Aircraft wireless communication system
AssigneeEmbarq Holdings Company, LLC
InventorsKelsyn D.S. Rooks, Jeffrey Sweeney
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments of the disclosed invention include an apparatus, method, and computer program product for providing wireless service to devices located onboard an aircraft. For example, in one embodiment, a wireless base station is utilized onboard an aircraft for providing non-roaming cellular services to cellular devices onboard the aircraft. In addition, in some embodiments, the wireless base station may provide Internet access to Internet accessible devices located onboard the aircraft. Additionally, in some embodiments, the wireless base station is interfaced with an existing air-to-ground cellular transmission system of the aircraft.
Claims19
A wireless base station for providing wireless services to mobile devices located onboard an aircraft, the wireless base station comprising:
- one or more transceivers for sending and receiving cellular signals at a plurality of cellular frequencies corresponding to one or more service provider networks associated with a plurality of mobile devices located onboard the aircraft;
- a conversion unit for converting the cellular signals from the plurality of cellular frequencies corresponding to one or more service provider networks to one or more coded cellular signals that are not detectable by conventional ground-based cell sites, and
- an interface for communicatively coupling the wireless base station to a cellular transmission system of the aircraft for transmitting the one or more coded cellular signals to a terrestrial tower configured to communicate with the cellular transmission system of the aircraft for enabling cellular communication to the plurality of mobile devices onboard an aircraft.
The wireless base station of claim 4, further comprising:
- a multiplexer for combining the one or more coded cellular signals into a single signal.
A method for providing wireless service to devices located onboard an aircraft, the method comprising:
- establishing communication between a cellular device and a wireless base station located onboard the aircraft using a cellular frequency associated with a service provider cellular network associated with the cellular device;
- receiving, at the wireless base station, a cellular signal from the cellular device;
- converting the cellular signal to a coded cellular signal that is not detectable by conventional ground-based cell sites, and
- communicating the coded cellular signal to a cellular transmission system of the aircraft for transmitting the coded cellular signal to a terrestrial tower that is configured to communicate with the cellular transmission system of the aircraft for facilitating cellular communication to the cellular device.
A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code comprising instructions to:
- establish communication between a cellular device and a wireless base station located onboard the aircraft using a cellular frequency associated with a service provider cellular network associated with the cellular device;
- receive, at the wireless base station, a cellular signal from the cellular device;
- convert the cellular signal to a coded cellular signal that is not detectable by conventional ground-based cell sites, and
- communicate the coded cellular signal to a cellular transmission system of the aircraft for transmitting the coded cellular signal to a terrestrial tower that is configured to communicate with the cellular transmission system of the aircraft for facilitating cellular communication to the cellular device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.