Satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) satellite visibility determination based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) satellite visibility

Abstract

Techniques for satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) satellite visibility determination based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) satellite visibility are disclosed. The technique may include: identifying one or more visible GNSS satellites based on one or more received GNSS signals; estimating an orientation of a directional radio frequency (RF) antenna based on the respective expected positioning of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; determining whether any one of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna; and initiating an SBWC communication process in response to determining that at least one SBWC satellite of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible.

Description

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 18 / 732,932, filed June 4, 2024, entitled “SATELLITE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION (SBWC) SATELLITE VISIBILITY DETERMINATION BASED ON GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM (GNSS) SATELLITE VISIBILITY,” which claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 18 / 732,932, filed June 16, 2023, entitled “SATELLITE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION (SBWC) SATELLITE VISIBILITY DETERMINATION BASED ON GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM (GNSS) SATELLITE.” The benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 508,723, entitled “VISIBILITY (Satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) satellite visibility determination based on GNSS satellite visibility),” is assigned to the assignee of this application and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Background Technology 1. Technical Field

[0004] This disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more specifically to wireless communications and device positioning using radio frequency (RF) signals.

[0005] 2. Relevant Technical Descriptions

[0006] To facilitate communication with Earth-orbiting satellites, terrestrial wireless communication equipment can be equipped with directional radio frequency (RF) antennas. Compared to wireless communication with devices located within the field of view (FOV) defined by the orientation and beamwidth of the directional RF antenna, a directional RF antenna can provide an improved level of radiated energy (RF transmission) and / or received energy (RF reception) compared to an omnidirectional RF antenna. This improved performance compared to wireless communication with devices located within the FOV of the directional RF antenna may come at the cost of reduced performance compared to wireless communication with devices residing outside the FOV of the directional RF antenna. To facilitate wireless communication with remote devices at known locations, the directional RF antenna can be oriented such that the known location is within the FOV of the directional RF antenna. Summary of the Invention

[0007] According to this disclosure, an example method for wireless communication by a wireless communication device may include: identifying one or more visible GNSS satellites based on one or more received Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals; estimating the orientation of a directional radio frequency (RF) antenna based on the corresponding expected positioning of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; determining whether any of a plurality of satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) satellites is visible based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna; and initiating an SBWC communication process in response to determining that at least one of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible.

[0008] According to this disclosure, an example wireless communication device may include: at least one directional RF antenna; an SBWC radio component communicatively coupled to the at least one directional RF antenna; a GNSS receiver configured to receive one or more GNSS signals; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the SBWC radio component, the GNSS receiver, and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: identify one or more visible GNSS satellites based on the one or more received GNSS signals; estimate the orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna based on the corresponding expected positioning of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; determine whether any of a plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on the estimated orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna; and initiate an SBWC communication process in response to determining that at least one of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible.

[0009] According to this disclosure, an example wireless communication apparatus may include: components for identifying one or more visible GNSS satellites based on one or more received GNSS signals; components for estimating the orientation of a directional RF antenna based on the corresponding expected location of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; components for determining whether any of a plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna; and components for initiating an SBWC communication process in response to determining that at least one of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible.

[0010] According to this disclosure, an example non-transitory computer-readable medium may store instructions for wireless communication by a wireless communication device, the instructions including code for: identifying one or more visible GNSS satellites based on one or more received GNSS signals; estimating the orientation of a directional RF antenna based on the corresponding expected location of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; determining whether any of a plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna; and initiating an SBWC communication process in response to determining that at least one of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible.

[0011] This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used alone to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. This subject matter should be understood with reference to the appropriate portions of this disclosure, any or all drawings, and each claim. The foregoing, as well as other features and examples, will be described in more detail in the following description, claims, and drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0012] Figure 1 This is a diagram of the positioning system based on the implementation plan.

[0013] Figure 2 This is a simplified diagram of the GNSS system according to the implementation plan.

[0014] Figure 3A This is a block diagram illustrating a first example operating environment according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0015] Figure 3B This is a block diagram illustrating a second example operating environment according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0016] Figure 4 This is a block diagram illustrating a third example operating environment according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0017] Figure 5 This is a block diagram illustrating an example satellite visibility determination method according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0018] Figure 6 This is a block diagram of an implementation of a mobile device that can be utilized in the embodiments described herein.

[0019] Similar reference numerals in various figures indicate similar elements according to certain specific embodiments. Furthermore, multiple instances of an element may be indicated by adding a letter or hyphen after the first numeral and a second numeral. For example, multiple instances of element 110 may be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc., or 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When only the first numeral is used to refer to such an element, it should be understood that any instance of the element (e.g., element 110 in the previous example would refer to elements 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3, or elements 110a, 110b, and 110c) Detailed Implementation

[0020] The following description is directed to certain specific implementations for the purpose of describing the innovative aspects of each implementation. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in many different ways. The specific implementations described can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to any communication standard such as any of the following: the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4 standard for ultra-wideband (UWB), the IEEE 802.11 standard (including those identified as Wi-Fi), etc. ® (Technology standards), Bluetooth ® Standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Trunking Radio (TETRA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolved Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Revision A, EV-DO Revision B, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced Mobile Phone Systems (AMPS), or other known signals used for communication within wireless, cellular, or Internet of Things (IoT) networks, such as systems utilizing technologies of 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, or further implementations thereof.

[0021] As used herein, an "RF signal" includes electromagnetic waves that transmit information through the space between a transmitter (or transmitting device) and a receiver (or receiving device). As used herein, a transmitter may send a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of individual RF signals through multiple channels or paths, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal.

[0022] Additionally, unless otherwise specified, references to “reference signal,” “location reference signal,” “reference signal for location,” etc., may refer to signals used for locating user equipment (UE). As described in more detail herein, such signals may include any of a variety of signal types, but are not necessarily limited to the Location Reference Signal (PRS) as defined in the relevant radio standards.

[0023] Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the term "location" as used herein can refer to absolute location determination, relative location determination, ranging, or a combination thereof. For the purpose of location or sensing services, such location may include and / or be based on timing, angle, phase, or power measurements or combinations thereof (which may include RF sensing measurements).

[0024] Various aspects generally relate to wireless communication, and more specifically to satellite-based device positioning and wireless communication. Some aspects more specifically relate to satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) visibility determination based on the visibility of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites. According to some aspects, it is possible to determine whether any SBWC satellite is visible to the wireless communication device based on GNSS signals received at the wireless communication device. According to various aspects of this disclosure, the wireless communication device can identify one or more visible GNSS satellites based on the received GNSS signals.

[0025] In some examples, based on prior knowledge or expectation of the location of itself and visible GNSS satellites, the wireless communication device may determine the orientation of a directional radio frequency (RF) antenna used to receive received GNSS signals. In some examples, this may be the same directional RF antenna as the one intended for SBWC communication. In other examples, a different directional RF antenna than the one intended for SBWC communication may be used to receive GNSS signals. According to aspects of this disclosure, the wireless communication device may determine whether any SBWC satellite is visible based on the orientation of any directional RF antenna intended for SBWC communication. In some examples, if the wireless communication device determines that one or more SBWC satellites are visible, it may monitor a radio band for SBWC signals; however, if the wireless communication device determines that no SBWC satellites are visible, it may avoid monitoring a radio band for SBWC signals. According to aspects of this disclosure, by adaptively monitoring (or not monitoring) a radio band based on the presence (or absence) of visible SBWC satellites, the wireless communication device can save power that might otherwise be wasted by monitoring a radio band during periods when it is unlikely that any SBWC signals will be receivable.

[0026] Figure 1This is a simplified illustration of a positioning system 100 according to various embodiments, wherein a mobile device 105 may use the techniques provided herein for determining the visibility of communication satellites based on GNSS satellite visibility. The techniques described herein may be implemented by one or more components of the positioning system 100. The positioning system 100 may include: a mobile device 105; one or more satellites 110 (also referred to as spacecraft (SV)), which may include Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites (e.g., satellites of Global Positioning System (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, etc.) and / or Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) satellites; a base station 120; an access point (AP) 130; a location server 160; a network 170; and an external client 180. Generally, the positioning system 100 may estimate the position of the mobile device 105 based on the known positions of RF signals received by and / or transmitted from the mobile device 105 and other components that transmit and / or receive RF signals (e.g., GNSS satellite 110, base station 120, AP 130). Regarding Figure 2 Further details regarding location-specific estimation techniques will be discussed.

[0027] It should be pointed out that, Figure 1 Only generalized examples of various components are provided, where any or all of the components may be utilized as appropriate, and each component may be repeated as needed. Specifically, although only one mobile device 105 is illustrated, it should be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the positioning system 100. Similarly, the positioning system 100 may include more than Figure 1 The illustrated number of base stations 120 and / or access points 130 may vary. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the positioning system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections and / or additional networks. Furthermore, the components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on desired functionality. In some embodiments, for example, an external client 180 may be directly connected to the location server 160. Those skilled in the art will recognize numerous modifications to the illustrated components.

