Communication resource scheduling method and system of low earth orbit satellite

Abstract

The invention provides a communication resource scheduling method and system for a low-orbit satellite, and the method comprises the steps: transmitting a spot beam to a target region by the low-orbit satellite through a directional antenna, and starting to provide communication services for all target terminals in the coverage range of the spot beam; when the preset switching period is ended, the satellite resource control center determines a new low earth orbit satellite taking over the target area according to the real-time motion information of the low earth orbit satellite; controlling the new low-orbit satellite to adjust the pointing angle of the directional antenna so as to enable the spot beam emitted by the new low-orbit satellite to cover the target area; meanwhile, beam switching instructions are generated and sent to all target terminals in batches; and all the target terminals execute a beam switching action so as to continuously provide communication services for all the target terminals through the spot beams emitted by the new low-orbit satellites. According to the invention, unified beam switching of all user terminals in the target area is realized, the situation of high concurrency of switching instructions of a satellite resource control center when the number of users is large is avoided, and the communication response speed of the users is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of satellite communication, and particularly relates to a communication resource scheduling method and system for low-earth orbit satellites. Background Art

[0002] A low-earth orbit satellite system refers to a mobile satellite communication system that consists of satellites operating at an orbital altitude of approximately 500 - 2000 kilometers above the Earth's surface as the space segment, satellite monitoring and control centers, gateway stations, etc. on the ground as the ground segment, and fixed or handheld satellite terminal devices as the user segment. Compared with high-orbit satellite systems such as geostationary orbit satellites, the coverage area of low-earth orbit satellites is smaller, and multiple satellites need to orbit the Earth to provide seamless satellite mobile communication services such as voice, short messages, faxes, and data to users globally. Low-earth orbit satellites can transmit multiple narrow beams to the ground through multi-point beam directional antennas, and each point beam covers a specific ground area to provide communication for users within the beam coverage range.

[0003] Generally, multiple point beams need to be generated on one satellite, and the beam coverage area changes continuously as the low-earth orbit satellite moves at high speed. Since the moving speed of low-earth orbit satellites is about 7500 m / s, the coverage duration of each point beam in a specific ground area is only a few minutes. To ensure that the terminals in the user segment can access the system normally and communicate stably, when a point beam is about to stop covering this area, the terminal needs to send a beam handover request message. The satellite resource control center on the ground segment allocates the point beam resource information that will cover this area to the terminal according to the real-time moving position of the satellite. After the terminal successfully accesses the new point beam, it continues to communicate and performs a beam handover every few minutes until the communication ends. As Figure 1 shown, it is a schematic diagram of the beam coverage of a low-earth orbit satellite in the prior art. The terminal first accesses the system and communicates on the beam resources of Satellite 1. As the satellite moves, Beam 3 of Satellite 1 will gradually stop providing services for this area. After the terminal receives the information of Beam 7 of Satellite 2, it will initiate a handover request within Beam 3 of Satellite 1 and request to switch to the resources of Beam 7 of Satellite 2 to continue communicating.

[0004] However, since the positions of different terminal users within the same beam coverage area are different, when performing beam or satellite handovers, terminals at different positions need to send handover requests respectively, and the satellite resource control center will also respond to each handover request message in real time and allocate new beam resource information. In the case of a large system traffic volume, the satellite resource control center will be in a state of long-term high load and high concurrency. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To this end, the present invention provides a communication resource scheduling method and system for low-earth orbit satellites, aiming to solve the technical problem in the prior art that when a satellite resource control center performs beam or satellite handover for a terminal, there is a large traffic volume and high load, thus affecting the communication response speed.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions: According to the first aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a communication resource scheduling method for low-earth orbit satellites, and the method includes: Step S1: A first low-earth orbit satellite emits a first spot beam for a target area through a directional antenna, and starts to provide communication services for all target terminals within the coverage range of the first spot beam; Step S2: When the preset handover period ends, the satellite resource control center determines a second low-earth orbit satellite that takes over the target area according to the real-time motion information of the first low-earth orbit satellite; Step S3: The satellite resource control center controls the second low-earth orbit satellite to adjust the pointing angle of the directional antenna so that the second spot beam emitted by the second low-earth orbit satellite covers the target area; and, the satellite resource control center generates a beam handover instruction carrying the resource information of the second spot beam, and batches and sends the beam handover instruction to all the target terminals; Step S4: All the target terminals execute a beam handover action in response to the beam handover instruction, so as to continue to provide communication services for all the target terminals through the second spot beam, and use the second low-earth orbit satellite as the new first low-earth orbit satellite, and repeat steps S1 to S4.

