Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) beam pointing and data rate optimization for high throughput broadband access

A method of forming antenna beams toward at least one target coverage cell, comprising:

• scheduling a first plurality of broad beam transmissions covering a first area during at least a first time slot of a plurality of time slots;
• scheduling a second plurality of focused beam transmissions covering a smaller area within the first area during at least a second time slot of the plurality of time slots;
• for each time slot of the plurality of time slots:
• generating at least one beam that covers the at least one target coverage cell;
• wherein the at least one beam encompasses at least one ground terminal of a set of ground terminals within the at least one target coverage cell that is configured to modify a downlink signal with a gain and a phase adjustment to form a received beam based at least in part on the modified downlink signal;
• and
• receiving an adjusted weighted uplink signal from the at least one ground terminal, the adjusted weighted uplink signal comprising an uplink signal that has been weighted by a second gain and a second phase adjustment corresponding to a gain and the phase adjustment for respective ones of a number of sub-apertures and adjusted by a third gain and a third phase adjustment to compensate for a hardware gain and a phase difference between a transmit and a receive path for each one of the number of sub-apertures.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) apparatus configured to form antenna beams toward at least one target coverage cell, comprising:

• an antenna system comprised of at least one antenna aperture configured to form at least one beam toward a location;
• the at least one antenna aperture configured to form a broad beam to cover a first area at one or more first data rates, and a focused beam covering a smaller area within the first area at one or more second data rates, the one or more second data rates being greater than the one or more first data rates;
• a radio transmitter configured to transmit at least a first signal to a set of ground terminals within the at least one target coverage cell;
• wherein the first transmitted signal encompasses at least one ground terminal of a set of ground terminals within the at least one target coverage cell that is configured to modify a downlink signal with a gain and a phase adjustment to form a received beam based at least in part on the modified downlink signal;
• a radio receiver configured to receive at least a second signal from a set of ground terminals within the at least one target coverage cell;
• wherein the second received signal comprises an adjusted weighted uplink signal from the at least one ground terminal, the adjusted weighted uplink signal comprising an uplink signal that has been weighted by a second gain and a second phase adjustment corresponding to a gain and the phase adjustment for respective ones of a number of sub-apertures and adjusted by a third gain and a third phase adjustment to compensate for a hardware gain and a phase difference between a transmit and a receive path for each one of the number of sub-apertures;
• wherein the transmission and reception of signals can be switched between the broad beam and the smaller focused beam;
• a processor sub-system, the processor sub-system configured to cause generation of the at least one beam that covers the at least one target coverage cell;
• and
• wherein the at least one beam encompasses at least one ground terminal of the set of ground terminals.