[0028] Depending on the desired functionality, network 170 may include any of a variety of wireless and / or wired networks. Network 170 may include, for example, any combination of public and / or private networks, local area networks (LANs) and / or wide area networks (WANs). Furthermore, network 170 may utilize one or more wired and / or wireless communication technologies. In some implementations, network 170 may include, for example, cellular or other mobile networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless wide area networks (WWANs), and / or the Internet. Examples of network 170 include Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless networks, fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks (also known as New Radio (NR) wireless networks or 5G NR wireless networks), Wi-Fi WLANs, and the Internet. LTE, 5G, and NR are wireless technologies defined or being defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Network 170 may also include more than one network and / or more than one type of network.

[0029] Base station 120 and access point (AP) 130 are communicatively coupled to network 170. In some implementations, base station 120 may be owned, maintained, and / or operated by a cellular network provider and may employ any of a variety of wireless technologies, as described below. Depending on the technology of network 170, base station 120 may include a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a transceiver base station (BTS), a radio base station (RBS), an NR NodeB (gNB), a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), etc. In the case that network 170 is a 5G network, base station 120, as a gNB or ng-eNB, may be part of a next-generation radio access network (NG-RAN) that can connect to a 5G core network (5GC). Given the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) and / or Virtualized Radio Access Network (V-RAN or vRAN) in 5G or later networks, the functionality performed by base station 120 in earlier networks (e.g., 3G and 4G) can be divided into different functional components (e.g., Radio Unit (RU), Distributed Unit (DU), and Central Unit (CU)) and layers (e.g., L1 / L2 / L3), which can be performed on different devices at different locations connected, for example, via fronthaul, midhaul, and backhaul connections. As mentioned herein, a “base station” (or ng-eNB, gNB, etc.) may include any or all of these functional components. For example, AP 130 may include a Wi-Fi AP or Bluetooth. ®An access point (AP) or an AP with cellular capabilities (e.g., 4G LTE and / or 5G NR). Therefore, mobile device 105 can transmit and receive information with network-connected devices (such as location server 160) via base station 120 accessing network 170 using a first communication link 133. Additionally or alternatively, because AP 130 is also communicatively coupled to network 170, mobile device 105 can communicate with network-connected devices and internet-connected devices (including location server 160) using a second communication link 135 or via one or more other mobile devices 145.

[0030] As used herein, the term "base station" generally refers to a single physical transmitting point or multiple co-located physical transmitting points that may be located at base station 120. A transmit / receive point (TRP) (also referred to as a transmit / receive point) corresponds to this type of transmitting point, and the term "TRP" may be used interchangeably with the terms "gNB," "ng-eNB," and "base station" herein. In some cases, base station 120 may include multiple TRPs—for example, where each TRP is associated with a different antenna or a different antenna array of base station 120. As used herein, the transmit functionality of a TRP may be performed using a transmit point (TP), and / or the receive functionality of a TRP may be performed by a receive point (RP), which may be physically separate from or different from the TP. That is, a TRP may include both a TP and an RP. A physical transmitting point may include the antenna array of base station 120 (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system and / or in the case of beamforming at the base station). The term “base station” may also refer to multiple non-co-located physical transmission points, which may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station).

[0031] As used herein, the term "cell" generally refers to a logical communication entity used to communicate with base station 120 and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., Physical Cell Identifier (PCID), Virtual Cell Identifier (VCID)) used to distinguish adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells and may be configured with different cell types based on different protocol types that can provide access for different types of devices (e.g., Machine Type Communication (MTC), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), or other protocols). In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to a portion of the geographical coverage area on which a logical entity operates (e.g., a sector).

[0032] Satellite 110 can be used to locate mobile device 105 in one or more ways. For example, satellite 110 (also referred to as a spacecraft (SV)) may be part of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) such as Global Positioning System (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou. Positioning using RF signals from GNSS satellites may include measuring multiple GNSS signals at a GNSS receiver on mobile device 105 to perform code-based and / or carrier-based positioning, which can be highly accurate. Additionally or alternatively, satellite 110 may be used for NTN-based positioning, wherein satellite 110 may functionally operate as a TRP (or TP) of a network (e.g., LTE and / or NR networks) and may be communicatively coupled to network 170. Specifically, reference signals (e.g., PRS) transmitted via satellite 110 for NTN-based positioning may be similar to those transmitted by base station 120 and may be coordinated by location server 160. In some embodiments, satellite 110 for NTN-based positioning may be different from those satellites used for GNSS-based positioning. In some implementations, NTN nodes may include non-ground vehicles, such as airplanes, balloons, and drones, which may serve as a supplement to or replacement for NTN satellites.

[0033] Location server 160 may include servers and / or other computing devices configured to determine the estimated location of mobile device 105 and / or provide data (e.g., “auxiliary data”) to mobile device 105 to facilitate location measurement and / or location determination. According to some embodiments, location server 160 may include a Home Secure Subscriber Plane Positioning (SUPL) location platform (H-SLP) that supports SUPL subscriber plane (UP) positioning solutions defined by the Open Mobility Alliance (OMA) and can support location services for mobile device 105 based on subscription information for mobile device 105 stored in location server 160. In some embodiments, location server 160 may include a Discovery SLP (D-SLP) or Emergency SLP (E-SLP). Location server 160 may also include an Enhanced Serving Mobility Location Center (E-SMLC) that uses a control plane (CP) positioning solution to support the positioning of mobile device 105 for LTE radio access of mobile device 105. Location server 160 may also include a location management function (LMF) that uses a control plane (CP) positioning solution to support the positioning of mobile device 105 for NR or LTE radio access of mobile device 105.

[0034] In the CP positioning solution, from the perspective of network 170, signaling for controlling and managing the location of mobile device 105 can use existing network interfaces and protocols and be exchanged as signaling between the components of network 170 and between network 105. In the UP positioning solution, from the perspective of network 170, signaling for controlling and managing the location of mobile device 105 can be exchanged as data (e.g., data transmitted using Internet Protocol (IP) and / or Transmit Control Protocol (TCP)) between location server 160 and mobile device 105.

[0035] As previously noted (and discussed in more detail below), the estimated location of mobile device 105 may be based on measurements of RF signals transmitted from and / or received by mobile device 105. Specifically, these measurements provide information about the relative distance and / or angle between mobile device 105 and one or more components of positioning system 100 (e.g., GNSS satellite 110, AP 130, base station 120). The estimated location of mobile device 105 may be estimated geometrically (e.g., using multi-angle measurements and / or multi-point positioning) based on the distance and / or angle measurements in conjunction with the known location of the one or more components.

[0036] While ground components (such as AP 130 and base station 120) may be fixed, the implementation is not limited to this. Mobile components may be used. For example, in some implementations, the location of mobile device 105 may be estimated at least in part based on measurements of RF signals 140 transmitted between mobile device 105 and one or more other mobile devices 145 (which may be mobile or fixed). As illustrated, other mobile devices may include, for example, mobile phone 145-1, vehicle 145-2, static communication / positioning device 145-3, or other static and / or mobile devices capable of providing wireless signals for locating mobile device 105, or combinations thereof. The wireless signals from mobile device 145 for locating mobile device 105 may include, for example, Bluetooth. ® (Including Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)), IEEE 802.11x (e.g., Wi-Fi) ® RF signals such as ultra-wideband (UWB), IEEE 802.15x, or combinations thereof. Mobile device 145 may additionally or alternatively use non-RF wireless signals for positioning of mobile device 105, such as infrared signals or other optical technologies.

[0037] Mobile device 145 may include other UEs communicatively coupled to a cellular network or other mobile network (e.g., network 170). When one or more other mobile devices 145 (including UEs) are used in determining the location of a particular mobile device 105, the mobile device 105 whose location is to be determined may be referred to as the “target UE,” and each of the other mobile devices 145 used may be referred to as an “anchor UE.” For the location determination of the target UE, the respective location of the one or more anchor UEs may be known and / or determined jointly with the target UE. Direct communication between one or more other mobile devices 145 and mobile device 105 may include sidelink and / or similar device-to-device (D2D) communication technologies. Sidelink, as defined by 3GPP, is a form of D2D communication under cellular-based LTE and NR standards. UWB may be one such technology that facilitates the location of a target device (e.g., mobile device 105) by using measurements from one or more anchor devices (e.g., mobile device 145).

