# US 11,876,597 B2 · Enhanced LDACS system combined with cellular telephone ground stations and associated methods

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- Number: US 11,876,597 B2
- Document ID: US11876597B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/367,323
- Filed: 2021-07-03
- Published: 2022-01-13
- Granted: 2024-01-16
- Earliest claimed: 2020-07-10
- Assignees: Skystream LLC
- Applicants: Skystream LLC
- Inventors: Shawn H. Gallagher; Eric J. Salyers; Timothy Huggins; Ivica Kostanic; Edward Paulsen; Daniel Schwinn
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11876597B2

## CPC

- H04B 7/18508: {with satellite system used as relay, i.e. aeronautical mobile satellite service}
- G01S 13/878: {Combination of several spaced transmitters or receivers of known location for determining the position of a transponder or a reflector (G01S13/874 takes precedence)}
- G08G 5/25: Transmission of traffic-related information between aircraft
- G08G 5/26: Transmission of traffic-related information between aircraft and ground stations
- G08G 5/53: for cruising
- G08G 5/55: for a single aircraft
- H04B 7/15542: {Selecting at relay station its transmit and receive resources (selection of wireless resources by user or terminal H04W72/02; arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path by two-dimensional division of the resources H04L5/0003, or by allocating sub-channels H04L5/003)}
- H04B 7/18502: {Airborne stations}
- H04B 7/18506: {Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service}
- H04B 7/18517: {Transmission equipment in earth stations}
- H04B 7/18519: {Operations control, administration or maintenance}
- H04B 7/18532: {Arrangements for managing transmission, i.e. for transporting data or a signalling message}
- H04B 7/18541: {for handover of resources}
- H04B 7/1855: {using a telephonic control signal, e.g. propagation delay variation, Doppler frequency variation, power variation, beam identification}
- H04B 7/18571: {for satellites; for fixed or mobile stations}
- H04B 7/18584: {Arrangements for data networking, i.e. for data packet routing, for congestion control (data switching networks H04L12/00)}
- H04B 7/18591: {Arrangements for interconnecting multiple systems (data switching networks H04L12/00)}
- H04W 4/44: for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
- H04W 8/02: Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks
- H04W 12/009: {specially adapted for networks, e.g. wireless sensor networks, ad-hoc networks, RFID networks or cloud networks}
- H04W 12/03: Protecting confidentiality, e.g. by encryption
- H04W 12/06: Authentication
- H04W 12/10: Integrity
- H04W 16/18: Network planning tools
- H04W 36/0055: {Transmission or use of information for re-establishing the radio link}
- H04W 36/08: Reselecting an access point
- H04W 36/083: {wherein at least one of the access points is a moving node}
- H04W 40/24: Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update
- H04W 72/0453: Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
- H04W 72/56: based on priority criteria
- H04W 80/02: Data link layer protocols
- G08G 5/57: for unmanned aircraft
- H04W 84/06: Airborne or Satellite Networks (space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185)
- H04W 84/18: Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
- H04B: TRANSMISSION
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
- G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93})
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

An enhanced L-band Digital Aeronautical Communications System (LDACS) may include cellular telephone ground stations, and LDACS ground stations. In addition, the enhanced LDACS may also include a plurality of LDACS airborne stations, each configured to selectively communicate with either a corresponding LDACS ground station or a corresponding cellular telephone ground station based upon an altitude of the LDACS airborne station.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An enhanced L-band Digital Aeronautical Communications System (LDACS) comprising:
a plurality of cellular telephone ground stations;
a plurality of LDACS ground stations operable at different frequencies than the plurality of cellular telephone ground stations; and
a plurality of LDACS airborne stations, each configured to selectively communicate directly with either a corresponding LDACS ground station or a corresponding cellular telephone ground station based upon an altitude of the LDACS airborne station.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The enhanced LDACS of claim 1, wherein each LDACS airborne station comprises:
a cellular telephone transceiver;
an LDACS transceiver; and
a controller to switch between the cellular telephone transceiver and the LDACS transceiver.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The enhanced LDACS of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to switch using a make-before-break handover.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The enhanced LDACS of claim 2, wherein the cellular telephone transceiver comprises an LTE transceiver.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The enhanced LDACS of claim 2, wherein each LDACS airborne station comprises a satellite transceiver; and wherein the controller is configured to switch to the satellite transceiver instead of the cellular telephone transceiver when coverage with the corresponding cellular telephone ground station is unavailable.

### Claim 6 (depends on 2)

The enhanced LDACS of claim 2, comprising an altitude sensor coupled to the controller.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The enhanced LDACS of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of LDACS ground stations comprises:
a ground antenna;
a ground radio frequency (RF) transceiver coupled to the ground antenna; and
a ground controller coupled to the ground RF transceiver.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The enhanced LDACS of claim 1, wherein each LDACS airborne station comprises a first antenna coupled to the cellular telephone transceiver; and a second antenna coupled to the LDACS transceiver.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The enhanced LDACS of claim 1, wherein the plurality of LDACS ground stations and LDACS airborne stations are configured to operate within at least one 500 kHz channel in a frequency range of between 964-1156 MHz.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The enhanced LDACS of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of LDACS airborne stations comprises an unmanned airborne station.

### Claim 11

An enhanced L-band Digital Aeronautical Communications System (LDACS) airborne station comprising:
a cellular telephone transceiver configured to communicate directly with a given one of a plurality of cellular telephone ground stations;
an LDACS transceiver configured to communicate directly with a given one of a plurality of LDACS ground stations, the LDACS transceiver configured to operate over different frequencies than the cellular telephone transceiver; and
a controller configured to switch between the cellular telephone transceiver and the LDACS transceiver based upon an altitude of the LDACS airborne station.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The enhanced LDACS airborne station of claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to switch using a make-before-break handover.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The enhanced LDACS airborne station of claim 11, wherein the cellular telephone transceiver comprises an LTE transceiver.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The enhanced LDACS airborne station of claim 11, comprising a satellite transceiver; and wherein the controller is configured to switch to the satellite transceiver instead of the cellular telephone transceiver when cellular coverage with a corresponding cellular telephone ground station is unavailable.

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

The enhanced LDACS airborne station of claim 11, comprising an altitude sensor coupled to the controller.

### Claim 16 (depends on 11)

The enhanced LDACS airborne station of claim 11, comprising:
a first antenna coupled to the cellular telephone transceiver; and
a second antenna coupled to the LDACS transceiver.

### Claim 17 (depends on 11)

The enhanced LDACS airborne station of claim 11, wherein the LDACS transceiver is configured to operate within at least one 500 kHz channel in a frequency range of between 964-1156 MHz.

### Claim 18

A method of operating an enhanced L-band Digital Aeronautical Communications System (LDACS) comprising a plurality of cellular telephone ground stations, a plurality of LDACS ground stations operable over different frequencies than the plurality of cellular telephone ground stations, and a plurality of LDACS airborne stations, the method comprising:
operating an LDACS airborne station to selectively communicate directly with either a corresponding LDACS ground station or a corresponding cellular telephone ground station based upon an altitude of the LDACS airborne station.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, comprising switching using a make-before-break handover.

### Claim 20 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, wherein communicating with the cellular telephone ground station comprises communicating using an LTE transceiver.

### Claim 21 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, comprising switching to a satellite transceiver when coverage with the corresponding cellular telephone ground station is unavailable.

### Claim 22 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, comprising sensing the altitude of the LDACS airborne station using an altitude sensor of the LDACS airborne station.