[0007] Further, step S1 further includes: After the target terminal is powered on, it executes a beam search operation and accesses the first spot beam covering the target area where the target terminal is located, so as to provide communication services for the target terminal through the first spot beam.

[0008] Further, the batch sending of the beam handover instruction to all the target terminals includes: The satellite resource control center sends a beam handover instruction to the target terminal through the first spot beam that is communicating with the target terminal, so as to instruct the target terminal to establish communication through the second spot beam.

[0009] Further, the method further includes: The satellite resource control center obtains the real-time motion information of at least one low-earth orbit satellite through a gateway station, calculates the spot beam parameters that each low-earth orbit satellite needs to emit based on the real-time motion information, and at the end of each preset handover period, sends a resource configuration instruction carrying the spot beam parameters to the gateway station; The gateway station receives the resource configuration instruction from the satellite resource control center and sends the resource configuration instruction to the corresponding low-earth orbit satellite; Among them, the real-time motion information includes at least one of the current position, beam pointing, motion direction, and motion trajectory; The spot beam parameters include at least one of the number of spot beams, spot beam pointing, and spot beam frequency.

[0010] Furthermore, the method further includes: Each of the low-earth orbit satellites receives the resource configuration instruction from the gateway station and adjusts the transmitted spot beam parameters based on the resource configuration instruction, so that the spot beams transmitted by each of the low-earth orbit satellites cover different regions on the ground, and user terminals can all access the satellite network.

[0011] Furthermore, the method further includes: After the user terminal accesses the satellite network, it receives the beam signaling information covering the current area and obtains the allocated communication resources, and sends the uplink user data to the low-earth orbit satellite that takes over the current area; The low-earth orbit satellite forwards the uplink user data to the ground communication network through the inter-satellite link and the gateway station, so that the downlink user terminal can respond.

[0012] Furthermore, the method further includes: Each of the low-earth orbit satellites sends traffic load data to the gateway station; The gateway station receives the traffic load data and feeds back the traffic load data to the satellite resource control center; The satellite resource control center optimizes the resource configuration parameters according to the real-time traffic load data; Among them, the traffic load data includes at least one of communication data, network links, and the number of users.

[0013] According to the second aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a communication resource scheduling system for low-earth orbit satellites, and the system includes: a satellite resource control center, a gateway station communicatively connected to the satellite resource control center, a plurality of low-earth orbit satellites wirelessly connected to the gateway station, and user terminals; The user terminal is used to perform a beam search operation after power-on and access the spot beam covering the target area of the user terminal to access the satellite network; The low-earth orbit satellite is used to transmit a spot beam for the target area through a directional antenna and provide communication services for all user terminals within the coverage range of the spot beam; The satellite resource control center is used to determine a new low-earth orbit satellite to take over the target area according to the real-time motion information of the low-earth orbit satellite whenever the preset switching period ends when the low-earth orbit satellite starts to provide communication services for all user terminals within the coverage area of the spot beam; control the new low-earth orbit satellite to adjust the pointing angle of the directional antenna so that the spot beam emitted by the new low-earth orbit satellite covers the target area; and generate a beam switching instruction for instructing the user terminal to establish communication with the spot beam emitted by the new low-earth orbit satellite, and batch send the beam switching instruction to all user terminals within the target area through the spot beam that is communicating with the user terminal, so as to instruct the user terminal to establish communication through the spot beam emitted by the new low-earth orbit satellite; The user terminal is further used to execute a beam switching action in response to the beam switching instruction, so as to access the satellite network through the spot beam emitted by the new low-earth orbit satellite and continue to use the communication service.

