Multibeam coverage for a high altitude platform
AssigneeHughes Network Systems, LLC
InventorsAnthony Robert Noerpel, Stanley Edward Kay
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Multibeam coverage for a high altitude platform is disclosed. An example apparatus includes a plurality of antennas configured to provide communication coverage among a plurality of terminals within a specified area on the ground, each antenna being configured to communicate with a specified cell within the specified area. The antennas of the example apparatus have differently sized apertures to maintain a similar surface spectral density among the cells within the specified area.
Claims30
A telecommunications platform apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of antennas configured to provide communication coverage among a plurality of terminals within a specified area on the ground, each antenna being configured to communicate with a specified cell within the specified area,
- wherein the antennas have differently sized apertures to maintain a similar surface spectral density among the cells within the specified area.
A method to provision a telecommunications apparatus comprising:
- determining an altitude range at which the telecommunications apparatus will operate;
- determining a minimum elevation angle from the ground to the telecommunications apparatus;
- determining a coverage area of the telecommunications apparatus based on the altitude range and the minimum elevation angle;
- partitioning the coverage area into substantially equal-sized cells;
- assigning an antenna to each of the cells;
- determining a beamwidth and an elevation angle for each antenna to provide communication coverage to the corresponding cell;
- and
- determining an aperture for each of the antennas based on the beamwidth and the elevation angle to provide the substantially equal-sized cells.
A method to provision a telecommunications apparatus comprising:
- determining an altitude range at which the telecommunications apparatus will operate;
- determining a minimum elevation angle from the ground to the telecommunications apparatus;
- determining a coverage area of the telecommunications apparatus based on the altitude range and the minimum elevation angle;
- partitioning an outer portion of the coverage area into a first subset of substantially equal-sized cells each having a first radius;
- partitioning an inner portion of the coverage area into a second subset of substantially equal-sized cells each having a second radius that is smaller than the first radius;
- assigning an antenna to each of the cells;
- determining a beamwidth and an elevation angle for each antenna to provide communication coverage to the corresponding cell based on the antenna corresponding to a cell with the first radius or the second radius;
- and
- determining an aperture for each of the antennas based on the beamwidth and the elevation angle such that the cells of the inner portion and the cells of the outer portion have the same surface spectral density.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.