Wireless communications systems and methods using satellite-linked remote terminal interface subsystems

• US 20030153267A1
• Filed: 05/20/2002
• Published: 08/14/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ATC Technology Corporation (FedEx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: ATC Technology Corporation (FedEx Corporation)
• Inventors: Karabinis, Peter D.
• Granted Patent: US 6,856,787 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/13.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18563 Arrangements for interconnecting multiple systems data switching networks H04L12/00

Abstract

A satellite gateway is coupled to a communications network and is operative to communicate with a communications satellite. A terrestrial terminal interface subsystem is operative to communicate with the satellite gateway via the communications satellite using a first radio interface and to communicate with terminals over a geographic area using a second radio interface. The communications network may be a wireless communications network, and the satellite gateway is configured to communicate with a base station controller of the wireless communications network, such that the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem may provide one or more satellite-linked terrestrial base stations.

Claims

1. A wireless communications system, comprising:

a satellite gateway coupled to a communications network and operative to communicate with a communications satellite; and

a terrestrial terminal interface subsystem operative to communicate with the satellite gateway via the communications satellite using a first radio interface and to communicate with wireless terminals over a geographic area using a second radio interface.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the first and second radio interfaces are different.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein the first and second radio interfaces are the same.

4. A system according to claim 1, further comprising the communications satellite.

5. A system according to claim 1, wherein the communications network comprises a wireless communications network, and wherein the satellite gateway is configured to communicate with a base station controller of the wireless communications network.

6. A system according to claim 1, wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem comprises an interface converter operative to convert between the first and second radio interfaces.

7. A system according to claim 6, wherein the interface converter is operative to transfer information from a plurality of terrestrial wireless communications channels to a lesser number of satellite communications channels.

8. A system according to claim 7, wherein the interface converter is operative to transfer information from a single satellite communication channel to a plurality of terrestrial wireless communications channels.

9. A system according to claim 6, wherein the interface converter provides unidirectional communications.

10. A system according to claim 6, wherein the interface converter provides bidirectional communications.

11. A system according to claim 1, wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem includes a satellite radio antenna and a terrestrial radio antenna co-located at a single terrestrial base station.

12. A system according to claim 1, wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem includes a satellite radio antenna and a terrestrial radio antenna located at geographically separate sites.

13. A system according to claim 1, wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem comprises a plurality of terrestrial base stations located at respective ones of a plurality of geographically distributed sites.

14. A system according to claim 1, wherein the communications satellite is further operative to communicate with terrestrial terminals without use of the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem.

15. A system according to claim 1:

wherein the communications satellite is operative to receive information intended for wireless terminals from the satellite gateway and to convey the received information to the wireless terminals without use of the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem; and

wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem is operative to receive information from wireless terminals and to convey the received information to the communications network without use of the communications satellite.

16. A system according to claim 1:

wherein the communications satellite is operative to receive information from wireless terminals without use of the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem and to convey the received information to the satellite gateway; and

wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem is operative receive information intended for wireless terminals from the communications satellite and to convey the received information to terrestrial terminals.

17. A system according to claim 1,

wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem is operative receive information intended for wireless terminals from the communications satellite and to convey the received information to terrestrial terminals;

and

wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem is operative to receive information from wireless terminals and to convey the received information to the communications network without use of the communications satellite.

18. A system according to claim 1, wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem is operative to control transmission power for signals transmitted to the communications satellite responsive to signals received from the communications satellite.

19. A system according to claim 1, wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem is operative to control transmission power for signals transmitted to wireless terminals responsive to signals received from wireless terminals.

20. A system according to claim 1, wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem comprises:

a satellite radio antenna;

a first low-noise amplifier coupled to the satellite radio antenna;

a first demodulation and regeneration unit having an input coupled to an output of the first low noise amplifier;

a first modulator having an input coupled to an output of the first demodulation and regeneration unit;

a first power amplifier having an input coupled to an output of the first modulator; and

a terrestrial radio antenna coupled to the output of the first power amplifier.

21. A system according to claim 20, further comprising a first interference reducer coupled to the first demodulation and regeneration unit.

22. A system according to claim 20, wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem further comprises:

a second low noise amplifier coupled to the terrestrial radio antenna;

a second demodulation and regeneration unit having an input coupled to an output of the second low noise amplifier;

a second modulator having an input coupled to an output of the second demodulation and regeneration unit; and

a second power amplifier having an input coupled to an output of the second modulator and an output coupled to the satellite radio antenna.

