Track or other non-terrestrial base station preemption and / or substitution when terrestrial base station capability is insufficient or malfunctioning occurs

Abstract

A method for providing a backup network service in a communication network used by a mobile terminal (e.g., a cellular phone) is disclosed. The method includes receiving information about a terrestrial base station of the communication network, and detecting an insufficient capability of the terrestrial base station by using a non-terrestrial base station (NTBS), such as an orbital satellite. The NTBS identifies a second NTBS (e.g., a second satellite) within the communication range to provide backup services to the communication network. The second NTBS is then introduced as a new base station of the communication network. The second NTBS may then replace the insufficient-capability terrestrial base station to carry traffic between the at least one mobile terminal and the communication network.

Description

Cross-reference to priority and related applications

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. non-provisional patent application No. 18 / 304,221, filed on April 20, 2023, entitled “Orbital or Other Non-Terrestrial Base Station Preemption and / or Replacement Upon Terrestrial Base Station Incapacity or Failure,” which claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application No. 63 / 363,479, filed on April 22, 2022, entitled “Satellite Replacement for Terrestrial Base station Failure.”

[0002] The entire disclosures of the above- and below-referenced applications / patents are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth in this document:

[0003] 1) U.S. Patent No. 10,084,535, issued on September 25, 2018, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Handled Ing Communications between Spacecraft Operating in an Orbital Environment and Terrestrial Telecommunications Devices That Use Terrestrial Base Station Communications” (hereinafter referred to as “Speidel I”);

[0004] 2) U.S. Patent No. 10,742,311, entitled “Simplified Inter-Satellite Ink Communications Using Orbital Plane Crossing to Optimize Inter-Satellite Data Transfers,” issued on August 11, 2020 (hereinafter referred to as “Speidel II”);

[0005] 3) U.S. patent application No. 17 / 570,329, filed on January 6, 2022, entitled “Satellite Communication System Transmitting Navigation Signals Using a Wide Beam and Data Signals Using a Directive Beam” (hereinafter referred to as “Speidel III”). Technical Field

[0006] The present disclosure relates generally to satellite coverage for mobile communications, and more particularly to satellite alternative coverage when terrestrial cellular network capabilities are insufficient. Background Art

[0007] Mobile communication infrastructure can be used to connect devices to the network and carry voice, data, etc. signals between mobile devices and some other infrastructure (e.g., servers and other user devices). For example, a first user with a first mobile phone can communicate with a second user with a second mobile phone in the following manner: the software and radio circuits in the first mobile phone send wireless signals between the first mobile phone and a nearby cellular tower that handles cellular phone services according to a pre-agreed protocol. The cellular tower can be fixed in a certain location and powered by the power grid, and has wired access to the telephone network, packet switching network, or other communication infrastructure. Then, the network infrastructure can then directly or indirectly connect to the second cellular tower (assuming that the second user does not use the first cellular tower), and a connection can be completed between the second cellular tower and the second mobile phone. Assuming that each mobile phone is within the coverage of a cellular tower (which is an operational cellular tower), many such connections can be made simultaneously. In various situations (e.g., power outages, storms, natural disasters, other emergencies, network overloads, network attacks, etc.), the cellular tower may not be able to carry any business, the amount of business required to support multiple mobile phone devices in the area, and in these situations, one or more cellular towers will experience some form of complete or partial capacity shortage. When there is a capacity shortfall, some users may be unable to communicate, which can be problematic in certain situations, particularly in the event of a natural disaster where users are attempting to cope with the disaster and require a means of communicating with others who are at considerable distances away.

[0008] Some communications infrastructure can provide on-site repairs for capacity shortfalls, such as maintaining battery power and / or generators on-site at land cell towers or buildings in the event of a failure in the grid that normally supplies power to the cell towers. Another approach is to use portable deployment equipment as a network backup solution, such as using "cell-on-the-go" (COW) equipment that is temporarily moved to the geographic location where the network outage occurs. However, these solutions are temporary and may not be sufficient in the event of a prolonged network outage.

[0009] Better support is expected to address the problem of insufficient communication network capacity.

[0010] An example of modifying base station antenna tilt and orientation to mitigate neighboring cell undercapacity problems can be found, for example, in US Patent No. 7,577,103 B2 to Flanagan et al. Summary of the invention

[0011] A general aspect includes a method for providing backup network services in a communication network used by a mobile terminal. The method includes: receiving information about a terrestrial base station of the communication network; detecting insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station by using a first non-terrestrial base station and information about the terrestrial base station; identifying a second non-terrestrial base station within a communication range suitable for providing backup services to the communication network; introducing the second non-terrestrial base station as a new base station of the communication network; and, via the second non-terrestrial base station, carrying traffic between at least one mobile terminal and the communication network for at least one of a plurality of mobile terminals that can connect to the terrestrial base station at least during a period other than a period of insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems, apparatuses, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, each of which is configured to perform the actions of the method.