[0038] According to some implementation schemes, when mobile device 105 is included and / or incorporated into a vehicle, one form of D2D communication used by mobile device 105 may include vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. V2X is a communication standard for vehicles to exchange information about the traffic environment with relevant entities. V2X may include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication between vehicles with V2X capability, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication between vehicles and infrastructure-based devices (often referred to as roadside units (RSUs)), and vehicle-to-person (V2P) communication between vehicles and nearby people (pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users). Furthermore, V2X can use any of a variety of wireless RF communication technologies. For example, cellular V2X (CV2X) is a form of V2X that uses cellular-based communication, such as LTE (4G), NR (5G), and / or other cellular technologies, in the direct communication mode defined by 3GPP. Figure 1 The mobile device 105 illustrated herein may correspond to a component or device on a vehicle, RSU, or other V2X entity used to communicate V2X messages. In embodiments in which V2X is used, static communication / location device 145-3 (which may correspond to an RSU) and / or vehicle 145-2 can therefore communicate with mobile device 105 and can be used to determine the location of mobile device 105 using techniques similar to those used by base station 120 and / or AP 130 (e.g., using polygonal measurement and / or multipoint positioning). It can be further noted that, according to some embodiments, mobile device 145 (which may include V2X devices), base station 120 and / or AP 130 may be used together (e.g., in a WWAN positioning solution) to determine the location of mobile device 105.

[0039] The estimated location of mobile device 105 can be used in various applications, such as to assist the user of mobile device 105 in direction finding or navigation, or to assist (e.g., associated with external client 180) another user in locating mobile device 105. "Location" is also referred to herein as "location estimation," "estimated location," "location," "positioning," "location estimation," "location fixation," "estimated positioning," "location fixation," or "fixed." The process of determining location may be referred to as "positioning," "location determination," "location determination," etc. The location of mobile device 105 may include the absolute location of mobile device 105 (e.g., latitude and longitude and possible altitude) or the relative location of mobile device 105 (e.g., expressed as a distance north or south, east or west, and possibly above or below from another known fixed location (including, for example, the location of base station 120 or AP 130) or another location (such as the location of mobile device 105 at a known previous time, or the location of mobile device 145 (e.g., another UE) at a known previous time)). Location can be specified as a geodetic location including coordinates, which can be absolute (e.g., latitude, longitude, and optional altitude), relative (e.g., relative to a known absolute location), or local (e.g., X, Y, and optional Z coordinates according to a coordinate system defined relative to a local area (such as a factory, warehouse, university campus, shopping mall, stadium, or conference center). Location can alternatively be a municipal location and may then include one or more of the following: street address (e.g., including the name or label of country, state, county, city, road, and / or street, and / or road or street number) and / or labels or names of places, buildings, parts of buildings, floors of buildings, and / or rooms within buildings. Location may also include indications of uncertainty or error, such as the level of error expected for the location and the possible vertical distance, or an indication of the area or volume (e.g., a circle or ellipse) within which the mobile device 105 is expected to be located at a certain confidence level (e.g., 95% confidence).

[0040] External client 180 may be a web server or remote application that can be associated with mobile device 105 in some way (e.g., accessible by the user of mobile device 105), or it may be a server, application, or computer system that provides location services to one or more other users, which may include obtaining and providing the location of mobile device 105 (e.g., to enable services such as finding friends or relatives or locating children or pets). Additionally or alternatively, external client 180 may obtain the location of mobile device 105 and provide it to emergency service providers, government agencies, etc.

[0041] Figure 2This is a simplified diagram of a GNSS system 200, provided to illustrate how GNSS is typically used to determine the precise location of a GNSS receiver 210 on Earth 220. Generally, the GNSS system 200 achieves precise GNSS positioning of the GNSS receiver 210, which receives RF signals from GNSS satellites 230 from one or more GNSS constellations. The type of GNSS receiver 210 used may vary depending on the application. In some embodiments, for example, the GNSS receiver 210 may be incorporated into another device (e.g., Figure 1 A standalone device or component in a mobile device (105). In some implementations, the GNSS receiver 210 may be integrated into industrial or commercial equipment, such as exploration equipment, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc.

[0042] It should be understood that Figure 2 The diagrams provided are greatly simplified. In practice, there may be dozens of satellites and a given GNSS constellation, and many different types of GNSS systems exist. As noted, GNSS systems include GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, or BDS. Additional GNSS systems include, for example, the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) over Japan, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) over India, and so on. In addition to the basic positioning functionality described later, GNSS enhancements (e.g., satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS)) can be used to provide higher accuracy. Such enhancements may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems, such as, for example, the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Coverage Service (EGNOS), the Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), and the Geographic Augmentation Navigation System (GAGAN).

[0043] GNSS positioning is based on trilateration / polygonography, a method of determining positioning by measuring distances to known coordinate points. Generally, determining the three-dimensional positioning of a GNSS receiver 210 relies on determining the distances between the GNSS receiver 210 and four or more satellites 230. As illustrated, 3D coordinates can be based on a coordinate system centered on the Earth's center of mass (e.g., XYZ coordinates; latitude, longitude, and altitude, etc.). The distance between each satellite 230 and the GNSS receiver 210 can be determined using precise measurements of the time difference between the transmission of an RF signal from the corresponding satellite 230 and its reception at the GNSS receiver 210. To help ensure accuracy, the GNSS receiver 210 needs to not only accurately determine when it receives the corresponding signal from each satellite 230, but also consider and take into account many additional factors. These factors include, for example, clock differences (e.g., clock skew) between GNSS receiver 210 and satellite 230, the precise location of each satellite 230 at the time of transmission (e.g., as determined by broadcast ephemeris), and the effects of atmospheric distortion (e.g., ionospheric and tropospheric delays).

[0044] To perform conventional GNSS positioning fixation, considering the aforementioned additional factors and error sources, GNSS receiver 210 can use code-based positioning to determine its distance to each satellite 230 based on a determined delay in a generated pseudo-random binary sequence received from the RF signals received from each satellite. Using the distance and position information of the satellites 230, GNSS receiver 210 can determine a positioning fixation with respect to its location. This positioning fixation can be determined, for example, by an independent positioning engine (SPE) executed by one or more processors of GNSS receiver 210. However, code-based positioning is relatively inaccurate, lacks error correction, and is susceptible to many of the errors described above. Even so, code-based GNSS positioning can provide GNSS receiver 210 with positioning accuracy on the order of meters.

[0045] More accurate carrier-based ranging is based on the carrier of the RF signal received from each satellite and can use measurements at a base station or reference station (not shown) to perform error correction to help reduce errors from the previously mentioned error sources. More specifically, errors (e.g., atmospheric error sources) in carrier-based ranging of satellite 230 as observed by GNSS receiver 210 can be mitigated or eliminated based on similar carrier-based ranging of satellite 230 using a highly accurate GNSS receiver at a base station at a known location. These measurements and the location of the base station can be provided to GNSS receiver 210 for error correction. For example, this positioning fixation can be determined by a Precise Positioning Engine (PPE) executed by one or more processors of GNSS receiver 210. More specifically, in addition to the information provided to the SPE, the PPE can also use base station GNSS measurement information and additional correction information (such as tropospheric and ionospheric) to provide highly accurate carrier-based positioning fixation. PPE can employ various GNSS technologies, such as differential GNSS (DGNSS), real-time kinematic (RTK), and precise point positioning (PPP), and can provide sub-meter accuracy (e.g., centimeter-level). (SPE and / or PPE may be referred to herein as GNSS positioning engines and may be incorporated into a broader positioning engine that uses other (non-GNSS) positioning sources).

[0046] Multi-frequency GNSS receivers use satellite signals from different GNSS bands (also referred to herein as "GNSS bands") to determine desired information, such as pseudorange, positioning estimation, and / or time. Under many conditions, multi-frequency GNSS can provide better performance than single-frequency GNSS (e.g., positioning estimation velocity and / or accuracy). However, as discussed in more detail below, multi-frequency GNSS typically uses more power than single-frequency GNSS, for example, processing power and battery power (e.g., powering the processor (e.g., for determining measurements), baseband processing, and / or RF processing).

[0047] Refer again Figure 2Satellite 230 can be a member of a single satellite constellation (i.e., a group of satellites operating in complementary orbits as part of a GNSS system controlled, for example, by a public entity (such as a government) to facilitate the determination of the location of entities around the world). One or more satellites in Satellite 230 may transmit multiple satellite signals in different GNSS frequency bands (such as L1, L2, and / or L5 bands). The terms L1 band, L2 band, and L5 band are used herein because these terms are used in GPS to refer to the corresponding frequency ranges. Various receiver configurations can be used to receive satellite signals. For example, a receiver may use separate receive chains for different frequency bands. Alternatively, a receiver may use a common receive chain for multiple frequency bands with close frequencies (e.g., L2 and L5 bands). Another example is that a receiver may use separate receive chains for different signals within the same frequency band (e.g., GPS L1 and GLONASS L1 subband). A single receiver may use a combination of two or more of these examples. These configurations are examples, and other configurations are possible.

