Method and apparatus of using satellites to augment traffic capacity of a wireless network infrastructure

An apparatus for providing digital data to a data reception device, comprising:

• a wireless communication network comprising a plurality of terrestrial receivers and terrestrial transmitters for transmitting information to the data reception device, each serving a service region;
• means for receiving a portion of the digital data in a satellite receiver in a satellite communication system;
• means for providing the received portion of the digital data to at least one of the terrestrial transmitters for transmission to the user;
• and
• means for transmitting the received portion of the digital data to the data reception device within the service region using the terrestrial transmitter while transmitting a remainder of the digital data via the wireless communication network;
• means for determining if a transmission requirement of the digital data exceed a capacity of the wireless communication network;
• and
• means for providing the portion of the digital data to at least one of the terrestrial transmitters only if the transmission requirements of the digital data exceed the capacity of the wireless communication network.

An apparatus for providing digital data to a user, comprising:

• a wireless communication network transmitting digital data to a data reception device, the wireless communication network comprising a plurality of terrestrial receivers and terrestrial transmitters for transmitting the digital data to the data reception device, each serving a service region,
• a satellite antenna, for receiving a signal from a satellite, the signal including a portion of the digital data;
• and
• a satellite receiver communicatively coupled to the satellite antenna for detecting and demodulating the signal to produce the portion of the digital data, the satellite receiver communicatively coupled to the terrestrial transmitter, while the wireless communication network transmits a remainder of the digital data to the user;
• and
• a processor for determining if a transmission requirement of the digital data exceed a capacity of the wireless communication network;
• wherein the portion of the digital data is provided to at least one of the terrestrial transmitters only if the transmission requirements of the digital data exceed the rapacity of the wireless communication network.