[0012] In some embodiments, the first non-terrestrial base station and the second non-terrestrial base station are the same. In some embodiments, the traffic includes at least one of voice, text messages, or data. In some embodiments, the detection of insufficient capacity is performed partially at the ground station and partially at the first non-terrestrial base station. In some embodiments, identifying the second non-terrestrial base station is based on the geographic location of the terrestrial base station and the orbital location of the second non-terrestrial base station. In some embodiments, the detection of insufficient capacity is performed by analyzing signals within a spectrum used by the terrestrial base station. In some embodiments, analyzing the signals is performed at the first non-terrestrial base station. In some embodiments, analyzing the signals is performed at the ground station and the results of the analysis are transmitted to the first non-terrestrial base station. In some embodiments, the second non-terrestrial base station operates as a base station that appears to be compatible with a communication protocol used between at least one mobile terminal and the terrestrial base station as seen by at least one mobile terminal. In some embodiments, the method further includes: notifying a plurality of mobile terminals that can connect to the terrestrial base station at least during periods other than periods of insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station that the second non-terrestrial base station can be used to carry traffic between the mobile terminal and the communication network. In some embodiments, the method further includes: providing a spectrum analyzer function in the first non-terrestrial base station for monitoring spectrum occupancy of the terrestrial spectrum. In some embodiments, detecting insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station is performed at least in part using the spectrum analyzer function. In some embodiments, the spectrum analyzer function utilizes physical components of the first non-terrestrial base station, but is simultaneously executed in software, such that the first non-terrestrial base station can provide service in a first portion of its potential coverage area while monitoring spectrum usage in at least a second portion of its potential coverage area. In some embodiments, the method further comprises: providing a filter switch within the first non-terrestrial base station or the second non-terrestrial base station to enable a radio of the first non-terrestrial base station or the second non-terrestrial base station to tune to and receive frequency bands used by the terrestrial base station. In some embodiments, introducing the second non-terrestrial base station as a new base station for the communication network comprises: triggering the second non-terrestrial base station to begin operating at least partially within the spectrum vacated by the under-capable terrestrial base station. In some embodiments, introducing the second non-terrestrial base station as a new base station for the communication network comprises: triggering the second non-terrestrial base station to begin operating at least partially within the geographic area vacated by the under-capable terrestrial base station. In some embodiments, the method further comprises: displaying occupancy information about the monitored changes in spectrum occupancy to a human operator, and receiving authorization from the human operator to introduce the second non-terrestrial base station as a new base station for the communication network. In some embodiments, the method further comprises: detecting, by the first non-terrestrial base station or the second non-terrestrial base station, that the terrestrial base station has recovered capability, and disconnecting the second non-terrestrial base station from the network. Implementations of the techniques may include hardware, a method or process, or computer software on a computer-accessible medium.

[0013] A general aspect includes a method for providing backup network services in a communication network used by a mobile terminal. The method includes: receiving a first message from a device in communication with the communication network, the first message including information about insufficient capacity of a terrestrial base station of the communication network, or information about a future event predicted to cause insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station; identifying at least one non-terrestrial base station with a predicted line of sight to the terrestrial base station or at least a portion of its radio coverage area based at least in part on the first message; introducing at least one non-terrestrial base station as at least one new base station of the communication network; carrying traffic between at least one mobile terminal and the communication network via the at least one non-terrestrial base station for at least one of a plurality of mobile terminals that can connect to the terrestrial base station during periods other than periods of insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station; receiving a second message from the device in communication with the communication network, the second message including information about recovery capacity of the terrestrial base station; and disconnecting at least one non-terrestrial base station from the communication network based at least in part on the second message. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems, apparatuses, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, each of which is configured to perform the actions of the method.

[0014] In some embodiments, the device is an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or the message is a Simple Messaging Service (SMS) message. Implementations of the techniques may include hardware, a method or process, or computer software on a computer-accessible medium.

[0015] A system of one or more computers may be configured to perform specific operations or actions through software, firmware, hardware, or a combination of software, firmware, or hardware installed on the system that causes the system to perform actions when run. One or more computer programs may be configured to perform specific operations or actions by including instructions that, when executed by a data processing device, cause the device to perform an action.

[0016] This summary is provided to introduce in a simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, or to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. A more extensive presentation of features, details, utilities, and advantages of the methods and apparatus as defined in the claims is provided in the following written description of various embodiments of the present disclosure and shown in the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Various embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0018] Figure 1is a diagram of a mobile satellite network architecture with traditional mobile and ground stations and a network operation center, according to various embodiments.

[0019] Figure 2 An enhanced base station capable of both spectrum analysis and mobile network operations utilizing multiple air interfaces is shown in accordance with various embodiments.

[0020] Figure 3 is a block diagram of a portion of a satellite that handles communications in accordance with various embodiments.

[0021] Figure 4 is a block diagram of elements of a satellite according to various embodiments.

[0022] Figure 5 is a block diagram of a portion of a non-terrestrial base station in accordance with various embodiments.

[0023] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a portion of a non-terrestrial base station in accordance with various embodiments.

[0024] Figure 7 is a block diagram of a portion of a non-terrestrial base station in accordance with various embodiments.

[0025] Figure 8 is a block diagram of a portion of a non-terrestrial base station in accordance with various embodiments.

[0026] Fig. 9 is a block diagram of a portion of an interference table according to various embodiments.

[0027] Fig.10 is an example grid point table according to various embodiments.

[0028] Fig.11 is an example polygon table according to various embodiments.

[0029] Fig.12 is an example dynamic overlay table in accordance with various embodiments.

[0030] Fig.13 is an example interrupt watchlist table according to various embodiments.

[0031] Fig.14 An example computer system memory structure that may be used to perform the methods described herein is shown according to various embodiments.

[0032] Fig.15 It is a diagram showing that various embodiments can be implemented thereon Figure 1 and Fig.14 A block diagram of an example computer system of the system shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] In the following description, various embodiments will be described. For illustrative purposes, specific configurations and details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these embodiments may be practiced without some or all of the specific details. In addition, well-known features may be omitted or simplified to avoid blurring the embodiments being described. Overview of Communications Network Infrastructure

[0034] Mobile communications involve signaling between a terminal and a transceiver that can provide an interface for the terminal to communicate to and from other network resources (e.g., telecommunications networks, the Internet, etc.) to carry voice and data communications. A transceiver can be a component in a base station that handles traffic from multiple transceivers. A base station can also include an antenna and an encryption / decryption unit. A base station can have wired, wireless, and / or optical channels for communicating with other network resources. A base station can support one or more transceivers, and a given base station that supports mobile communications can have a base station controller.

