater than a prioritization level of aircraft personnel communications equipment, and the prioritization level of the aircraft personnel communications equipment being greater than a prioritization level of the aircraft passenger user equipment, in response to selecting the non-terrestrial communications system, communicating signals of the communications session with a first non-terrestrial relay point using a satellite radio unit coupled to a first modem and a first antenna configured to transmit signals from the aircraft using a Ka/Ku frequency band or communicating signals of the communication session with a second non-terrestrial relay point using a 14 GHz radio unit coupled to a second modem and a second antenna configured to transmit signals from the aircraft using a 14 GHz frequency band; adjusting the first bandwidth allocation, by the controller, in response to an event associated with a second communications session between equipment on the aircraft and other equipment, the second communications session having a prioritization level higher than the prioritization level of the communications session; and communicating signals of the communications session using the first bandwidth allocation of the selected communications system.
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Specification