[0014] Furthermore, the satellite resource control center is further used to obtain the real-time motion information of each low-earth orbit satellite, calculate the spot beam parameters that each low-earth orbit satellite needs to emit based on the real-time motion information, and at the end of each preset switching period, send a resource configuration instruction carrying the spot beam parameters to the gateway station; The gateway station is further used to receive the resource configuration instruction from the satellite resource control center and send the resource configuration instruction to the corresponding low-earth orbit satellite; Each low-earth orbit satellite is further used to receive the resource configuration instruction from the gateway station and adjust the spot beam parameters emitted based on the resource configuration instruction, so that the spot beams emitted by each low-earth orbit satellite cover different areas on the ground and all user terminals can access the satellite network; Wherein, the real-time motion information includes at least one of the current position, beam pointing, motion direction, and motion trajectory; The spot beam parameters include at least one of the number of spot beams, spot beam pointing, and spot beam frequency.

[0015] Furthermore, each low-earth orbit satellite is further used to send traffic load data to the gateway station; The gateway station is further used to receive the traffic load data and feedback the traffic load data to the satellite resource control center; The satellite resource control center is further used to optimize the resource configuration parameters according to the real-time traffic load data; Wherein, the traffic load data includes at least one of communication data, network links, and the number of users.

[0016] The present invention adopts the above technical solutions and at least has the following beneficial effects: Through the solution of the present invention, a communication resource scheduling method for low-earth orbit satellites is proposed, including step S1: The first low-earth orbit satellite transmits a first spot beam for a target area through a directional antenna, and starts to provide communication services for all target terminals within the coverage range of the first spot beam; step S2: When the preset handover period ends, the satellite resource control center determines a second low-earth orbit satellite to take over the target area according to the real-time motion information of the first low-earth orbit satellite; step S3: The satellite resource control center controls the second low-earth orbit satellite to adjust the pointing angle of the directional antenna so that the second spot beam emitted by the second low-earth orbit satellite covers the target area; and, the satellite resource control center generates a beam handover instruction carrying the resource information of the second spot beam and batches and sends the beam handover instruction to all the target terminals; step S4: All the target terminals execute a beam handover action in response to the beam handover instruction to continue to provide communication services for all the target terminals through the second spot beam, and use the second low-earth orbit satellite as the new first low-earth orbit satellite, and repeat steps S1 to S4. Thus, a unified resource scheduling mechanism for low-earth orbit satellite communication beam handover is proposed, realizing unified beam handover for all communication terminals in a certain area, avoiding the situation of high concurrency of handover instructions in the satellite resource control center when the user volume is large, and improving the user communication response speed.

[0017] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are only exemplary and explanatory, and cannot limit the present invention. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the following drawings are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings.

[0019] Figure 1 Shows a brief schematic diagram of low-earth orbit satellite beam coverage in the prior art; Figure 2 Shows a flowchart of a communication resource scheduling method for low-earth orbit satellites provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 Shows a brief schematic diagram of low-earth orbit satellite beam coverage provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 Shows a flowchart of a communication resource scheduling method for low-earth orbit satellites provided by another embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 Shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication resource scheduling system for low-earth orbit satellites provided by an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed implementation manners

[0020] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms and should not be limited by the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure can be more thoroughly understood and the scope of the present disclosure can be completely conveyed to those skilled in the art.

[0021] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the term "comprising", "including" or any other variant thereof is intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not expressly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, the elements defined by the statement "including..." do not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the said elements.

[0022] An embodiment of the present invention provides a communication resource scheduling method for a low-earth orbit satellite, as Figure 2 shown, which may at least include the following steps S201 to S204: Step S201, the first low-earth orbit satellite transmits a first spot beam for a target area through a directional antenna, and starts to provide communication services for all target terminals within the coverage range of the first spot beam.

[0023] The target area in the embodiment of the present invention is a specific area divided on the ground. For multiple fixed areas on the ground, corresponding spot beams are covered to ensure that user terminals located in different areas on the ground can normally access the low-earth orbit satellite system.

[0024] The target terminal refers to a user terminal located in the target area. After the target terminal is powered on, it can perform a beam search operation, attempt to access the first spot beam covering the target area where the target terminal is located, and establish a connection with the low-earth orbit satellite system to provide communication services for the target terminal through the first spot beam.