[0048] Multiple satellite frequency bands are allocated for satellite use. These bands include the L band for GNSS satellite communications, the C band for communication satellites such as television broadcasting satellites, the X band used by the military and for RADAR applications, and the Ku band (primarily for downlink communications) and Ka band (primarily for uplink communications), with the Ku and Ka bands used for communication satellites. The L band is defined by IEEE as a frequency range from 1 GHz to 2 GHz. The L band is used by GNSS satellite constellations such as GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, and BDS, and is divided into multiple bands, including L1, L2, and L5. Historically, commercial GNSS receivers have used the L1 band for positioning purposes. However, measuring GNSS signals across more than one band can provide improved accuracy and availability.

[0049] Figure 3A This is a block diagram illustrating an example operating environment 300 according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In operating environment 300, a wireless communication device (WCD) 301 includes a directional RF antenna 302, a GNSS receiver 306, and a satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) radio component 314, the RF antenna being shared by the GNSS receiver 306 and the SBWC radio component 314. GNSS satellites 330A, 330B, 330C, and 330D within a field of view (FOV) 320 are visible to the GNSS receiver 306 via the use of the directional RF antenna 302. The size of the FOV 320 and its location in the sky can depend on the orientation and beamwidth of the directional RF antenna 302, such as being primarily defined by the orientation and beamwidth of the main lobe 305 of the directional RF antenna 302.

[0050] It is important to note that, in the context of this disclosure, the term “visible” is not intended to refer to visibility in an optical / visual sense (such as visibility to the human eye). Rather, the term “visible” as used herein to describe a given satellite relative to a given terrestrial wireless communication device (such as wireless communication device 301) means that the terrestrial wireless communication device can receive signals transmitted by that satellite, wherein the level of the received signal strength is sufficient for the terrestrial wireless communication device to successfully detect and process those signals.

[0051] In operating environment 300, if wireless communication device 301 has prior knowledge of the positioning (e.g., geocentric coordinates) of Earth-orbiting GNSS satellites, it can infer the orientation of directional RF antenna 302 based on GNSS signals received via directional RF antenna 302. For example, if GNSS receiver 306 receives GNSS signals from GNSS satellites 330A, 330B, 330C, and 330D, wireless communication device 301 can conclude that GNSS satellites 330A, 330B, 330C, and 330D are within FOV 320. Given its own positioning and based on prior knowledge of the geocentric positioning of GNSS satellites 330A, 330B, 330C, and 330D, wireless communication device 301 can infer the orientation of directional RF antenna 302 to ensure that FOV 320 includes the positioning of GNSS satellites 330A, 330B, 330C, and 330D.

[0052] The SBWC radio component 314 also uses a directional RF antenna 302, and therefore any SBWC satellites (if any) visible to the wireless communication device 301 will reside within a field of view located in a direction corresponding to the orientation of the directional RF antenna 302. This field of view may be the same as, or may generally correspond to, FOV 320, but differs to some extent due to various factors (e.g., differences between GNSS and SBWC satellite signal strength, signal modulation, altitude, etc.). According to various aspects of this disclosure, the wireless communication device 301 may infer the orientation of the directional RF antenna 302 based on the received GNSS signal and estimate the field of view based on that orientation. Given its own positioning and based on the SBWC satellite ( Figure 3A Based on prior knowledge of geocentric positioning (not shown), the wireless communication device 301 can then determine, via the use of the directional RF antenna 302, whether any SBWC satellite is visible to the SBWC radio component 314.

[0053] Figure 3B This is a block diagram illustrating an example operating environment 350 according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In operating environment 350, wireless communication device 351 includes... Figure 3AThe wireless communication device 301 uses the same directional RF antenna 302, GNSS receiver 306, and SBWC radio component 314. The wireless communication device 351 also includes an additional directional RF antenna 353. In the case of the wireless communication device 351, the SBWC radio component 314 uses the directional RF antenna 353 for communication, instead of its directional RF antenna 302, GNSS receiver 306, and SBWC radio component 314. Figure 3A In the case of wireless communication device 301, it shares directional RF antenna 302 with GNSS receiver 306.

[0054] In operating environment 350, any SBWC satellites visible to wireless communication device 351 (if any) will reside within a field of view (FOV) 372 located in a direction corresponding to the orientation of directional RF antenna 353, such as that defined primarily by the orientation of the main lobe 357 of directional RF antenna 353. According to various aspects of this disclosure, wireless communication device 351 can infer the orientation of directional RF antenna 302 based on received GNSS signals, and estimate the orientation of directional RF antenna 353 based on prior knowledge of the inferred orientation of directional RF antenna 302 and the difference between the corresponding orientations of directional RF antenna 353 and directional RF antenna 302. Wireless communication device 351 can then estimate the FOV 372 based on the estimated orientation of directional RF antenna 353, and given its own positioning and based on its estimation of FOV 372 and SBWC satellites (… Figure 3B Prior knowledge of geocentric positioning (not shown) can determine whether any SBWC satellite is visible to SBWC radio component 314 via the use of directional RF antenna 353.

[0055] According to various aspects of this disclosure, disturbances caused by external factors (such as wireless communication device 351 being held in the hand or located near a large conductive object) may affect the corresponding antenna lobes of directional RF antennas 302 and 353 differently. In some cases, the different ways in which these effects occur may depend on the nature of the disturbance. According to various aspects of this disclosure, a machine learning algorithm can be used to train a model for estimating FOV 372, the machine learning algorithm being designed to combine the inferred orientation of directional RF antenna 302 with the estimated orientation of directional RF antenna 353 to account for the effects of various types of disturbances and their potential variations. The lobe orientations and FOVs (e.g., FOV 372) of different antennas (e.g., directional RF antennas 302 and 353) may be affected by the same disturbance in different ways. In some embodiments, as described above, one or more machine learning algorithms (e.g., for individually and / or jointly estimating directional RF antennas 302 and 353) can be used to better account for those differences.

[0056] Figure 4This is a block diagram illustrating an example operating environment 400 according to various aspects of this disclosure, which may represent a specific implementation of the techniques disclosed herein for determining SBWC satellite visibility based on GNSS satellite visibility. In operating environment 400, wireless communication device 401 may determine the visibility (or lack thereof) of SBWC satellite 440 based on GNSS signals 432 received from GNSS satellite 430.

[0057] like Figure 4 As shown, the wireless communication device 401 may include an antenna 402, a GNSS component 404, and an SBWC component 410. The antenna 402 may be a directional RF antenna. The GNSS component 404 may provide the wireless communication device 401 with GNSS-based positioning capabilities, allowing the wireless communication device 401 to locate itself based on GNSS signals 432 transmitted by GNSS satellite 430. The GNSS component 404 may include a GNSS receiver 406 capable of receiving GNSS signals 432 using the antenna 402. The GNSS receiver 406 may measure the received GNSS signals 432 to obtain GNSS measurements for GNSS positioning.

[0058] GNSS component 404 may, for example, use one or more of the included processors ( Figure 4 (Not shown in the image) to execute the GNSS positioning engine 408. The GNSS positioning engine 408 can generate a GNSS-based positioning estimate based on GNSS measurements provided by the GNSS receiver 406. In some embodiments, such a GNSS-based positioning estimate may include estimated positioning and estimated velocity. In some embodiments, the estimated positioning may be the positioning relative to a three-dimensional estimated wireless communication device 401. In some embodiments, the estimated velocity may be a scalar (non-directional) parameter representing the estimated velocity of the motion of the wireless communication device 401. In some other embodiments, the estimated velocity may be a vector representing the estimated velocity of the motion of the wireless communication device 401 and the estimated direction of such motion. In some such embodiments, the estimated direction may be the direction of motion of the three-dimensional estimated wireless communication device 401. In some embodiments, the GNSS receiver 406 can execute the GNSS positioning engine 408. In some embodiments, the GNSS receiver 406 can generate GNSS measurements and then generate a GNSS-based positioning estimate based on the GNSS measurements.

[0059] According to various aspects of this disclosure, GNSS receiver 406 may process the received GNSS signal 432 to determine a GNSS satellite identifier (ID) 416 associated with the GNSS satellite 430 from which the GNSS signal 432 is received. GNSS positioning engine 408 may then consult GNSS satellite positioning information 418 to determine the geocentric location of the GNSS satellite 430 corresponding to the GNSS satellite ID 416 provided by GNSS receiver 406. GNSS satellite positioning information 418 may include information indicating the geocentric location of the GNSS satellite 430, such as orbital scheduling. Given the current geocentric location of wireless communication device 401 and the geocentric location of the GNSS satellite 430 corresponding to GNSS satellite ID 416, GNSS positioning engine 408 may infer a GNSS antenna orientation 420 representing the orientation of antenna 402.