[0035] A terminal may be some kind of electronic user equipment that interacts with satellites or satellite signals in some way. Examples may include a user equipment (UE) configured or designed to use a certain protocol or protocols, a mobile phone (which may be a full-featured smartphone or other device), or some device connected to the Internet of Things (IoT). In many cases, the terminal may be assumed to be portable, i.e. it may be easily moved from one place to another and is generally stationary in operation; or it may be assumed to be mobile, i.e. it needs to be designed to be able to operate while moving relative to the surface of the Earth.

[0036] Examples of terminals include mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, and other devices equipped to communicate with wireless network infrastructure. It should be understood that the operation, function or characteristic of the terminal may also be the operation, function or characteristic of a station that is actually or functionally a mobile station but is not currently moving. In some examples, the terminal may be viewed as a portable station that can be moved from one place to another but is stationary in operation, such as a laptop computer with several connected peripherals and a cellular connection, or the terminal may be non-movable, such as a cellular device embedded in an installed home security system. The terminal may be referred to as a land mobile device, a user receiver, a user equipment (UE), etc.

[0037] Examples of base stations include cellular telephone towers, macrocell transceivers, femtocell transceivers, picocells (which may have only one transceiver), etc. The base station communicates with the terminal wirelessly. Some base stations have a wired backhaul (an interface between the base station and other network resources), such as a wired backhaul with a cellular telephone tower, while some base stations may have a wireless backhaul, such as a microwave point-to-point bidirectional communication channel. Thus, a base station may be any of several different types of electrically driven devices that receive data streams from a terminal and process these data streams and / or forward them to other network resources, and receive data streams from other network resources and process these data streams and / or forward them to the terminal via a base station-terminal link. In this sense, the base station acts as an access point for the terminal to allow the terminal to access network resources such as a telecommunications network, the Internet, a private network, etc. This access may be used to route voice calls, other calls, text transmissions, data transmissions, video, etc.

[0038] Each base station typically includes a processor, memory, radio circuit, power supply, interface with telecommunication network, diagnostic interface, etc. to perform its functions. The base station processor can read data from the program memory to perform the desired functions. For example, the program memory can have instructions for how to form a data stream, how to pass the data stream to the radio circuit, how to communicate with the telecommunication network, how to read the internal clock to determine the value of the system clock in order to properly arrange the time of listening and sending, how to set the appropriate sending and receiving frequency, how to track various terminals and their status, location, allocation, etc., and these instructions can be stored in a locally available memory.

[0039] The telecommunications network behind the base station may include a network and switching subsystem that determines how to route data to the appropriate base station and how to route data received from the base station. The telecommunications network may also have infrastructure for handling circuit connections and packet-based Internet connections, as well as network maintenance support. In any case, the base station may be configured to use certain protocols with the terminals and other protocols with the backhaul. In operation, the base station may require power and data infrastructure to support its capabilities.

[0040] To simplify the description, in many examples herein, communication is described as being performed between a base station and a terminal to interact with one terminal, but it should be understood that these interactions can be from the base station to a transceiver, to a radio circuit, to an antenna, to a terminal antenna, to a terminal radio circuit, to software / hardware in the terminal, and can be corresponding paths in other directions from the terminal to the base station. Therefore, in some examples where a base station is communicating with a terminal, the communication is performed via a transceiver, and the example ignores other transceivers that the base station may be controlling.

[0041] The communication protocols used between the terminal and the base station may be such that they are standardized so that any standard terminal can communicate with any base station, assuming that the range requirements are met and that the membership requirements are met (e.g., the terminal has identified itself to the base station so that the base station or the service used by the base station determines that the terminal is a member of the authorized group or is otherwise authorized to use the service provided by the base station). Some example protocols that the base station may use include the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications; a registered trademark of the GSM Association) 2G+ protocol using Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK), the EDGE protocol using GMSK and 8-PSK phase shift keying. The base station may handle multiple transceivers that use multiple sets of carrier frequencies within the spectrum band of the wireless spectrum allowed by the protocol. Therefore, when the spectrum band is logically divided into carrier spectra, the transceiver may communicate with the terminal using a channel that uses one (or more) of these carrier frequencies. The protocol may specify that for a given channel, there are uplink subchannels and downlink subchannels that may be separated from each other in terms of carrier frequency. In some cases, the uplink subchannel has a carrier frequency that is adjacent to the carrier frequency of the downlink subchannel. In some cases, all uplink subchannels are in one spectrum band and all downlink subchannels are in another spectrum band. For ease of explanation, a channel is sometimes described as having an uplink portion and a downlink portion as if it were one channel, even though the portions are far apart in terms of carrier frequency.

[0042] A satellite may be an object, vehicle, etc., that is configured, designed, constructed, etc. to operate in an orbit (e.g., Earth orbit), and may be designed to be consistent with a specific orbital altitude and / or a specific orbital orientation as a design goal. A satellite may include various electronic components that allow communication between satellites, communication with fixed ground stations dedicated to satellite support, command, control, etc., and / or communication with terrestrial equipment such as terminals. A satellite does not need to be in orbit to perform the functions described herein. For example, the present disclosure may cover systems that can be deployed in orbit but operate on Earth, whether in test mode or production mode.