[0025] At the same time, the first low-earth orbit satellite transmits basic information such as resource configuration within the first spot beam through a directional antenna to provide communication services for user terminals in the target area. As Figure 3 shown, it is a schematic diagram of low-earth orbit satellite beam coverage, Figure 3The low-earth orbit satellite 1 in provides communication services for cell 1 and cell 3 on the ground through beam 1 and beam 3. The low-earth orbit satellite 2 provides communication services for cell 4 on the ground through beam 2. At this time, the target terminal accesses the low-earth orbit satellite system through beam 3 of the low-earth orbit satellite 1.

[0026] Step S202: When the preset handover period ends, the satellite resource control center determines a second low-earth orbit satellite to take over the target area according to the real-time motion information of the first low-earth orbit satellite.

[0027] When the first low-earth orbit satellite starts to provide services for the target area, the satellite resource control center simultaneously starts a beam handover timer. When the preset handover period arrives, it starts the beam handover process. At this time, the satellite resource control center, according to the real-time motion information of the satellite, instructs a new low-earth orbit satellite to continue to perform beam coverage for the target area and provide communication services. Among them, the real-time motion information may include the current position, beam pointing, motion direction, and motion trajectory, etc. It can be understood that in practical applications, in order to improve the beam handover efficiency, a second low-earth orbit satellite whose current position for beam coverage is the closest to the target area and whose running direction and trajectory point to the direction of the target area can be selected in addition to the first low-earth orbit satellite.

[0028] It should be noted that the preset handover period can be set based on the duration for which the low-earth orbit satellite can cover a specific area with its emitted beam, and is specifically affected by factors such as the moving speed of the low-earth orbit satellite, the size of the target area, and the emission range of the wave speed. In practical applications, the specific setting of the preset handover period can be determined according to requirements, and the embodiments of the present invention do not limit this.

[0029] Step S203: The satellite resource control center controls the second low-earth orbit satellite to adjust the pointing angle of the directional antenna so that the second spot beam emitted by the second low-earth orbit satellite covers the target area; and the satellite resource control center generates a beam handover instruction carrying the resource information of the second spot beam and batches and sends the beam handover instruction to all target terminals.

[0030] Specifically, the satellite resource control center can send the beam handover instruction to all target terminals in the target area through the first spot beam that is communicating with the target terminal to instruct the target terminal to perform a batch of beam handover operations. At the same time, the second low-earth orbit satellite adjusts the pointing angle of the directional antenna according to the resource configuration instruction of the satellite resource control center so that the second spot beam it emits covers the target area.

[0031] Step S204: All target terminals respond to the beam handover instruction to perform beam handover actions to continue to provide communication services for all target terminals through the second spot beam, and use the second low-earth orbit satellite as the new first low-earth orbit satellite, and repeat steps S201 - S204.

[0032] During the process of the satellite resource control center sending beam switching instructions to all target terminals, the resource information of the second point beam that needs to re - establish a connection can be informed to the target terminals. Then, according to the received resource information parameters, the target terminals establish communication through the second point beam. After the second low - earth - orbit satellite takes over the target area, it conducts signaling interaction with all target terminals within the target area, enabling the target terminals to successfully access the low - earth - orbit satellite system within the coverage range of the second point beam and continue communication. As Figure 3 shown, after beam switching, the low - earth - orbit satellite 1 provides communication services for cell 1 and cell 2 on the ground through beam 1 and beam 2, and the low - earth - orbit satellite 2 provides communication services for cell 3 on the ground through beam 1. At this time, the target terminal accesses the low - earth - orbit satellite system through beam 1 of the low - earth - orbit satellite 2. Thus, batch beam switching of all target terminals within the target area is achieved, and the target terminals do not need to separately send beam switching requests to the satellite resource control center, greatly reducing the workload of the satellite resource control center.

[0033] When the second low - earth - orbit satellite starts to provide communication services to all target terminals within the target area, the satellite resource control center also starts to re - time. When the next preset switching period arrives, the next beam switching process is executed. That is to say, the second low - earth - orbit satellite can be used as the first low - earth - orbit satellite, and steps S201 - S204 are continued. By cycling in this way, regular beam switching operations can be achieved to ensure the stable communication of user terminals.