[0060] SBWC component 410 may include SBWC radio component 414 and may, for example, use one or more of the included processors ( Figure 4 (Not shown in the image) to execute the SBWC engine 412. According to various aspects of this disclosure, the SBWC engine 412 can determine the SBWC antenna orientation 422 based on the GNSS antenna orientation 420, and can determine whether any SBWC satellite 440 is visible based on the SBWC antenna orientation 422. The SBWC antenna orientation 422 may represent the orientation of the directional RF antenna that will be used by the SBWC radio component 414 for communication with the SBWC satellite 440 (e.g., receiving SBWC signal 442 from the SBWC satellite 440).

[0061] In some examples, the GNSS receiver 406 and the SBWC radio component 414 may share antenna 402. In such examples, the SBWC engine 412 may identify the SBWC antenna orientation 422 as the same orientation as the GNSS antenna orientation 420 estimated by the GNSS positioning engine 408. In some other examples, the wireless communication device 401 may include an additional antenna 403 (which may be a directional RF antenna), and the SBWC radio component 414 may be configured to use antenna 403 for communication with the SBWC satellite 440. In such examples, the SBWC engine 412 may estimate the SBWC antenna orientation 422 based on the GNSS antenna offset 420 and the inter-antenna offset 421. The inter-antenna offset 421 may represent the offset between the corresponding orientations of antennas 402 and 403, which, assuming that antennas 402 and 403 are substantially fixed within the wireless communication device 401, can be expected to remain substantially constant over time. In some examples, the inter-antenna offset 421 may be determined and stored in non-volatile memory during the initial calibration process of the wireless communication device 401, and the SBWC engine 412 may retrieve the inter-antenna offset from the non-volatile memory in conjunction with the estimated SBWC antenna orientation 422.

[0062] In some examples, in conjunction with determining whether any SBWC satellite 440 is visible based on SBWC antenna orientation 422, SBWC engine 412 may estimate SBWC antenna FOV 423 based on SBWC antenna orientation 422. SBWC antenna FOV 423 may represent an area of ​​the sky relative to which SBWC signals 442 transmitted by SBWC satellites 440 within the area should be receivable by SBWC radio component 414 using a directional RF antenna (antenna 402 or 403) configured for communication with SBWC satellites 440. In some examples, SBWC engine 412 may estimate SBWC antenna FOV 423 based on SBWC antenna orientation 422 and antenna parameters (such as beamwidth) of the directional RF antenna (antenna 402 or 403) configured for communication with SBWC satellites 440.

[0063] In some examples, the SBWC engine 412 may consult SBWC satellite positioning information 424 to determine whether any SBWC satellite 440 is within the SBWC antenna FOV 423. The SBWC satellite positioning information 424 may include information indicating the geocentric location of the SBWC satellite 440. In some examples, if no SBWC satellite is within the SBWC antenna FOV 423, the SBWC engine 412 may determine that no SBWC satellite 440 is visible.

[0064] In some examples, the SBWC engine 412 may determine whether any SBWC satellite 440 is visible based on the SBWC antenna orientation 422, SBWC satellite positioning information 424, and supplementary prediction parameters 426. Supplementary prediction parameters 426 may include information relating to other factors that may affect the ability of the SBWC radio component 414 to successfully receive and process SBWC signals 442 from SBWC satellites 440. Examples of supplementary prediction parameters 426 may include, but are not limited to, proximity sensor information, accelerometer sensor information, gyroscope sensor information, magnetometer sensor information, time of day information, and temperature sensor information.

[0065] According to various aspects of this disclosure, if the SBWC engine 412 determines that one or more SBWC satellites 440 are visible, it may initiate an SBWC communication process. According to the SBWC communication process, the SBWC radio component 414 may monitor the radio band of the SBWC signal 442 transmitted by the SBWC satellites 440. If the SBWC engine 412 determines that no SBWC satellites 440 are visible, it may avoid initiating the SBWC communication process. According to various aspects of this disclosure, by adaptively monitoring (or not monitoring) the radio band based on the presence (or absence) of visible SBWC satellites 440, the wireless communication device 401 can save power that might otherwise be wasted by monitoring the radio band during periods when it is unlikely that any receivable SBWC signal 442 will be present.

[0066] Figure 5 This is a block diagram illustrating an example satellite visibility determination method 500 according to various aspects of this disclosure. In some specific embodiments, it is used to perform... Figure 5 The functional components illustrated in one or more of the boxes shown may be provided by the hardware and / or software components of the mobile device. Figure 6 The example components of a mobile device are illustrated below, and these example components will be described in more detail below. In some examples, the wireless communication device 401 can... Figure 4 Execution in operating environment 400 Figure 5 The functionality illustrated in one or more of the boxes shown.

[0067] At box 510, functionality includes identifying one or more visible GNSS satellites based on one or more received GNSS signals. For example, in Figure 4 In the operating environment 400, the wireless communication device 401 can identify GNSS satellites 430 based on GNSS signals 432 received from one or more visible GNSS satellites 430. Components for performing functionality at block 510 may include a bus 605, a processor 610, a digital signal processor (DSP) 620, a wireless communication interface 630, a memory 660, and / or other components such as... Figure 6 Other components of the mobile device illustrated herein.

[0068] At box 520, functionality includes estimating the orientation of the directional RF antenna based on the corresponding expected positioning of one or more visible GNSS satellites. For example, in Figure 4 In the operating environment 400, the wireless communication device 401 can determine the expected location of a visible GNSS satellite 430 identified by a received GNSS signal 432 based on GNSS satellite positioning information 418, and can estimate the SBWC antenna orientation 422 based on those expected locations. Components for performing functionality at block 510 may include a bus 605, a processor 610, a digital signal processor (DSP) 620, a wireless communication interface 630, a memory 660, and / or other components such as... Figure 6 Other components of the mobile device illustrated herein.

[0069] In some examples, the directional RF antenna whose orientation is estimated at block 520 may be the same directional RF antenna as the directional RF antenna receiving one or more GNSS signals via its receiving block 510. In other examples, one or more GNSS signals received at block 510 may be received via a second directional RF antenna. In some such examples, the orientation of the second directional RF antenna may be estimated based on the corresponding positions of one or more visible GNSS satellites, and the orientation of the directional RF antenna may be estimated based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna. In some examples, estimating the orientation of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna may include translating the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna according to an orientation offset indicating the difference between the corresponding orientations of the directional RF antenna and the second directional RF antenna.

[0070] At box 530, functionality includes determining whether any of the multiple SBWC satellites is visible based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna. For example, in Figure 4 In the operating environment 400, the wireless communication device 401 can determine whether any SBWC satellite 440 is visible based on the SBWC antenna orientation 422. Components for performing functionality at block 510 may include a bus 605, a processor 610, a digital signal processor (DSP) 620, a wireless communication interface 630, a memory 660, and / or other components such as... Figure 6 Other components of the mobile device illustrated herein.

[0071] In some examples, the field of view of a directional RF antenna can be estimated based on its estimated orientation, and the visibility of any of the multiple SBWC satellites can be determined based on whether the corresponding expected location of any of the multiple SBWC satellites is within the estimated field of view of the directional RF antenna. In some such examples, the field of view of a directional RF antenna can be estimated based on its estimated orientation and beamwidth.

[0072] In some examples, the visibility of any one of the multiple SBWC satellites can be determined based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the corresponding expected positioning of the multiple SBWC satellites, and one or more supplementary prediction parameters. In some such examples, one or more supplementary prediction parameters may include proximity sensor information, accelerometer sensor information, gyroscope sensor information, magnetometer sensor information, time of day information, temperature sensor information, or a combination thereof.

[0073] In some examples, the visibility metric of an SBWC satellite among multiple SBWC satellites can be determined based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the expected location of the SBWC satellite, and one or more supplementary prediction parameters. In some such examples, a machine learning model can be used to determine the visibility metric of the SBWC satellite based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the expected location of the SBWC satellite, and one or more supplementary prediction parameters. In some examples, whether an SBWC satellite is visible can be determined based on a comparison of the visibility metric with a threshold.

[0074] At box 540, functionality includes initiating an SBWC communication procedure in response to determining that at least one of a plurality of SBWC satellites is visible. For example, in Figure 4 In the operating environment 400, the wireless communication device 401 may initiate an SBWC communication process in response to determining that at least one SBWC satellite 440 is visible. Components for performing functionality at block 510 may include bus 605, processor 610, digital signal processor (DSP) 620, wireless communication interface 630, memory 660, and / or other components such as... Figure 6 Other components of the mobile device illustrated herein. In some examples, the SBWC communication process may include monitoring of the radio band for the SBWC signal by an SBWC radio component communicatively coupled to a directional RF antenna.