[0043] Satellites may be able to transmit signals via a beam pattern, and a satellite constellation may provide cellular coverage to any location on Earth via one or more beams using one or more satellites simultaneously. Each beam may implement full-duplex bandwidth for simultaneous uplink and downlink communications using protocols such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); or frequency division duplex (FDD) or time division duplex (TDD) using protocols such as Long Term Evolution (LTE); or FDD or TDD using protocols such as 5G New Radio (NR). Some beams may implement receive-only operation to support uplink measurements of signals from terminals or base stations on the ground.

[0044] The cells of the cellular communication network may be implemented via narrow beams, where each beam acts as a cell (e.g., a base transceiver station (BTS), an enhanced Node B (eNB), or a gNB). Although these examples are used in the present disclosure, it should be understood that other types of cells may be used alternatively or additionally. These cells may employ standard control plane channels and standard user plane channels that are typically implemented in general GSM, LTE, NR, etc. networks. One of these control channels may be a broadcast control channel (BCCH).

[0045] In one embodiment, a satellite communication constellation may deploy thousands of satellites in a low earth orbit (LEO) at an altitude of about 500 kilometers. The shape of the orbit may be circular or elliptical. Other embodiments may deploy fewer or more satellites in orbits below or above 500 kilometers. For simplicity, in one embodiment, the orbit configuration may be consistent with a Walker-type constellation. In this configuration, the satellites are placed in orbits with a common altitude. The satellite positions may be evenly spaced in an inertial plane around the earth, wherein the inertial planes are evenly spaced around the earth, and the planes of the satellites are evenly spaced (at least approximately evenly spaced) on the inertial longitude of the ascending node.

[0046] For data communications, the satellites may be part of a constellation forming a space-based satellite network designed to communicate with standard mobile handsets according to some pre-agreed protocol. Examples of data communications technologies and protocols include time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDMA), third generation partnership project (3GPP) technologies (e.g., GSM (2G)), code division multiple access (CDMA, 3G), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS, 3G), LTE (4G), NR (5G), etc. Examples and details are provided in Speidel I to Speidel III.

[0047] Although most of the examples and details here involve orbital transceivers that are adapted, configured, programmed, etc. to establish communications with terminals (these terminals operate as if those design assumptions still hold), the use of these technologies is not limited to orbital examples. For example, they can be used for base stations that are located high enough to make the inclination angle greater than 120 kilometers. For example, if the base station can be installed at an altitude of 1130 meters, it is sufficient to allow the line of sight (slant range) to the terminal to reach 120 kilometers or more. Platforms such as airplanes, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), high-altitude drones, hot air balloons, high-altitude balloons, suborbital vehicles, space planes, mountains, or even some very large towers can be environments where some or all of these technologies will work. It is also worth noting that the described technology can even be deployed on a ground-based base station, but the ground-based base station is equipped with antenna directivity to provide services to terminals running on the platform, creating a long communication distance (e.g., more than 120 kilometers) and / or a high Doppler shift environment, such as greater than about 200 kilometers per hour (200KPH). This may include situations where the terminal is operating on the ground, in the atmosphere, or in a space environment, and the base station is on the ground and either in motion (eg, on a vehicle) or possibly stationary.

[0048] As used herein, "footprint" refers to an area on the ground that is within the range where a communication channel can be established with a base station on a satellite. In the examples herein, a circular coverage area may be used, but it should be understood that the coverage area may not be circular and may depend on obstruction factors, the shape of the earth's surface, atmospheric conditions, etc. In some cases, the coverage area is a "designed coverage area" that is different from the actual coverage area. For example, a satellite may actually be able to communicate with a mobile device that is far away, so the mobile device is within the actual coverage area of ​​the satellite, but for selectivity, performance or other reasons, the system using the satellite is designed for a different coverage area, such as a coverage area that is smaller than the actual coverage area (i.e., the designed coverage area). The boundary of the designed coverage area can be a circle or ellipse projected by the satellite onto the earth, centered on the surface point directly below the satellite and having a radius that the satellite should cover as designed (e.g., a specific slant range).

[0049] As used herein, "ground" may be used to refer to the location of a terminal, but it should be understood that "ground" is not limited to the surface of the earth. When a terminal is described as being ground-based or on the ground, it may be located in the hands of a person standing on the surface of the earth, on the surface of a body of water, slightly below the surface of the earth or slightly below the surface of a body of water, in an upper floor of a building, in a structure that is not completely at ground level, in an airplane, or in a position high in the air but in the atmosphere, or the like. However, for the sake of clarity, a terminal may be described as being on the ground to distinguish it from a unit located in orbit.

[0050] As used herein, "being in orbit" means being located at a certain position and traveling at a certain speed relative to an inertial system (which is (more or less) stationary relative to the center of gravity of the earth), and the atmospheric drag received at this position is small enough so that the orbit can be easily maintained. In some examples herein, orbital distances are given, and orbital distances generally refer to the typical distance from an average or ordinary point on the surface of the earth, which is a conventional way to describe orbits. In some examples, "LEO" can be used, and it should be understood that these examples can be applied to those orbits that may be slightly beyond the scope of the traditional definition of LEO but are still considered as orbits. Unless otherwise indicated, "being in orbit" can also describe orbits around other celestial bodies (e.g., Mars, the moon, other planetary satellites, or even points of interest (e.g., L1 or L2)). In many examples herein, the base station is in orbit around the earth, and the terminal is on the earth. It is possible to apply the teachings of this article to other situations, such as situations where the base station is in an aircraft, an unmanned vehicle, a balloon, etc., encountering similar difficulties.

