Air to ground network for broadband access to aerial platforms
OwnerAhmad Jalaliinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A terrestrial communications network for providing broadband internet access to aerial platforms is described. In some embodiments, the cell site sector communications equipment comprises of at least two radio modules and two antenna apertures, the cell site transmits data to an aerial platform on only one antenna aperture, but receives from the aerial platform on all antenna apertures. In some embodiments, the cell site communications equipment divides each of the N data packet streams destined to N aerial platforms into multiple data packet sub-streams and sends each data packet sub-stream of an aerial platform on a different antenna aperture using a different frequency channel or antenna polarization, forming N beams from each antenna aperture, one beam toward each aerial platform.
Claims12
A system to provide broadband access to aerial platforms, comprising:
- a network of cell sites, each cell site composed of at least one sector, each sector equipped with a sector communications equipment comprising a processor, L cell site radio modules per sector and L antenna apertures per sector, wherein L is an integer greater than 1;
- each antenna aperture comprising a number of antenna elements and configured to form at least one steerable beam per sector;
- each cell site radio module transmits on only one antenna aperture and receives from all L antenna apertures;
- a plurality of aerial platforms that each comprise an aerial platform communications equipment comprising a radio sub-system and an antenna sub-system, the antenna sub-system comprising at least one antenna aperture forming at least one steerable beam;
- and
- each sector communications equipment configured to:
- divide each of N, an integer, data packet streams destined to N different aerial platforms into L data packet sub-streams;
- use L cell site radio modules, one cell site radio module is dedicated to transmit on one antenna aperture;
- transmit each of the L data packet sub-streams destined to an aerial platform on a different antenna aperture;
- transmit all N data packet streams on all the antenna apertures in a sector;
- and
- transmit on a different and only one frequency channel or polarization on each antenna aperture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.