[0075] Figure 6 This is a block diagram of an implementation scheme for a mobile device 600, which can be as described above (e.g., in conjunction with...). Figures 1 to 5 It can be utilized as described. For example, mobile device 600 can be used to implement... Figure 1 Mobile devices 105 Figure 3AWireless communication equipment 301, Figure 3B Wireless communication device 351, and Figure 4 One or more of the wireless communication devices 401. In some examples, the mobile device 600 can perform [operations related to] wireless communication devices 401. Figure 5 The satellite visibility determination method 500 is associated with one or more operations. It should be noted that... Figure 6 This is intended only to provide generalized examples of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. It can be noted that in some cases, Figure 6 The illustrated components can be localized as a single physical device and / or distributed among various networked devices that may be located in different geographical locations. Furthermore, as previously noted, the functionality of the mobile device discussed in the previously described embodiments can be determined by… Figure 6 It is performed by one or more of the hardware and / or software components executable in the example.

[0076] Mobile device 600 is shown as including hardware elements electrically coupled (or otherwise communicable) via bus 605. The hardware elements may include processor 610, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., application processors), one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processor (DSP) chips, graphics accelerator processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.), and / or other processing structures or components. Processor 610 may include one or more processing units, which may be housed in a single integrated circuit (IC) or multiple ICs. Figure 6 As shown, depending on the desired functionality, some implementations may have a separate DSP 620. Wireless communication-based location determination and / or other determinations may be provided in the processor 610 and / or the wireless communication interface 630 (discussed below). The mobile device 600 may also include: one or more input devices 670, which may include, but are not limited to, one or more keyboards, touchscreens, touchpads, microphones, buttons, dials, switches, etc.; and one or more output devices 615, which may include, but are not limited to, one or more displays (e.g., touchscreens), light-emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0077] Mobile device 600 may also include wireless communication interface 630, which may include, but is not limited to, modems, network cards, infrared communication devices, wireless communication devices and / or chipsets (such as Bluetooth). ®The device 600 enables communication with other devices as described in the above embodiments, including IEEE 802.11 devices, IEEE 802.15.4 devices, Wi-Fi devices, WiMAX devices, WAN devices, and / or various cellular devices. The wireless communication interface 630 allows the communication (e.g., sending and receiving) of data and signaling with the TRP of the network, as described herein, via, for example, an eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, access point, various base stations and / or other access node types and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices communicatively coupled to the TRP. Communication may be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 632 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 634. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antennas 632 may include multiple discrete antennas, antenna arrays, or any combination thereof. The antennas 632 may be able to transmit and receive wireless signals using beamforming (e.g., Tx beamforming and Rx beamforming). Beamforming may be performed using digital and / or analog beamforming techniques with appropriate digital and / or analog circuitry. The wireless communication interface 630 may include such circuitry.

[0078] Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 630 may include separate receivers and transmitters, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters, and / or receivers, to communicate with base stations (e.g., ng-eNBs and gNBs) and other terrestrial transceivers (such as wireless devices and access points). The mobile device 600 may communicate with various data networks, which may include a variety of network types. For example, a WWAN may be a CDMA network, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network, a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) network, a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) network, etc. A CDMA network may implement one or more RATs, such as CDMA2000. ® WCDMA, etc. CDMA2000 ® This includes IS-95, IS-2000, and / or IS-856 standards. TDMA networks can implement GSM, Digital Advanced Mobile Phone Systems (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. OFDMA networks can employ LTE, Advanced LTE, 5G NR, etc. 5G NR, LTE, Advanced LTE, GSM, and WCDMA are described in documents from 3GPP. CDMA2000 ®This is described in documents from an organization called the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. A wireless local area network (WLAN) can also be an IEEE 802.11x network, while a wireless personal area network (WPAN) can be a Bluetooth network, IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. The technologies described herein can also be used in any combination of WWAN, WLAN, and / or WPAN.

[0079] The mobile device 600 may also include a sensor 640. The sensor 640 may include, but is not limited to, one or more inertial sensors and / or other sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, magnetometers, altimeters, microphones, proximity sensors, light sensors, barometers, etc.), some of which may be used to obtain positioning-related measurements and / or other information.

[0080] Implementations of the mobile device 600 may also include a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver 680, which is capable of receiving signals 684 from one or more GNSS satellites using an antenna 682 (which may be identical to antenna 632). Positioning based on GNSS signal measurements may be used to supplement and / or incorporate the techniques described herein. The GNSS receiver 680 may use conventional techniques to extract the positioning of the mobile device 600 from GNSS satellites of GNSS systems such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) over Japan, IRNSS over India, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) over China, etc. In addition, the GNSS receiver 680 can be used with various augmentation systems, such as satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS), which can be associated with or otherwise enabled to be used with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Coverage Service (EGNOS), the Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), and the Geographic Augmentation Navigation System (GAGAN).

[0081] It can be pointed out that, although in Figure 6The GNSS receiver 680 is illustrated as various components, but embodiments are not limited thereto. As used herein, the term "GNSS receiver" may include hardware and / or software components configured to acquire GNSS measurements (measurements from GNSS satellites). Thus, in some embodiments, the GNSS receiver may include (as software) a measurement engine executed by one or more processors, such as processor 610, DSP 620, and / or a processor within a wireless communication interface 630 (e.g., in a modem). The GNSS receiver may also optionally include a positioning engine that uses GNSS measurements from the measurement engine to determine the GNSS receiver's location using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), weighted least squares (WLS), particle filters, etc. The positioning engine may also be executed by one or more processors such as processor 610 or DSP 620.

[0082] The mobile device 600 may also include a memory 660 and / or communicate with that memory. The memory 660 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network-accessible storage devices, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (RAM) and / or read-only memory (ROM), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices can be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including but not limited to various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0083] The memory 660 of the mobile device 600 may also include software elements ( Figure 6 (Not shown in the text) These software elements include operating systems, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code, such as one or more applications, which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments as described herein and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments as described herein. By way of example only, one or more processes described for the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 660 executable by mobile device 600 (and / or processor 610 or DSP 620 within mobile device 600). Then, in some embodiments, such code and / or instructions may be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0084] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that basic variations can be made to suit specific requirements. For example, custom hardware may be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software such as applets), or both. Furthermore, connections to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, may be employed.

[0085] Referring to the accompanying drawings, components that may include memory may include non-transitory machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable media" and "computer-readable media" refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that enables a machine to operate in a particular manner. In the embodiments provided above, various machine-readable media may be involved in providing instructions / code to a processor and / or other devices for execution. Additionally or alternatively, machine-readable media may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code. In many specific embodiments, computer-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take many forms, including but not limited to non-volatile and volatile media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example: magnetic and / or optical media, any other physical media with a hole pattern, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or memory cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and / or code.

[0086] The methods, systems, and apparatus discussed herein are examples. Various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add various processes or components as appropriate. For example, features described for some embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Different aspects and elements of embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. The various components in the accompanying drawings provided herein may be embodied in hardware and / or software. Furthermore, technology evolves, and therefore many elements are examples that do not limit the scope of this disclosure to those particular examples.

[0087] It has been proven convenient to sometimes refer to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, items, numbers, numerical symbols, etc., primarily for common use. However, it should be understood that all such terms or similar terms should be associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise specifically stated, it is as apparent from the above discussion that throughout this specification, discussions using terms such as “processing,” “calculating,” “determining,” “identifying,” “ascertaining,” “identifying,” “associating,” “measuring,” and “executing” refer to the actions or processes of a specific device such as a dedicated computer or similar dedicated electronic computing device. Therefore, in the context of this specification, a dedicated computer or similar dedicated electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals, generally referred to as physical electronic, electrical, or magnetic quantities in the memory, registers, or other information storage devices, transmitting devices, or display devices of the dedicated computer or similar dedicated electronic computing device.

[0088] As used herein, the terms “and” and “or” may include a variety of meanings, which are also contemplated, at least in part, depending on the context in which such terms are used. Generally, “or,” when used in relation to a list such as A, B, or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C (in the inclusive sense) and A, B, or C (in the exclusive sense). Furthermore, as used herein, the term “one or more” can be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular form, or to describe some combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example, and the claimed subject matter is not limited to this example. Additionally, the term “at least one of…” when used in relation to a list such as A, B, or C can be interpreted as meaning any combination of A, B, and / or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

[0089] Several embodiments have been described, and various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, where other rules may take precedence over the application of various embodiments or otherwise modify the application of various embodiments. Furthermore, multiple steps may be performed before, during, or after considering the above elements. Therefore, the above description does not limit the scope of this disclosure.

[0090] Given this description, different implementations may include different combinations of features. Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0091] Clause 1. A method for wireless communication by a wireless communication device, the method comprising: identifying one or more visible GNSS satellites based on one or more received Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals; estimating the orientation of a directional radio frequency (RF) antenna based on the corresponding expected positioning of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; determining, based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, whether any of a plurality of satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) satellites is visible; and initiating an SBWC communication process in response to determining that at least one of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible.

[0092] Clause 2. The method according to Clause 1, wherein determining whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible comprises: estimating the field of view of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna; and determining whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on whether the corresponding expected location of any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is within the estimated field of view of the directional RF antenna.