[0051] In addition, the satellite capabilities described herein can be used to identify emerging and untapped wireless needs, such as those from new buildings, parks, or attractions that have wireless needs but limited or no terrestrial capabilities. The satellite capabilities described herein can serve these emerging users and alert land mobile operators to opportunities to build new land base stations to provide full capabilities to these locations.

[0052] Currently, mobile network operators identify such growth opportunities by analyzing where calls are dropped, typically in areas at the edges of existing coverage that need to be expanded. However, for disconnected areas where demand is growing, operators can look at zoning or real estate transactions to predict where new communities or attractions may emerge. This process can be cumbersome and not well automated. By leveraging the mobile satellite capabilities of the present disclosure, observing spectrum usage and attempting to connect to base stations on the satellite, these emerging demand areas can be served and terrestrial network planners can be alerted to opportunities to better serve areas of growing demand. Non-terrestrial base station support, usually in situations where capacity is insufficient

[0053] Embodiments herein may be used to provide network backup using space-based cellular networks or non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) that identify failed terrestrial networks or other inadequate capabilities, possibly by sensing radio spectrum usage observed by space-based spectrum analysis capabilities. For example, a geographic area that is known to normally have active cellular radio transmissions but have ceased transmissions is likely to require ground mobile satellite service as a backup.

[0054] An example non-terrestrial network (e.g., a space-based cellular network) that provides cellular radio service to existing mobile phones may be, for example, a non-terrestrial network described in Speidel I that is capable of operating using radio spectrum frequencies used in conventional terrestrial cellular networks. Thus, it may be useful for a satellite to be equipped with a cellular base station that is capable of tuning to the same frequency band as used by the terrestrial network and measuring signal strength in that frequency band. With conventional mobile base station architecture, the satellite's cellular base station would inherently be able to receive and measure signal strength of uplink traffic from user terminals (e.g., cellular handsets on the ground).

[0055] By changing one or more of the satellite's radios, the satellite can also be enabled to tune to the downlink frequency band and measure the transmission signals sent by the terrestrial base stations. The absence of such signals can indicate that the terrestrial network or a portion of it has gone out of service.

[0056] The cellular base station may be an orbiting base station or some other non-terrestrial base station (NTBS) located outside the surface of the earth. Examples may include, for example, an orbiting base station, a balloon-borne base station, an airborne base station, etc. Once a determination is made that a terrestrial base station is insufficiently capable, the terrestrial base station may be replaced with a cellular base station implemented on a satellite. This determination may be made by attempting to communicate with the terrestrial base station; by monitoring transmissions from the terrestrial base station; and / or based on information provided by a network monitoring system capable of detecting insufficient capabilities of the terrestrial base station.

[0057] The capacity shortage may be due to a power outage, loss of the base station (e.g., cellular tower) itself, an inability to handle current traffic demand, or other forms of detectable capacity shortage. Generally speaking, the capacity shortage may be some state or change in state of one or more land base stations that results in the land base station being completely or partially unable to handle its current traffic demand. The current traffic demand may be normal or typical traffic for the land base station, or it may include additional demands. For example, if the land base station is configured to handle a specific amount of traffic and is handling that specific amount of traffic, but due to some event, the network is imposing a much higher amount of traffic on the land base station (this may be considered a capacity shortage of the land base station, even though it is handling the traffic volume for which it was designed).

[0058] A non-terrestrial base station may intervene to address network needs when faced with a capacity shortfall, and may intervene as an immediate failover or after a period of time has elapsed. For example, a non-terrestrial base station may determine that a capacity shortfall has occurred when it observes spectrum usage of the radio spectrum that varies with space, time, and frequency. A terrestrial base station may determine that a capacity shortfall has occurred when the terrestrial base station receives a message from a non-terrestrial base station indicating that one or more terrestrial base stations (other base stations, or even the terrestrial base station that is determining a capacity shortfall may determine based on messages from itself) are transmitting cellular broadcast messages to mobile phones within their range, wherein the cellular broadcast messages relate to events that may be associated with a terrestrial cellular tower in a nearby area that has become inoperable and / or under-capacitated. For example, if a cellular tower is transmitting a cellular broadcast message that alerts mobile devices of a tornado warning and a non-terrestrial base station receives the alerting cellular broadcast message, the rail network management system may infer that an outage is likely to occur in the area of ​​the transmitting cellular tower.

[0059] In certain embodiments, the rail network management system (whether ground-based, air-based, autonomous, manually operated, or a combination thereof) may instruct a non-terrestrial base station to replace a terrestrial base station. For example, Speidel I shows an example of using a non-terrestrial base station in an area where there are no terrestrial base stations (even if the supported terminals are not specifically adapted for satellite communications). Aspects of backup network services and backup networks implementing such services

[0060] The network used for communication of mobile terminals (e.g., smart phones and IoT devices) may fail. For example, a natural disaster may render terrestrial cellular towers inoperable or incapable over a large area. Incapacity may be an inability to send and receive signals, an inability to move data and / or signals between a base station and the larger network, bandwidth limitations, etc. Incapacity may be caused by damaged base station hardware, power outages, obstructions, etc. Network services may be used to transmit data communication services including voice, text messages, data, etc. Messages may include Simple Messaging Service (SMS) messages.

[0061] When the capacity of a land base station is insufficient in whole or in part, a non-land base station (e.g., an orbital base station, a floating base station, an airborne base station, etc.) can step in to take over some network services. The orbital base station or the ground-based system can perform the tasks, testing, and sensing required to determine or detect the insufficient capacity of the land cellular tower. In some cases, it may be preferred that such a backup base station considers whether there is an outage, the location of the outage, and the extent of the outage, and uses this information in decision making to determine whether the backup base station is to step in and provide network services that were originally performed by a group of land base stations. The status of the land base station and / or the communication network can generally be determined by a network component that is remote and / or separate from the non-land base station, and the network component can transmit its determination to the non-land base station that will serve as the backup base station.