23. A system according to claim 22, further comprising a second interference reducer coupled to the second demodulation and regeneration unit.

24. A system according to claim 22, wherein the second modulator is operative to control power of a signal transmitted from the satellite radio antenna responsive to the first demodulation and regeneration unit.

25. A system according to claim 22, wherein the first modulator is operative to control power of a signal transmitted from the terrestrial radio antenna responsive to the second demodulation and regeneration unit.

26. A system according to claim 1, wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem comprises:

a terrestrial radio antenna;

a low noise amplifier coupled to the terrestrial radio antenna;

a demodulation and regeneration unit having an input coupled to an output of the low noise amplifier;

a modulator having an input coupled to an output of the demodulation and regeneration unit;

a power amplifier having an input coupled to an output of the second modulator; and

a satellite radio antenna coupled to an output of the power amplifier.

27. A system according to claim 1 further comprising a wireless terminal.

28. A terrestrial terminal interface subsystem for a wireless communications system, the subsystem comprising:

a satellite radio antenna;

a terrestrial radio antenna; and

an interface converter operative to communicate with a communications satellite via the satellite radio antenna using a first radio interface and to communicate with wireless terminals over a geographic area via the terrestrial radio antenna using a second radio interface.

29. A subsystem according to claim 28, wherein the interface converter is operative to transfer information from a plurality of terrestrial wireless communications channels to a lesser number of satellite communications channels.

30. A subsystem according to claim 28, wherein the interface converter is operative to transfer information from a single satellite communication channel to a plurality of terrestrial wireless communications channels.

31. A subsystem according to claim 28, wherein the terrestrial radio antenna, the satellite radio antenna, and the interface converter are co-located at a single terrestrial base station.

32. A subsystem according to claim 28, wherein the terrestrial radio antenna and the satellite radio antenna are positioned at geographically separate locations.

33. A subsystem according to claim 28, wherein the terrestrial radio antenna comprises a plurality of terrestrial radio antennas located at respective ones of a plurality of second geographically distributed second terrestrial sites.

34. A subsystem according to claim 28, wherein the interface converter provides unidirectional communications.

35. A subsystem according to claim 28, wherein the interface converter provides bidirectional communications.

36. A subsystem according to claim 28, comprising:

a first low-noise amplifier coupled to the satellite radio antenna;

a first demodulation and regeneration unit having an input coupled to an output of the first low noise amplifier;

a first modulator having an input coupled to an output of the first demodulation and regeneration unit;

a first power amplifier having an input coupled to an output of the first modulator and an output coupled to the terrestrial radio antenna.

37. A subsystem according to claim 36, further comprising a first interference reducer coupled to the first demodulation and regeneration unit.

38. A subsystem according to claim 36, comprising:

a second low noise amplifier coupled to the terrestrial radio antenna;

a second demodulation and regeneration unit having an input coupled to an output of the second low noise amplifier;

a second modulator having an input coupled to an output of the second demodulation and regeneration unit; and

a second power amplifier having an input coupled to an output of the second modulator and an output coupled to the satellite radio antenna.

39. A subsystem according to claim 38, further comprising a second interference reducer coupled to the second demodulation and regeneration unit.

40. A subsystem according to claim 38, wherein the second modulator is operative to control power of a signal transmitted from the satellite radio antenna responsive to the first demodulation and regeneration unit.

41. A subsystem according to claim 31, wherein the first modulator is operative to control power of a signal transmitted from the terrestrial radio antenna responsive to the second demodulation and regeneration unit.

42. A subsystem according to claim 28, wherein the terrestrial terminal interface subsystem further comprises:

a low noise amplifier coupled to the terrestrial radio antenna;

a demodulation and regeneration unit having an input coupled to an output of the low noise amplifier;

a modulator having an input coupled to an output of the demodulation and regeneration unit; and

a power amplifier having an input coupled to an output of the second modulator and an output coupled to the satellite radio antenna.

43. An apparatus, comprising:

a satellite gateway operative to communicate with a communications network and to communicate via a communications satellite with a terrestrial terminal interface system that serves wireless terminals in a geographic area.

44. An apparatus according to claim 43, wherein the communications network comprises a wireless communications network, and wherein the satellite gateway is configured to communicate with a base station controller of the wireless communications network.

45. An apparatus, comprising:

a communications satellite operative to convey terminal communications between an earth-based communications network and a terrestrial wireless base station that communicates with wireless terminals in a geographic area.