[0034] Furthermore, an embodiment of the present invention also provides a communication resource scheduling method for low - earth - orbit satellites from the perspective of the satellite resource control center as the main body. As Figure 4 shown, it can at least include the following steps S401 - S404: Step S401, the satellite resource control center obtains the real - time motion information of at least one low - earth - orbit satellite through the gateway station, calculates the point beam parameters that each low - earth - orbit satellite needs to transmit based on the real - time motion information, and at the end of each preset switching period, sends a resource configuration instruction carrying the point beam parameters to the gateway station.

[0035] In practical applications, the satellite resource control center needs to monitor the real-time motion states of multiple low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites and perform beam switching simultaneously. The gateway stations at different ground locations can interact with the satellite resource control center through wired connections. The real-time motion information of the LEO satellites can be first sent to the gateway stations and then forwarded by the gateway stations to the satellite resource control center. Among them, the real-time motion information can include the current position, beam pointing, motion direction, and motion trajectory of the LEO satellites. The satellite resource control center calculates the spot beam parameters to be emitted by different LEO satellites based on this real-time motion information, including the number of spot beams, spot beam pointing, spot beam frequency, etc., to achieve beam coverage of different regions on the ground and avoid the phenomenon of co-frequency interference between adjacent regions. Whenever the satellite resource control center completes real-time calculations, it sends a resource configuration instruction carrying the spot beam parameters to the gateway station, so that the gateway station can send the resource configuration instruction to the LEO satellite.

[0036] Step S402: The gateway station receives the resource configuration instruction from the satellite resource control center and sends the resource configuration instruction to the corresponding LEO satellite.

[0037] The gateway station is connected to the LEO satellite through a wireless communication method. Whenever the gateway station receives a resource configuration instruction from the satellite resource control center, it distributes the resource configuration instruction to the corresponding LEO satellite through wireless frequency resources.

[0038] Step S403: Each LEO satellite receives the resource configuration instruction from the gateway station and adjusts the spot beam parameters to be emitted based on the resource configuration instruction, so that the spot beams emitted by each LEO satellite cover different regions on the ground and user terminals can all access the satellite network.

[0039] Each LEO satellite adjusts the pointing of the directional antenna according to the received resource configuration instruction and generates spot beams with corresponding quantities and frequencies to cover different regions on the ground, so that user terminals can access the satellite network.

[0040] Step S404: After the user terminal accesses the satellite network, it receives the beam signaling information covering the current region and obtains the allocated communication resources, and sends uplink user data to the LEO satellite taking over the current region; the LEO satellite forwards the uplink user data to the ground communication network through the inter-satellite link and the gateway station, so that the downlink user terminal can respond.

[0041] After the user terminals in different regions access the satellite network through beam search, they receive the beam signaling information and obtain the allocated wireless resources, and send uplink user data to the LEO satellite. The LEO satellite can then forward the uplink user data to the ground network through the inter-satellite link and the gateway station. After the downlink user terminal receives the uplink user data, it performs a response to achieve satellite communication between the uplink user and the downlink user.

[0042] In the embodiments of the present invention, the satellite network adopts a unified preset handover period, and starts a beam handover timer when the spot beam begins to provide communication services for a certain area. When the preset handover period arrives, the resource configuration instruction regenerated by the satellite resource configuration center is sent to the gateway station, and the gateway station distributes it to the corresponding low-earth orbit satellites. Before the beam handover, the user terminals communicating in different areas will be notified that they will switch to new frequency resources, and the beam handover will be performed after the time of the beam handover timer arrives. The user terminals will also switch to the new spot beam according to the newly allocated frequency resource parameters and continue to communicate.

[0043] Furthermore, in the embodiments of the present invention, each low-earth orbit satellite can also send traffic load data to the gateway station; the gateway station receives the traffic load data and feeds it back to the satellite resource control center; the satellite resource control center can optimize the resource configuration parameters according to the real-time traffic load data.