[0062] The non-terrestrial base station performing the detection may detect that one or more terrestrial base stations have insufficient capacity, and if a backup non-terrestrial base station is within a communication range suitable for providing backup services for the communication network, the backup non-terrestrial base station may intervene to replace the insufficiently capable terrestrial base station. In some cases, the non-terrestrial base station detecting the insufficient capacity may be a base station providing the backup service. In other cases, the non-terrestrial base station performing the detection is a first non-terrestrial base station, and the backup non-terrestrial base station is a second non-terrestrial base station different from the first non-terrestrial base station.

[0063] The backup non-terrestrial base station can connect to the mobile terminal in a manner that appears to be a terrestrial base station, which will allow service to be provided to mobile terminals that are not specifically configured for connection to the non-terrestrial base station. For example, the backup non-terrestrial base station can be an orbital base station with operating characteristics for which the mobile device is not programmed, such as the distance from the base station to the mobile device is greater than the distance expected by the protocols used by the mobile device and / or the relative speed between the base station and the mobile device is not expected by these protocols.

[0064] The detection of insufficient capacity may be performed at a ground station, at a non-terrestrial base station performing the detection, or some combination thereof. A network controller, base station, or other device may detect insufficient capacity by analyzing signals within the spectrum used by a terrestrial base station. For example, a passing orbital base station may listen for an expected signal from a terrestrial base station, and if none is detected, it is assumed that the terrestrial base station is fully or partially insufficiently capable. In another approach, the listening is performed at a ground station, and the results of the analysis are transmitted to a non-terrestrial base station. The location of the ground station performing the listening may depend on the location of the terrestrial base station or a location where an outage may occur but is not necessarily the case.

[0065] The network controller may select the orbital base station as the backup non-terrestrial base station (which may be the non-terrestrial base station performing the detection or a different base station) from among the available options based on the geographic location of the under-capable terrestrial base station and the orbital location of the backup non-terrestrial base station.

[0066] The backup non-terrestrial base station may operate as a base station that appears to the at least one mobile terminal to be compatible with a communication protocol used between the at least one mobile terminal and the under-capable terrestrial base station. The backup non-terrestrial base station may be introduced as a new base station into the communication network by triggering the backup non-terrestrial base station to begin operating at least partially within a frequency spectrum vacated by the under-capable terrestrial base station. The backup non-terrestrial base station may be introduced as a new base station into the communication network by triggering the backup non-terrestrial base station to begin operating at least partially within a geographic area vacated by the under-capable terrestrial base station.

[0067] The network controller and / or the backup non-terrestrial base station may notify the mobile terminal that can connect to the terrestrial base station that the backup non-terrestrial base station is available to carry traffic between the mobile terminal and the communication network. The notification may be sent via the terrestrial base station during a period other than a period of insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station.

[0068] The network controller and / or the backup non-terrestrial base station may include a spectrum analyzer for monitoring spectrum occupancy of the terrestrial spectrum. Detection of insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station is performed at least in part using such a spectrum analyzer function. The spectrum analyzer may utilize physical components of the non-terrestrial base station performing the detection, but at the same time run in software so that the non-terrestrial base station performing the detection can provide service in a first portion of its potential coverage area while monitoring spectrum usage in at least a second portion of its potential coverage area. For example, in the case where the spectrum occupancy of the terrestrial base station is controlled by a protocol (e.g., the protocol expects the terrestrial base station to periodically broadcast availability messages within a specific frequency band), the spectrum analyzer may be programmed to detect the absence of these expected messages and / or the absence of signals within the expected frequency band. The non-terrestrial base station performing the detection and / or the backup non-terrestrial base station may include a filter switch to enable its radio to tune to and receive a frequency band used by the terrestrial base station.

[0069] The network controller may send information about monitored changes in spectrum occupancy to a human readable display and receive authorization from a human operator to introduce a backup non-terrestrial base station as a new base station for the communications network.

[0070] The network controller, the non-terrestrial base station performing the detection, and / or the backup non-terrestrial base station may detect that the terrestrial base station has recovered the capability, and in response, change its operating mode or send a message to other devices in the communication network. For example, upon detecting that the terrestrial base station has recovered the capability, the backup non-terrestrial base station may be disconnected from the communication network and / or stop or reduce its own announcement of its availability. The network controller and / or the backup base station may notify the mobile terminal that is able to connect to the terrestrial base station that the backup base station or some other backup base station may be used to carry traffic between the mobile terminal and the communication network during the period when the terrestrial base station is insufficiently capable, and may also do so at other times.

[0071] The spectrum analyzer may utilize physical components of the first non-terrestrial base station but simultaneously run in service provision software such that the first non-terrestrial base station may provide service in a first portion of its potential coverage area while monitoring spectrum usage in at least a second portion of its potential coverage area.

[0072] The non-terrestrial base station may include a filter switch to enable the radio to tune to and receive a frequency band used by the terrestrial base station. The non-terrestrial base station may be introduced as a new base station to the communications network by triggering the non-terrestrial base station to begin operating at least partially within a frequency spectrum vacated by the under-capable terrestrial base station and / or at least partially within a geographic area vacated by the under-capable terrestrial base station.

