Internet protocol network architecture for a global...

Details Internet protocol network architecture for a global... Internet protocol network architecture for a global...

2000-03-21

2004-05-11

Vanderpuye, Kenneth (Department: 2663)

Multiplex communications

Communication over free space

Repeater

C370S352000, C370S401000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06735184

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications systems and methods for improved signaling over satellite-terrestrial networks and, in particular, to providing Internet Protocol signaling over the terrestrial network portion of a satellite-terrestrial telecommunications system.
2. Background and Objects of the Present Invention
The evolution of wireless communication over the past century, since Guglielmo Marconi's 1897 demonstration of radio's ability to provide continuous contact with ships sailing the English Channel, has been remarkable. Since Marconi's discovery, new wireline and wireless communication methods, services and standards have been adopted by people throughout the world. This evolution has been accelerating, particularly over the last ten years, during which the mobile radio communications industry has grown by orders of magnitude, fueled by numerous technological advances that have made portable radio equipment smaller, cheaper and more reliable. The exponential growth of mobile telephony will continue to rise in the coming decades as well as this wireless network interacts with and eventually overtakes the existing wireline networks.
With reference now to
FIG. 1
of the drawings, there is illustrated a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), such as cellular network
10
, which in turn is composed of a plurality of areas
12
, each with a Mobile Services Center (MSC)
14
and an integrated Visitor Location Register (VLR)
16
therein. The MSC/VLR areas
12
, in turn, include a plurality of Location Areas (LA)
18
, which are defined as that part of a given MSC/VLR area
12
in which a mobile station (MS)
20
may move freely without having to send update location information to the MSC/VLR area
12
that controls the LA
18
. Each Location Area
12
is divided into a number of cells
22
. Mobile Station (MS)
20
is the physical equipment, e.g. a car phone or other portable phone, used by mobile subscribers to communicate with the cellular network
10
, each other, and users outside the subscribed network, both wireline and wireless. The MS also includes a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)
13
, which provides storage of subscriber related information, such as the International Mobile Subscriber Identification (IMSI)
15
, which uniquely identifies a subscriber.
The MSC
14
is in communication with at least one Base Station Controller (BSC)
23
, which, in turn, is in contact with at least one Base Transceiver Station (BTS)
24
. The BTS is the physical equipment that provides radio coverage to the geographical part of the cell
22
for which it is responsible. It should be understood that the BSC
23
may be connected to several base transceiver stations
24
, and may be implemented as a stand-alone node or integrated with the MSC
14
. In either event, the BSC
23
and BTS
24
components, as a whole, are generally referred to as a Base Station System (BSS)
25
.
With further reference to
FIG. 1
, the PLMN Service Area or Cellular network
10
includes a Home Location Register (HLR)
26
, which is a database maintaining all subscriber information, e.g. user profiles, current location information, IMSI number, and other administrative information. The HLR
26
may be co-located with a given MSC
14
, integrated with the MSC
14
, or alternatively can service multiple MSCs
14
, the latter of which is illustrated in FIG.
1
.
The VLR
16
is a database containing information about all of the MSs
20
currently located within the MSC/VLR area
12
. If a MS
20
roams into a new MSC/VLR area
123
, the VLR
16
connected to that MSC
14
will request data about that MS
20
from the HLR database
26
while simultaneously informing the HLR
26
about the current location of the MS
20
. Accordingly, if the user of the MS
20
then wants to make a call, the local VLR
16
will have the requisite identification information without having to re-interrogate the HLR
26
. In the aforedescribed manner, the VLR and HLR databases
16
and
26
, respectively, contain various subscriber information associated with a given MS
20
.
It should be understood that the aforementioned system
10
, illustrated in
FIG. 1
, is a terrestrially-based system. More recently, satellite-terrestrial systems have been deployed which supplement terrestrial systems to provide cellular telecommunications to a wider network of subscribers. One such satellite system, which will be implemented in the near future, is the ICO Global Communications network. Satellite systems have a distinct advantage over more traditional cellular networks in the ability to provide seamless interconnectivity between two geographically remote networks where landline interconnectivity is prohibitively expensive or physically impractical. Furthermore, the satellite network may provide complementary service to the PLMN subscriber by allowing the subscriber to receive cellular service even when the subscriber has roamed outside the geographic area covered by the subscriber's servicing PLMN.
Shown in
FIG. 2
is a representative satellite-terrestrial telecommunications network, generally designated by the reference numeral
205
, and hereinafter referred to as a ‘satellite-terrestrial network’, which includes a terrestrially-based network and a group or constellation of mid-range satellites
200
that, in a preferred embodiment, provide radio coverage throughout the world. In the satellite-terrestrial network
205
, as shown in
FIG. 2
of the Drawings, a system of such satellites
200
in orbits above the Earth's surface are used to provide communication between a number of Mobile Stations (MS)
210
and the satellite-terrestrial network
205
.
In an effort to provide seamless interconnectivity between the satellite-terrestrial network
205
and the terrestrial fixed and mobile network
10
, the satellite-terrestrial network
205
is equipped with Satellite Access Nodes (SANs)
215
which provide the primary interface between the satellites
200
with other terrestrial networks, e.g. public switched telephone network (PSTN) or public land mobile networks (PLMNs). As shown in
FIG. 2
, the SAN
215
itself includes a Radio Frequency Terminal (RFT) subsystem
230
, which provides the radio interface between the satellites
200
and the SAN
215
. Also included in the SAN
215
is a Satellite Base station Subsystem (SBS)
240
, which is analogous in function to a combination of the BTS
24
and BSC
23
for GSM-based systems, as described hereinabove with reference to FIG.
1
. The SBS
240
coordinates communications to and from the satellites
200
and the respective local systems servicing the area, e.g., other cellular systems coupled to the satellite-terrestrial network
205
and in communication therewith.
Within the satellite-terrestrial network
205
, functionality exists in the SBS
240
for evaluating a Service Area servicing the MS
210
, generally designated by the reference numeral
250
from which a given system access is being requested. Service Area
250
can, in turn, be mapped onto a specific country or state for the purpose of disabling ciphering or routing emergency calls, e.g., 911 calls to the nearest emergency center in order to meet regulatory requirements and for provisioning appropriate language sets.
With reference again to
FIG. 2
, a Terrestrial Network Manager (TNM)
280
within SAN
215
performs some of the functions of the BSC
23
of
FIG. 1
, as well as additional functions unique to satellite based systems, e.g. multi-SAN paging and routing of registration messages to a pertinent MSC/VLR, generally designated by the reference numeral
290
. In addition, the TNM
280
consults a database
260
, which includes a set of tables, to decide which Channel Managers, contained within the particular SBS
240
, to utilize, and which satellite beams should be used for the paging. Thus, SAN
215
provides the primary interface between a network of satellit

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