[0044] Among them, the traffic load data includes communication data, network links, and the number of users, etc. That is to say, the gateway station calculates the link load of the satellite network, the traffic load data such as the number of users in different areas in real time according to the user data sent by each low-earth orbit satellite, and feeds it back to the satellite resource control center. The satellite resource control center then optimizes the resource configuration parameters according to the real-time traffic load data fed back by the gateway station. For example, when the number of users in a certain area is large or the data bandwidth is overloaded, multiple spot beams are allocated to cover the area at the same time, and the user carrying capacity of the cell is flexibly configured.

[0045] The embodiments of the present invention provide a communication resource scheduling method for low-earth orbit satellites, providing a flexible area coverage and beam handover mechanism for low-earth orbit satellites. Through the real-time control of the satellite resource control center and the directional antennas of low-earth orbit satellites, the real-time and unified scheduling of satellite network spot beam handover is realized. The beam handover using the unified scheduling of the low-earth orbit satellite system, that is, the mechanism in which the satellite instructs the terminals in the cell to perform beam handover, can further improve the user carrying capacity in the cell on the premise of ensuring communication continuity. Compared with the traditional fixed and nearby area coverage principle adopted by low-earth orbit satellites, the resources can be flexibly and real-timely configured according to the number of users in different areas. At the same time, during the communication process of satellite terminals, since the low-earth orbit satellites providing services for them are dynamically allocated, the anti-interference performance of low-earth orbit satellite communication is further improved, avoiding the interruption of communication in a certain coverage area due to a single satellite being maliciously interfered.

[0046] Furthermore, as Figure 2 or Figure 4 a specific implementation of, the embodiments of the present invention provide a communication resource scheduling system for low-earth orbit satellites, as Figure 5As shown in the figure, the system may include: a satellite resource control center 510, a gateway station 520 communicatively connected to the satellite resource control center 510, multiple low-earth orbit satellites 530 wirelessly connected to the gateway station 520, and a user terminal 540.

[0047] As Figure 5 shown in the figure, the satellite resource control center 510 and the gateway station 520 belong to ground segment equipment. The gateway station 520 is used to connect the ground network and the satellite network, execute the instructions of the satellite resource control center 510, and report data such as link quality and traffic load to the satellite resource control center 510, and negotiate with the satellite resource control center 510 to optimize the configuration strategy. The satellite resource control center 510 is responsible for the scheduling and monitoring of the resources of the low-earth orbit satellite system, and sends the corresponding configuration parameter instructions to the ground gateway station 520 through a ground wired network connection. The gateway station 520 sends them to the low-earth orbit satellite 530 through wireless link resources. The low-earth orbit satellite 530 emits a spot beam through a directional antenna to provide communication services for a ground area. The user terminal 540 receives the signal transmitted by the low-earth orbit satellite 530 and analyzes it to obtain the corresponding spot beam information, and sends the uplink user data to the low-earth orbit satellite 530 through the allocated wireless link resources, and forwards the uplink user data to the ground network through the inter-satellite link and the gateway station 520.

[0048] Specifically, the user terminal 540 can be used to perform a beam search operation after power-on and access the spot beam covering the target area of the user terminal 540 to access the satellite network; The low-earth orbit satellite 530 can be used to emit a spot beam for the target area through a directional antenna to provide communication services for all user terminals 540 within the coverage of the spot beam; The satellite resource control center 510 can be used to determine a new low-earth orbit satellite 530 that takes over the target area according to the real-time motion information of the low-earth orbit satellite 530 whenever the preset switching period for the low-earth orbit satellite 530 to start providing communication services for all user terminals 540 within the coverage of the spot beam ends; control the new low-earth orbit satellite 530 to adjust the pointing angle of the directional antenna so that the spot beam emitted by the new low-earth orbit satellite 530 covers the target area; and generate a beam switching instruction indicating that the user terminal 540 establishes communication with the spot beam emitted by the new low-earth orbit satellite 530, and batch sends the beam switching instruction to all user terminals 540 within the target area through the spot beam that is communicating with the user terminal 540 to instruct the user terminal 540 to establish communication through the spot beam emitted by the new low-earth orbit satellite 530; The user terminal 540 can also be used to perform a beam switching action in response to the beam switching instruction to access the satellite network through the spot beam emitted by the new low-earth orbit satellite 530 and continue to use the communication service.