[0073] A method for providing backup network services in a communication network used by a mobile terminal may be provided by a device in communication with the communication network, the device sending a first message including information about insufficient capacity of a terrestrial base station of the communication network, or information about a future event predicted to cause insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station. Based at least in part on the first message, a network controller or a base station may identify at least one backup non-terrestrial base station having a predicted line of sight to the terrestrial base station or at least a portion of its radio coverage area. The backup non-terrestrial base station may be introduced as a new base station for the communication network. During periods of insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station (and possibly other times), the backup non-terrestrial base station may carry traffic for at least some of a plurality of mobile terminals that are capable of connecting to the terrestrial base station.

[0074] If the backup non-terrestrial base station receives the message including information about the terrestrial base station's recovery capability, the backup non-terrestrial base station may disconnect from the communication network in response.

[0075] Analysis of spectrum occupancy can include the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence to identify trending patterns and changing geographic usage clusters.

[0076] The communication network can be configured to provide information about the need that can allow planners of a growing wireless network to identify areas that are not currently served by terrestrial base stations. This can be achieved by: receiving information about terrestrial terminals in an unserved area that are seeking to connect to the wireless communication network; having a non-terrestrial base station that performs detection detect any capacity shortfalls of terrestrial base stations of a terrestrial network in the unserved area; reporting the capacity shortfall when the terrestrial network lacks the capacity to meet the growing wireless network need in the unserved area, and alerting network planners that the growing wireless service need in the unserved area is an unmet need, wherein the unmet need can be addressed by mobile satellite service or by constructing additional terrestrial wireless infrastructure to provide service to the unserved area. Implementation examples

[0077] Satellites with space-based spectrum analyzers can monitor spectrum usage and send out alerts if spectrum usage has changed significantly (e.g. identifying mobile network outages, updated or new operations). Thus, non-terrestrial networks can initiate or increase satellite coverage when there is a significant outage in terrestrial cellular networks, or reduce satellite operations if the satellite observes that the terrestrial network is back online.

[0078] Figure 1 1 is a diagram of a mobile satellite network architecture with conventional mobile and ground stations and a network operations center, according to various embodiments. As shown, a non-terrestrial network 130 may include a satellite constellation 102 (e.g., satellite 102(1), satellite 102(2) ... satellite 102(n)), wherein at least one of the satellites 102 includes a non-terrestrial base station (NTBS) 103. As will be shown below, the non-terrestrial base station may include a processor, software stored on and / or executed on the processor, and a radio for cellular communications, the radio being programmed according to a protocol recognizable by a ground-based cellular network 140 and / or a terminal 110 (e.g., a cellular handset, which would typically be served by the ground-based cellular network). Each satellite 102 may be capable of observing, monitoring, or communicating with a corresponding geographic area or coverage area, which may or may not include a terminal 110, and may or may not include a cellular tower or other terrestrial base station 108 (whether or not currently functioning properly).

[0079] Figure 1Examples of satellites in 102 include satellites 102(1), 102(2) ... 102(n). As used herein, the use of ellipses and "n" indicates that there are a certain number of similar units and that an exact value of n need not be specified, while the use of "i" and "(i)" may refer to an unspecified one of the n similar units. It should be noted that "n" and "i" may be used as indicators in more than one place and that they do not necessarily indicate a one-to-one correspondence between different uses. Examples of NTBSs on satellites 103 include Figure 1 The orbital cellular base station 103 (1) shown, Figure 2 The orbital cellular base station 203 (1) shown, Figure 2 The orbital cellular base station 103 (2) etc. are shown.

[0080] By changing one or more radios of satellite 102, satellite 102 may also be tuned to the downlink frequency band and able to measure transmissions from terrestrial base stations 108. The absence of such signals would indicate that terrestrial network 140 or a portion thereof has been taken out of service.

[0081] The data transmission may be a message sent from the ground station 113 to the satellite 102, which then forwards the message to the terminal 110 using a protocol programmed or configured for the terminal 110. For example, the satellite 102 may send the transmission using a protocol that a standard smart phone can receive. As described herein, the NTBS 103 may be an orbiting base station or some other non-terrestrial base station that exists outside the surface of the earth. Examples may include, for example, an orbiting base station, a balloon-borne base station, an airborne base station, and the like. Once it is determined that the terrestrial base station is insufficiently capable, the terrestrial base station may be replaced with a cellular base station implemented on the satellite 102. This determination may be made by attempting to communicate with the terrestrial base station; by monitoring transmissions from the terrestrial base station; and / or based on information provided by a network monitoring system that is capable of detecting insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station. Such a monitoring system may be a terrestrial mobile network operator (MNO) core infrastructure 120, a public data network (PDN) server cloud 116, a network operations center (NOC) 114, or one or more ground stations 113, or may be part of them.

[0082] Non-terrestrial network 130 may also include ground station 113 that interfaces with satellites (e.g., satellites 102(1) ... 102(n) and NTBS 103). In some embodiments, ground station 113 may provide a backhaul network for connecting to various network infrastructures such as a terrestrial mobile network operator core infrastructure. In other embodiments, one or more non-terrestrial base stations may be able to communicate directly with terminal 110, whether or not the non-terrestrial base stations are in communication with ground station 113. Figure 1In the example shown, Earth's horizon 106 may block communications and / or the radios used for communications may have limited range, such that satellites 102(4) and 102(n) each communicate with at least one antenna 112 of ground station 113, while satellites 102(1), 102(2), and 102(3) do not communicate with ground station 113. In such a case, one or more satellites 102 may act as communication relays, such that one satellite 102 may communicate with ground station 113 indirectly via one or more relay satellites among satellites 102.

