Relay-assisted high-capacity satellite feeder links with integrated line-of-sight mimo rf and optical channels via haps

A method for providing ground-to-satellite communications, the method comprising:

• deploying a high-altitude platform station (HAPS) comprising:
• a multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) radio frequency (RF) transceiver station comprising a plurality of HAPS RF antennas spaced apart by a HAPS antenna spacing distance and configured to communicate with an RF gateway via a line-of-sight (LoS) MIMO RF link;
• and
• an optical transceiver station configured to establish a free-space optical (FSO) link with a satellite,
• wherein each of the LoS MIMO RF link and the FSO link is a respective sub-link of a hybrid RF/LSO communication link between the RF gateway and the satellite;
• and
• establishing a relay-assisted ground-satellite communication link between the RF gateway and the satellite via the HAPS.

A method for providing ground-to-satellite communications via a high-altitude platform station (HAPS), the HAPS comprising a multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) radio frequency (RF) transceiver station comprising a plurality of HAPS RF antennas spaced apart by a HAPS antenna spacing distance and configured to communicate with a RF gateway via a line-of-sight (LoS) MIMO RF link, and the HAPS comprising an optical transceiver station configured to establish a free-space optical (FSO) link with a satellite, the method comprising:

• receiving, by the MIMO RF transceiver station of the HAPS, a feeder uplink signal transmitted by the RF gateway as a MIMO RF uplink signal via the LoS MIMO RF link;
• converting, by the HAPS, the feeder uplink signal from the MIMO RF uplink signal to an FSO uplink signal;
• and
• transmitting, by the optical transceiver station of the HAPS, the feeder uplink signal as the FSO uplink signal to the satellite via the FSO link.