[0049] Optionally, the satellite resource control center 510 can also be used to obtain the real-time motion information of each low-earth orbit satellite 530, calculate the point beam parameters that each low-earth orbit satellite 530 needs to transmit based on the real-time motion information, and at the end of each preset handover period, send a resource configuration instruction carrying the point beam parameters to the gateway station 520; The gateway station 520 can also be used to receive the resource configuration instruction from the satellite resource control center 510 and send the resource configuration instruction to the corresponding low-earth orbit satellite 530; Each low-earth orbit satellite 530 can also be used to receive the resource configuration instruction from the gateway station 520 and adjust the transmitted point beam parameters based on the resource configuration instruction, so that the point beams transmitted by each low-earth orbit satellite 530 cover different regions on the ground, and the user terminal 540 can access the satellite network; Among them, the real-time motion information includes at least one of the current position, beam pointing, motion direction, and motion trajectory; The point beam parameters include at least one of the number of point beams, point beam pointing, and point beam frequency.

[0050] Optionally, each low-earth orbit satellite is also used to send traffic load data to the gateway station; The gateway station 520 can also be used to receive the traffic load data and feedback the traffic load data to the satellite resource control center 510; The satellite resource control center 510 can also be used to optimize the resource configuration parameters according to the real-time traffic load data; Among them, the traffic load data includes at least one of communication data, network links, and the number of users.

[0051] It should be noted that for other corresponding descriptions of each functional module involved in the communication resource scheduling system of a low-earth orbit satellite provided in the embodiments of the present invention, reference can be made to Figure 2 or Figure 4 the corresponding description of the method shown, which will not be elaborated here.

[0052] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the specific working processes of the above-described system, device, module, and unit can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments. For the sake of brevity, they will not be elaborated here.

[0053] In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present invention can be physically independent, or two or more functional units can be integrated together, or all functional units can be integrated in a processing unit. The above-mentioned integrated functional units can be implemented in the form of hardware, or in the form of software or firmware.

[0054] Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that: when the integrated functional unit is implemented in the form of software and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, in essence, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computing device (such as a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present invention when the instructions are run. The foregoing storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), magnetic disks, or optical discs.

[0055] Alternatively, all or part of the steps of implementing the foregoing method embodiments can be completed by hardware related to program instructions (such as a computing device such as a personal computer, a server, or a network device), and the program instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When the program instructions are executed by a processor of the computing device, the computing device executes all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present invention.

[0056] Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that within the spirit and principles of the present invention, they can still modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements for some or all of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not cause the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A communication resource scheduling method for a low-orbit satellite, characterized in that: The method comprises: Step S1: The first low-orbit satellite transmits a first spot beam to a target area through a directional antenna, and starts to provide communication services to all target terminals within the coverage of the first spot beam; Step S2: When the preset switching period ends, the satellite resource control center determines a second low-orbit satellite to take over the target area according to the real-time movement information of the first low-orbit satellite; Step S3: the satellite resource control center controls the second low-orbit satellite to adjust the pointing angle of the directional antenna so that the second spot beam emitted by the second low-orbit satellite covers the target area; and the satellite resource control center generates a beam switching instruction carrying resource information of the second spot beam, and sends the beam switching instruction in batches to all the target terminals; Step S4: All the target terminals execute beam switching actions in response to the beam switching instruction to continue to provide communication services for all the target terminals through the second spot beam, and use the second low-orbit satellite as a new first low-orbit satellite, and repeat steps S1 to S4.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The step S1 further comprises: After being powered on, the target terminal performs a beam search operation and accesses a first spot beam covering a target area where the target terminal is located, so as to provide communication services for the target terminal through the first spot beam.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The sending the beam switching instructions in batches to all the target terminals includes: The satellite resource control center sends a beam switching instruction to the target terminal through the first spot beam that is communicating with the target terminal, so as to instruct the target terminal to establish communication through the second spot beam.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: The satellite resource control center obtains real-time motion information of at least one low-orbit satellite through a gateway station, calculates spot beam parameters that each low-orbit satellite needs to transmit based on the real-time motion information, and sends a resource configuration instruction carrying the spot beam parameters to the gateway station at the end of each preset switching cycle; The gateway station receives the resource configuration instruction from the satellite resource control center, and sends the resource configuration instruction to the corresponding low-orbit satellite; The real-time motion information includes at least one of a current position, a beam pointing direction, a motion direction, and a motion trajectory; The spot beam parameters include at least one of the number of spot beams, the direction of the spot beams, and the frequency of the spot beams.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: Each of the low-orbit satellites receives a resource configuration instruction from the gateway station, and adjusts the parameters of the transmitted spot beam based on the resource configuration instruction, so that the spot beam transmitted by each of the low-orbit satellites covers different areas on the ground, and user terminals can all access the satellite network.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: After accessing the satellite network, the user terminal receives beam signaling information covering the current area and obtains allocated communication resources, and sends uplink user data to the low-orbit satellite that takes over the current area; The low-orbit satellite forwards the uplink user data to the ground communication network through the inter-satellite link and the gateway station, so that the downlink user terminal responds.

