SATELLITE COMMUNICATION WITH MODULARIZED MOBILE EARTH STATIONS (MESs)
AssigneeViaSat, Inc.
InventorsJordan M. Corey, Jimmy Tran
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A communication system includes a plurality of MESs arranged at different locations and operating as a unit to communicate with one or more satellites. One of the MESs is configured in a leader mode and each remaining MES of the MESs is configured in a follower mode based on a result of an auto-negotiation. In the leader mode, the one MES manages combining/dividing of satellite-related signals communicated between the one MES and each of the remaining MESs.
Claims25
A communication system comprising:
- a plurality of mobile earth stations (MESs), MESs, each including an antenna for direct communication with a satellite, the plurality of MESs being arranged at different locations and operating as a unit to communicate with one or more satellites,
- wherein one MES of the plurality of MESs is configured in a leader mode and each remaining MES of the MESs is configured in a follower mode based on a result of an auto-negotiation, wherein in the leader mode the one MES manages coherent combining/dividing of satellite-related signals communicated between the one MES and each of the remaining MESs.
A first mobile earth station (MES), among a plurality of MESs each including an antenna for direct communication with a satellite, the plurality of MESs being arranged at different locations and operational as a unit to communicate with one or more satellites, the first MES comprising:
- an antenna for transmitting an uplink signal and/or receiving a downlink signal from the one or more satellites;
- a transceiver front end coupled to the antenna;
- a modem for transmitting and/or receiving data signals to/from external end user equipment;
- memory;
- and
- a controller, coupled to the transceiver front end and the modem, operative to execute instructions read from the memory to:
- auto-negotiate with remaining MESs of the plurality of MESs to determine which one of the MESs should operate in a leader mode;
- configure the first MES in the leader mode and each of the remaining MESs in a follower mode based on a result of the auto-negotiation;
- and
- manage, when the first MES is configured in the leader mode, coherent combining/dividing of satellite-related signals communicated between the first MES and each of the remaining MESs.
25-54. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.