[0093] Clause 3. The method according to Clause 2, wherein estimating the field of view of the directional RF antenna includes estimating the field of view of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna and the beamwidth of the directional RF antenna.

[0094] Clause 4. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 3, wherein determining whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible is based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the corresponding expected location of the plurality of SBWC satellites, and one or more supplementary prediction parameters.

[0095] Clause 5. The method according to Clause 4, wherein the one or more supplementary prediction parameters include proximity sensor information, accelerometer sensor information, gyroscope sensor information, magnetometer sensor information, time of day information, temperature sensor information, or a combination thereof.

[0096] Clause 6. The method according to any one of Clauses 4 to 5, the method further comprising determining a visibility metric for the SBWC satellite among the plurality of SBWC satellites based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the expected location of the SBWC satellite, and the one or more supplementary prediction parameters.

[0097] Clause 7. The method according to Clause 6, further comprising using a machine learning model to determine the visibility metric of the SBWC satellite based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the expected location of the SBWC satellite, and the one or more supplemental prediction parameters.

[0098] Clause 8. The method according to any one of Clauses 6 to 7, the method further comprising determining whether the SBWC satellite is visible based on a comparison of the visibility metric of the SBWC satellite with a threshold.

[0099] Clause 9. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 8, the method further comprising receiving the one or more received GNSS signals via the directional RF antenna.

[0100] Clause 10. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9, the method further comprising receiving the one or more received GNSS signals via a second directional RF antenna.

[0101] Clause 11. The method according to Clause 10, the method further comprising: estimating the orientation of the second directional RF antenna based on the corresponding expected positioning of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; and estimating the orientation of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna.

[0102] Clause 12. The method according to Clause 11, wherein estimating the orientation of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna includes translating the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna according to an orientation offset indicating the difference between the respective orientations of the directional RF antenna and the second directional RF antenna.

[0103] Clause 13. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 12, the method further comprising: using one or more machine learning models to estimate the orientation of the directional radio frequency (RF) antenna and the orientation of the second directional RF antenna.

[0104] Clause 14. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 13, wherein the SBWC communication process includes monitoring a radio band for the SBWC signal by an SBWC radio component communicatively coupled to the directional RF antenna.

[0105] Clause 15. A wireless communication device comprising: at least one directional radio frequency (RF) antenna; a satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) radio component communicatively coupled to the at least one directional RF antenna; a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver configured to receive one or more GNSS signals; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the SBWC radio component, the GNSS receiver, and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: identify one or more visible GNSS satellites based on the one or more received GNSS signals; estimate the orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna based on the corresponding expected positioning of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; determine whether any of a plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on the estimated orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna; and initiate an SBWC communication procedure in response to determining that at least one of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible.

[0106] Clause 16. The wireless communication device according to Clause 15, wherein, in order to determine whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible, the one or more processors are configured to: estimate the field of view of the at least one directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna; and determine whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on whether the corresponding expected location of any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is within the estimated field of view of the at least one directional RF antenna.

[0107] Clause 17. The wireless communication device according to Clause 16, wherein, in order to estimate the field of view of the at least one directional RF antenna, the one or more processors are configured to estimate the field of view of the at least one directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna and the beamwidth of the at least one directional RF antenna.

[0108] Clause 18. A wireless communication device according to any one of Clauses 15 to 17, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on: the estimated orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna, the corresponding expected location of the plurality of SBWC satellites, and one or more supplementary prediction parameters.

[0109] Clause 19. The wireless communication device as described in Clause 18, wherein the one or more supplementary prediction parameters include proximity sensor information, accelerometer sensor information, gyroscope sensor information, magnetometer sensor information, time of day information, temperature sensor information, or combinations thereof.

[0110] Clause 20. A wireless communication device according to any one of Clauses 18 to 19, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a visibility metric for one of the plurality of SBWC satellites based on the estimated orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna, the expected location of the SBWC satellite, and the one or more supplementary prediction parameters.

[0111] Clause 21. The wireless communication device according to Clause 20, wherein the one or more processors are configured to use a machine learning model to determine the visibility metric of the SBWC satellite based on the estimated orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna, the expected location of the SBWC satellite, and the one or more supplementary prediction parameters.

[0112] Clause 22. A wireless communication device according to any one of Clauses 20 to 21, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine whether the SBWC satellite is visible based on a comparison of the visibility metric of the SBWC satellite with a threshold.

[0113] Clause 23. A wireless communication device according to any one of Clauses 15 to 22, wherein the GNSS receiver is configured to receive the one or more received GNSS signals via the at least one directional RF antenna.

[0114] Clause 24. The wireless communication device according to any one of Clauses 15 to 23, the wireless communication device further comprising a second directional RF antenna, wherein the GNSS receiver is configured to receive the one or more received GNSS signals via the second directional RF antenna.

[0115] Clause 25. The wireless communication device according to Clause 24, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: estimate the orientation of the second directional RF antenna based on the corresponding expected positioning of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; and estimate the orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna.

[0116] Clause 26. The wireless communication device according to Clause 25, wherein, in order to estimate the orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna, the one or more processors are configured to translate the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna according to an orientation offset indicating the difference between the respective orientations of the at least one directional RF antenna and the second directional RF antenna.

[0117] Clause 27. The wireless communication device according to any one of Clauses 15 to 26, the wireless communication device further comprising a second directional RF antenna configured to receive the one or more received GNSS signals, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: use one or more machine learning models to estimate the orientation of the at least one RF antenna and the orientation of the second directional RF antenna.

[0118] Clause 28. A wireless communication device according to any one of Clauses 15 to 26, wherein the SBWC communication process includes the SBWC radio component using the at least one directional RF antenna to monitor the wireless frequency band for the SBWC signal.

[0119] Clause 29. A wireless communication apparatus comprising: means for identifying one or more visible GNSS satellites based on one or more received Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals; means for estimating the orientation of a directional radio frequency (RF) antenna based on the corresponding expected positioning of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; means for determining, based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, whether any of a plurality of satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) satellites is visible; and means for initiating an SBWC communication process in response to determining that at least one of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible.

[0120] Clause 30. The wireless communication apparatus according to Clause 29, wherein the component for determining whether any of a plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna includes components for estimating the field of view of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, and components for determining whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on whether the corresponding expected location of any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is within the estimated field of view of the directional RF antenna.

[0121] Clause 31. The wireless communication apparatus according to Clause 30, wherein the component for estimating the field of view of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna includes a component for estimating the field of view of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna and the beamwidth of the directional RF antenna.

[0122] Clause 32. The wireless communication apparatus according to any one of Clauses 29 to 31, the wireless communication apparatus further comprising a component for determining whether any one of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on: the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the corresponding expected location of the plurality of SBWC satellites, and one or more supplementary prediction parameters.

[0123] Clause 33. The wireless communication device according to Clause 32, wherein the one or more supplementary prediction parameters include proximity sensor information, accelerometer sensor information, gyroscope sensor information, magnetometer sensor information, time of day information, temperature sensor information, or combinations thereof.

[0124] Clause 34. The wireless communication apparatus according to any one of Clauses 32 to 33, the wireless communication apparatus further comprising a component for determining a visibility metric of the SBWC satellite among the plurality of SBWC satellites based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the expected location of the SBWC satellite, and the one or more supplementary prediction parameters.

[0125] Clause 35. The wireless communication apparatus according to Clause 34, the wireless communication apparatus further comprising a component for determining the visibility metric of the SBWC satellite using a machine learning model based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the expected location of the SBWC satellite, and the one or more supplementary prediction parameters.

[0126] Clause 36. The wireless communication apparatus according to any one of Clauses 34 to 35, the wireless communication apparatus further comprising a component for determining whether the SBWC satellite is visible based on a comparison of the visibility metric of the SBWC satellite with a threshold.

[0127] Clause 37. The wireless communication apparatus according to any one of Clauses 29 to 36, the wireless communication apparatus further comprising a component for receiving the one or more received GNSS signals via the directional RF antenna.

[0128] Clause 38. The wireless communication apparatus according to any one of Clauses 29 to 37, the wireless communication apparatus further comprising a component for receiving the one or more received GNSS signals via a second directional RF antenna.

[0129] Clause 39. The wireless communication apparatus according to Clause 38, the wireless communication apparatus further comprising: means for estimating the orientation of the second directional RF antenna based on the corresponding expected positioning of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; and means for estimating the orientation of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna.

[0130] Clause 40. The wireless communication apparatus according to Clause 39, wherein estimating the orientation of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna includes translating the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna according to an orientation offset indicating the difference between the respective orientations of the directional RF antenna and the second directional RF antenna.

[0131] Clause 41. The wireless communication device according to any one of Clauses 29 to 40, the wireless communication device further comprising means for using one or more machine learning models to estimate the orientation of the directional radio frequency (RF) antenna and the orientation of the second directional RF antenna.

