Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Zoned or cellular telephone system
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-01
2004-01-13
Vuong, Quochien (Department: 2685)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Zoned or cellular telephone system
C455S430000, C455S013100, C455S436000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06678520
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods of designing, operating and maintaining satellite communication systems and in particular to a system and method for mitigating communications interference between satellite communications systems in different orbits.
2. Description of the Related Art
The need for worldwide communications communication is growing rapidly. This growth is propelled by the convergence of the telecommunications and computer industries, the rapid expansion of wireless technologies and the ever-expanding use of the Internet, which has made significant inroads into everyday life. The growth of small offices and home offices, the emergence of a mobile work force, and the development of multimedia applications have also contributed to the rapid growth of data related communications.
The emerging market for Internet/Intranet/Extranet connections requires a satellite system capable of providing short-delay, global-coverage, and high-bandwidth communication. The rapidly growing demand for Internet connections which require broadband data communication, known as access services (AS).
Internet service providers (ISPs) and related telecommunications providers are currently enhancing existing technologies and creating new infrastructures to support Internet services. Web access, electronic commerce, and remote access will soon be services available to everyone. Online data applications are rapidly going beyond basic email and file transfer functionality to encompass services such as videoconferencing, interactive multimedia collaborations and multicasting.
As Internet and multimedia applications increasingly drive the rapid growth of internetworking service markets, end-users of these services require that service providers transmit and process more data more rapidly.
Online user growth is skyrocketing as users discover the World Wide Web as a superior technology platform for delivering news, information, correspondence and entertainment. By the year 2000, the number of Internet users is expected to reach close to 300 million worldwide with more than four million business sites established on the Internet. Over 580 million computers in use by the year 2000, and total global IP services revenues are forecast to top $16 billion by 2002. Further, total online U.S. households are forecasted to reach 35 million by the year 2000.
Also fueling the demand for more bandwidth is e-commerce, which is growing at a remarkable rate. Increasingly, businesses realize that creating a business presence on the Internet allows them to reach more people economically. Consumers have embraced e-commerce due to its convenience and timesaving nature. As a result, e-commerce is expected to grow to $400 billion by the year 2002, accounting for approximately 8% of all retail purchases worldwide.
These millions of online transactions will require immediate connectivity solutions, especially in areas of the world where little or no Internet infrastructure is available creating a comprehensive terrestrial infrastructure will be too costly and time consuming. Moreover, intelligent agents that can facilitate user tasks (such as price comparisons) will further increase bandwidth needs.
Another development fueling the demand for bandwidth is Internet telephony service, a nascent market poised for dramatic growth. It has been forecasted that by 1999, Internet phone service worldwide will grow from virtually nothing to a $560 million business and, by 2001, packet-switched networks will account for about one percent of global long distance traffic—about 12.5 billion minutes worth.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that there is a need for a system providing high bandwidth data communication services. This need can be met with conventional terrestrial data communication systems; however, such systems are difficult and expensive to implement. The need can also be met with satellite systems in geosynchronous or geostationary (GSO) orbits, but the number of orbital slots is limited, and it is difficult devise earth stations of a reasonable power level and complexity that can communicate with such satellites.
There is therefore a need for a non-geostationary system NGSO provides high bandwidth communications. At the same time, communications with the NGSO system must not interfere with existing or future GSO systems. The present invention satisfies that need with a system constellation that meets a significant part of the enormous demand for bandwidth for global network interconnectivity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To address the requirements described above, the present invention discloses a satellite communications system architecture providing high bandwidth service to a variety of widely-dispersed customers.
One aspect of the present invention is described in a satellite system deployed in a LEO, MEO, or combined LEO/MEO constellation, using narrow communication antenna beamwidths and intelligent handovers to mitigate interference with other satellites deployed in space. The satellite system provides a wide variety of two-way, broadband services to both business and residential customers.
The satellite system includes a plurality of satellites, for example, a constellation of seventy satellites and preferably includes radio communication links, intersatellite links, and telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) links. Through the use of spot beam and dual polarization technologies, each satellite can reuse the communication spectrum up to 30 times.
The present invention also uses spectrum sharing to avoid causing harmful interference with spacecraft in geostationary or geosynchronous (collectively referred to hereinafter as GSO) orbits. The satellite system provides broadband communications services to a wide range of users both in the United States and throughout the world and can efficiently use the Ku-band and enhance the capabilities of existing GSO satellite systems. The satellite system meets the needs of the emerging market of Internet/Intranet/Extranet connection by providing short delay, global coverage, and high bandwidth communication through a spectrum sharing-oriented system design, simple payload architecture, and small user terminals.
The satellite system meets a broad range of communications needs through services at various data rates, including data rates that range from 512 KBPS up to 10 MBPS. The satellite system further provides fast network connections for interactive broadband services to a wide range of customers, especially the personal or the small-office-home-office (SOHO) users. The satellite system implements an Internet-access service to serve the rapidly growing demand for Internet connections. An Intranet-access service also provides broadband connections from remote business sites to the center of a corporate wide area network (WAN). Finally, the present invention also provides an Extranet access service to extend the Intranet connection to remote locations for multi-national corporations especially for those business site in remote/rural areas and in developing countries.
The satellite system constellation design provides global coverage while fully protecting GSO satellite systems from unwanted interference. The system design allows resources to be focused on high demand areas, such as the continental United States (CONUS) and Europe, while providing significant service to lower-demand areas.
With its global coverage over under-served parts of the globe, the present system enables people everywhere access to the advantages of e-commerce. The satellite system's low latency will facilitate access to interactive Internet protocol (IP) communication and voice services.
The satellite communication system can provide communications capabilities that advances the National Information Infrastructure (NII) and Global Information Infrastructure (GII) by increasing the amount and variety of high-data-rate broadband interactive services throughout the world; multi-rate, multi-functional telecommunications services in
Duraiswamy V. D.
Hughes Electronics Corporation
Sales M. W.
Vuong Quochien
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