46. An apparatus according to claim 45, wherein the communications satellite is further operative to communicate with wireless terminals without use of the terrestrial wireless base station.

47. A method of providing communications between a communications network and a plurality of wireless terminals served by a terrestrial base station, the method comprising:

conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite.

48. A method according to claim 47, wherein conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite comprises:

conveying a first radio signal from the communications satellite to earth using a first radio interface; and

conveying a second radio signal from the first radio signal from the terrestrial base station to a wireless terminal using a second radio interface, the second radio signal including information from the first radio signal.

49. A method according to claim 48, wherein the first and second radio interfaces are the same.

50. A method according to claim 47, wherein conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite comprises:

conveying a first radio signal from a wireless terminal to the terrestrial base station using a first radio interface; and

conveying a second radio signal from earth to the communications satellite using a second radio interface, the second radio signal including information from the first radio signal.

51. A method according to claim 50, wherein the first and second radio interfaces are the same.

52. A method according to claim 47, wherein conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite comprises conveying the terminal communications via a satellite antenna co-located with the terrestrial base station.

53. A method according to claim 47, wherein conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite comprises conveying terminal communications between the communications network and a plurality of terrestrial base stations via a single satellite link.

54. A method according to claim 47, wherein the communications network comprises a wireless communications network, and wherein conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite comprises conveying the terminal communications between the communications satellite and a satellite gateway coupled to a base station controller of the wireless communications network.

55. A method according to claim 47, wherein conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite comprises transferring information from a plurality of terrestrial wireless communications channels to a lesser number of satellite communications channels.

56. A method according to claim 47, wherein conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite comprises transferring information from a single satellite communication channel to a plurality of terrestrial wireless communications channels.

57. A method according to claim 47, further comprising communicating between the communications satellite and wireless terminals without use of a terrestrial base station.

58. A method according to claim 47:

wherein conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite comprises conveying terminal communications from the terrestrial base station to the communications satellite; and

wherein the method further comprises conveying terminal communications from the communications satellite to wireless terminals without use of a terrestrial base station.

59. A method according to claim 47:

wherein conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite comprises conveying terminal communications from the communications satellite to the terrestrial base station; and

wherein the method further comprises conveying terminal communications from wireless terminals to the communications satellite without use of a terrestrial base station.

60. A method according to claim 47, further comprising controlling transmission power for signals transmitted to the communications satellite responsive to signals received from the communications satellite.

61. A method according to claim 47, further comprising controlling transmission power for signals transmitted to wireless terminals responsive to signals received from wireless terminals.

62. A method according to claim 47, wherein conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite comprises:

receiving a signal from the communications satellite at an earth-based satellite radio antenna;

low-noise amplifying the received signal;

demodulating the amplified signal and generating a signal from the demodulated signal in a format suitable for transmission to a wireless terminal;

modulating the demodulated and regenerated signal;

amplifying the modulated signal; and

transmitting the amplified signal from a terrestrial radio antenna to a wireless terminal.

63. A method according to claim 47, wherein conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite comprises:

receiving a radio signal from a wireless terminal at the terrestrial radio antenna;

low noise amplifying the received radio signal;

demodulating the amplified radio signal and generating a signal from the demodulated signal in a format suitable for transmission to the communications satellite;

modulating the generated signal;

amplifying the modulated signal; and

transmitting the amplified signal from an earth-based satellite radio antenna.

66. An apparatus according to claim 55, wherein the means for conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite using a first radio interface comprises means for transferring information from a plurality of terrestrial wireless communications channels to a lesser number of satellite communications channels.

64. An apparatus for providing communications between a communications network and a plurality of wireless terminals served by a terrestrial base station, the apparatus comprising:

means for conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite using a first radio interface; and

means for conveying the terminal communications between the terrestrial base station and wireless terminals using a second radio interface.

65. An apparatus according to claim 64, wherein the means for conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite using a first radio interface comprises means for conveying terminal communications between the communications network and a plurality of terrestrial base stations via a single satellite link.

67. An apparatus according to claim 64, wherein the means for conveying terminal communications between the communications network and the terrestrial base station via a communications satellite using a first radio interface comprises means for transferring information from a single satellite communication channel to a plurality of terrestrial wireless communications channels.

68. An apparatus according to claim 64, further comprising means for communicating between the communications satellite and wireless terminals without use of a terrestrial base station.