[0132] Clause 42. The wireless communication device according to any one of Clauses 29 to 40, wherein the SBWC communication process includes monitoring the wireless frequency band for the SBWC signal by an SBWC radio component communicatively coupled to the directional RF antenna.

[0133] Clause 43. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for wireless communication by a wireless communication device, the instructions comprising code for: identifying one or more visible GNSS satellites based on one or more received Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals; estimating the orientation of a directional radio frequency (RF) antenna based on the corresponding expected positioning of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; determining, based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, whether any of a plurality of satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) satellites is visible; and initiating an SBWC communication procedure in response to determining that at least one of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible.

[0134] Clause 44. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 43, the instructions further include code for: estimating the field of view of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna; and determining whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on whether the corresponding expected location of any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is within the estimated field of view of the directional RF antenna.

[0135] Clause 45. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 44, the instructions further include code for estimating the field of view of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna and the beamwidth of the directional RF antenna.

[0136] Clause 46. The non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 43 to 45, the instructions further comprising code for determining whether any one of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the corresponding expected location of the plurality of SBWC satellites, and one or more supplementary prediction parameters.

[0137] Clause 47. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 46, wherein the one or more supplementary prediction parameters include proximity sensor information, accelerometer sensor information, gyroscope sensor information, magnetometer sensor information, time of day information, temperature sensor information, or combinations thereof.

[0138] Clause 48. The non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 46 to 47, the instructions further comprising code for determining a visibility metric for one of the plurality of SBWC satellites based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the expected location of the SBWC satellite, and the one or more supplementary prediction parameters.

[0139] Clause 49. The non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to Clause 48, the instructions further include code for determining the visibility metric of the SBWC satellite using a machine learning model based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the expected location of the SBWC satellite, and the one or more supplementary prediction parameters.

[0140] Clause 50. A non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 48 to 49, the instructions further comprising code for determining whether the SBWC satellite is visible based on a comparison of the visibility metric of the SBWC satellite with a threshold.

[0141] Clause 51. The non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 43 to 50, the instructions further comprising code for receiving the one or more received GNSS signals via the directional RF antenna.

[0142] Clause 52. The non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 43 to 51, the instructions further comprising code for receiving the one or more received GNSS signals via a second directional RF antenna.

[0143] Clause 53. The non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to Clause 52, the instructions further include code for: estimating the orientation of the second directional RF antenna based on the corresponding expected positioning of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; and estimating the orientation of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna.

[0144] Clause 54. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 53, wherein estimating the orientation of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna includes translating the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna according to an orientation offset indicating the difference between the respective orientations of the directional RF antenna and the second directional RF antenna.

[0145] Clause 55. A non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 40 to 54, wherein the instructions further include code for: using one or more machine learning models to estimate the orientation of the directional radio frequency (RF) antenna and the orientation of the second directional RF antenna.

[0146] Clause 56. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 40 to 54, wherein the SBWC communication process includes monitoring a radio band for the SBWC signal by an SBWC radio component communicatively coupled to the directional RF antenna.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by a wireless communication device, the method comprising: identifying one or more visible global navigation satellite system (GNSS) satellites based on one or more received GNSS signals; estimating an orientation of a directional radio frequency (RF) antenna based on respective expected positions of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; determining whether any of a plurality of satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) satellites is visible based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna; and initiating a SBWC communication procedure in response to determining that at least one SBWC satellite of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible comprises: estimating a field of view of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna; and determining whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on whether respective expected positions of any of the plurality of SBWC satellites are within the estimated field of view of the directional RF antenna.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein estimating the field of view of the directional RF antenna comprises estimating the field of view of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna and a beam width of the directional RF antenna.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible is based on: the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna; respective expected positions of the plurality of SBWC satellites; and one or more supplemental prediction parameters.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more supplemental prediction parameters comprise: proximity sensor information; accelerometer sensor information; gyroscopic sensor information; magnetometer sensor information; time of day information; temperature sensor information; or a combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising determining a visibility metric for a SBWC satellite of the plurality of SBWC satellites based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the expected position of the SBWC satellite, and the one or more supplemental prediction parameters.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining the visibility metric for the SBWC satellite using a machine learning model based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna, the expected position of the SBWC satellite, and the one or more supplemental prediction parameters.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining whether the SBWC satellite is visible based on a comparison of the visibility metric for the SBWC satellite to a threshold value.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the one or more received GNSS signals via the directional RF antenna.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the one or more received GNSS signals via a second directional RF antenna. ​ 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: estimating an orientation of the second directional RF antenna based on the respective expected position of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; and estimating the orientation of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein estimating the orientation of the directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna comprises translating the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna according to an orientation offset indicative of a difference between the respective orientations of the directional RF antenna and the second directional RF antenna.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising: estimating the orientation of the directional RF antenna and an orientation of the second directional RF antenna using one or more machine learning models.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the SBWC communication procedure comprises monitoring a wireless frequency band for SBWC signals by a SBWC radio communicatively coupled with the directional RF antenna.

15. A wireless communication device, comprising: at least one directional radio frequency (RF) antenna; a satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) radio communicatively coupled with the at least one directional RF antenna; a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver configured to receive one or more GNSS signals; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled with the SBWC radio, the GNSS receiver, and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: identify one or more visible GNSS satellites based on the one or more received GNSS signals; estimate an orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna based on respective expected positions of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; determine whether any of a plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on the estimated orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna; and initiate a SBWC communication procedure in response to determining that at least one SBWC satellite of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible. To determine whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible, the one or more processors are configured to:

16. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein, estimate a field of view of the at least one directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna; and determine whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on whether respective expected positions of the plurality of SBWC satellites are within the estimated field of view of the at least one directional RF antenna. ​ ​ 17. The wireless communication device of claim 16, wherein, To estimate the field of view of the at least one directional RF antenna, the one or more processors are configured to estimate the field of view of the at least one directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna and a beam width of the at least one directional RF antenna.

18. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine whether any of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible based on: the estimated orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna; a respective expected position of the plurality of SBWC satellites; and one or more supplemental prediction parameters.

19. The wireless communication device of claim 18, wherein the one or more supplemental prediction parameters comprise: proximity sensor information; accelerometer sensor information; gyroscopic sensor information; magnetometer sensor information; time of day information; temperature sensor information; or a combination thereof.

20. The wireless communication device of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a visibility metric for a SBWC satellite of the plurality of SBWC satellites based on the estimated orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna, the expected position of the SBWC satellite, and the one or more supplemental prediction parameters.

21. The wireless communication device of claim 20, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the visibility metric for the SBWC satellite using a machine learning model based on the estimated orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna, the expected position of the SBWC satellite, and the one or more supplemental prediction parameters.

22. The wireless communication device of claim 20, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine whether the SBWC satellite is visible based on a comparison of the visibility metric for the SBWC satellite to a threshold value.

23. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive the one or more received GNSS signals via the at least one directional RF antenna.

24. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive the one or more received GNSS signals via a second directional RF antenna.

25. The wireless communication device of claim 24, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: estimate an orientation of the second directional RF antenna based on the respective expected positions of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; and estimate the orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna.

26. The wireless communication device of claim 25, wherein to estimate the orientation of the at least one directional RF antenna based on the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna, wherein the one or more processors are configured to translate the estimated orientation of the second directional RF antenna according to an orientation offset indicative of a difference between respective orientations of the at least one directional RF antenna and the second directional RF antenna.

27. The wireless communication device of claim 25, further comprising a second directional RF antenna configured to receive the one or more received GNSS signals, wherein, the one or more processors are further configured to: estimate the orientation of the directional radio frequency (RF) antenna and an orientation of the second directional RF antenna using one or more machine learning models.

28. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein the SBWC communication procedure includes monitoring a wireless frequency band for SBWC signals by a SBWC radio communicatively coupled with the at least one directional RF antenna.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for wireless communication by a wireless communication device, the instructions comprising code to: identify one or more visible global navigation satellite system (GNSS) satellites based on one or more received GNSS signals; estimate an orientation of a directional radio frequency (RF) antenna based on respective expected positions of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; determine whether any of a plurality of satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) satellites is visible based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna; and initiate a SBWC communication procedure in response to determining that at least one SBWC satellite of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible.

30. A wireless communication apparatus, the wireless communication apparatus comprising: means for identifying one or more visible global navigation satellite system (GNSS) satellites based on one or more received GNSS signals; means for estimating an orientation of a directional radio frequency (RF) antenna based on respective expected positions of the one or more visible GNSS satellites; means for determining whether any of a plurality of satellite-based wireless communication (SBWC) satellites is visible based on the estimated orientation of the directional RF antenna; and means for initiating a SBWC communication procedure in response to determining that at least one SBWC satellite of the plurality of SBWC satellites is visible.

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