7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: Each of the low-orbit satellites sends traffic load data to the gateway station; The gateway station receives the traffic load data and feeds the traffic load data back to the satellite resource control center; The satellite resource control center optimizes resource configuration parameters according to real-time traffic load data; The traffic load data includes at least one of communication data, network links and number of users.

8. A communication resource scheduling system for a low-orbit satellite, characterized in that: The system comprises: a satellite resource control center, a gateway station connected to the satellite resource control center for communication, a plurality of low-orbit satellites wirelessly connected to the gateway station, and a user terminal; The user terminal is used to perform a beam search operation after powering on, accessing a spot beam covering a target area of ​​the user terminal to access a satellite network; The low-orbit satellite is used to transmit a spot beam to a target area through a directional antenna, and provide communication services to all user terminals within the coverage area of ​​the spot beam; The satellite resource control center is used to determine a new low-orbit satellite to take over the target area according to the real-time movement information of the low-orbit satellite whenever a preset switching period in which the low-orbit satellite starts to provide communication services to all user terminals within the coverage area of ​​the spot beam ends; control the new low-orbit satellite to adjust the pointing angle of the directional antenna so that the spot beam emitted by the new low-orbit satellite covers the target area; and generate a beam switching instruction instructing the user terminal to establish communication with the spot beam emitted by the new low-orbit satellite, and send the beam switching instruction to all user terminals in the target area in batches through the spot beam that is communicating with the user terminal, so as to instruct the user terminal to establish communication through the spot beam emitted by the new low-orbit satellite; The user terminal is also used to perform a beam switching action in response to the beam switching instruction, so as to access the satellite network through the spot beam transmitted by the new low-orbit satellite and continue to use the communication service.

9. The system according to claim 8, characterized in that The satellite resource control center is further used to obtain the real-time motion information of each of the low-orbit satellites, calculate the spot beam parameters that each of the low-orbit satellites needs to transmit based on the real-time motion information, and send a resource configuration instruction carrying the spot beam parameters to the gateway station at the end of each preset switching cycle; The gateway station is also used to receive resource configuration instructions from the satellite resource control center, and send the resource configuration instructions to the corresponding low-orbit satellite; Each of the low-orbit satellites is further used to receive a resource configuration instruction from the gateway station, and adjust the parameters of the transmitted spot beam based on the resource configuration instruction, so that the spot beam transmitted by each of the low-orbit satellites covers different areas on the ground, and the user terminals can all access the satellite network; The real-time motion information includes at least one of a current position, a beam pointing direction, a motion direction, and a motion trajectory; The spot beam parameters include at least one of the number of spot beams, the direction of the spot beams, and the frequency of the spot beams.

10. The system according to claim 8, characterized in that Each of the low-orbit satellites is also used to send traffic load data to the gateway station; The gateway station is also used to receive the traffic load data and feed the traffic load data back to the satellite resource control center; The satellite resource control center is also used to optimize resource configuration parameters according to real-time traffic load data; The traffic load data includes at least one of communication data, network links and number of users.

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