[0083] Land network 140 may be a traditional cellular network and may include one or more land base stations 108, at least one of which includes a radio for data communication with terminal 110. Example land base stations may include permanent cell towers, temporary cell towers, or mobile base stations (e.g., Cell on Wheels (COW)), for example, base stations that can be deployed to replace or introduce cell sites as part of a recovery effort or to handle additional demand (e.g., at a conference or festival or other unusually high demand event). Land network 140 may also include one or more terminals or handsets 110, at least one of which includes a radio for cellular communication, the radio being programmed according to a protocol for communicating with land base station 108. Thus, land network 140 may facilitate communication between one terminal 110 and another terminal 110, or between terminal 110 and a remote server (e.g., a server of a public data network server cloud 116).

[0084] Some terminals 110 may be located within the communication range 105 of a properly functioning terrestrial base station 108 and may therefore normally communicate with the terrestrial network 140. However, during a partial or complete network outage, some terminals 110 may be located in a geographic area 104 that is beyond the communication range 105 of any properly functioning terrestrial base station 108 but may be served by a non-terrestrial base station 103 of a satellite 102. In this case, the terminals 110 may communicate with the non-terrestrial base stations in the same manner as they would normally communicate with a terrestrial base station 108 (e.g., using the same protocol and signal strength). Some handsets or terminals 109 (otherwise similar to terminals 110) may be located within the communication range 105 of a properly functioning terrestrial base station 108 but may also be located in a geographic area 104 served by a non-terrestrial base station 103 of a satellite 102. In this case, the terminals or handsets may communicate with either the non-terrestrial base station 103 or the terrestrial base station 108. This can be useful, for example, in situations where the handset or terminal 109 is near the edge of the communication range 105 of the terrestrial base station 108, and / or when communications with the terrestrial base station 108 can only be established intermittently (e.g., due to terrain interference, power outages, etc.). In this way, the non-terrestrial network 130 can replace an entire ground-based network 140 or a large portion thereof that is out of service.

[0085] Figure 2 An enhanced non-terrestrial base station 203(1), 203(2) capable of both spectrum analysis and mobile network operation utilizing multiple air interfaces (eg, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Long Term Evolution (LTE)) is shown according to various embodiments. Figure 2 and other drawings (e.g. Figure 1 ) can be constructed similarly.

[0086] exist Figure 2 In the example shown, non-terrestrial base station 203(1) is located on satellite 202(1) and may be able to communicate directly with terminal 210(1) so that a communication link 214(1) can be established between terminal 210(1) and a second terminal 210(2) communicating with a functioning terrestrial base station 208(1). These terminals may be mobile phones or other wireless devices.

[0087] Non-terrestrial base station 203(2) of satellite 202(2) may be able to communicate directly with terminal 210(3) and terminal 210(4), so that despite the proximity of terminal 210(3) and terminal 210(4) to non-functioning terrestrial base station 208(2), communication link 214(2) may still be established between them. However, in a different area (e.g., outside the service outage area), terminal 210(5) and terminal 210(6) may be able to establish communication link 214(3) between each other through a functioning terrestrial base station 208(3).

[0088] In this way, any terminal can establish a communication link with any other terminal, regardless of whether one or both parties are located in an area where the land network is experiencing an outage. Messages can be passed from one terminal to another along the message path. Figure 2 In the example shown, message 220(1) is communicated from terminal 210(1) to terminal 210(4) along message path 230(1) including satellite 202(1) and satellite 202(2).

[0089] Figure 3 300 is a block diagram of a communication portion 300 of a satellite that handles communications according to various embodiments. These communication portions 300 may, for example, form a non-terrestrial base station (e.g., Figure 1 and other places shown on the track base station) or a part thereof. Figure 3 As shown, satellite 301 accommodates non-terrestrial base stations. Antenna 302 receives signals from and / or transmits signals to a geographic area or coverage area as described elsewhere herein. Antenna 302 provides an analog signal to an RF analog receiver 304. The controlled base station can select a carrier frequency and provide an indication of the carrier frequency of interest to the RF analog receiver 304. Note that there may be more than one such receiver implemented in hardware and / or software, one such receiver per channel. The output of the RF analog receiver 304 is a baseband analog signal, which is provided to an analog-to-digital converter (A / D) 306 to generate a digital signal. The digital signal is processed by a digital signal processor (DSP) 308, which outputs a bit stream corresponding to the bit stream output by the mobile station / terminal and outputs it to a processor 310, which can then process the binary code from the bit stream, possibly in a physical (PHY) network layer 312 in a conventional manner.

[0090] Figure 44 is a block diagram of elements of a satellite according to various embodiments. The interconnections shown are typically electrical connections (e.g., via wiring or buses) and may be contained within the satellite, while the antennas are mounted outside the satellite. In this example, the rear antenna 406, the forward antenna 404, and the ground antenna 412 are coupled to the RF subsystem 408, which can receive signals impinging on these antennas and can send signals to these antennas for transmission. The communication interface 410 processes: sending baseband data or signals to the RF subsystem 408, and receiving baseband data or signals from the RF subsystem 408. The data sent via the communication interface 410 can be specified by the processor 420, which operates according to program code stored in the program code storage device 422 and readable by the processor 420. Alternatively, the processing functions can be implemented by a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other circuits.

[0091] As shown, processor 420 may also access random access memory 426 and message storage device 424 for various purposes. In some embodiments, program code storage device 422, random access memory 426, and message storage device 424 may be common data structures. Some or all of the units shown may be powered by power supply 432, and one or more clock signals may be provided by clock 430.

[0092] Other units (e.g., control systems) may be processed by processor 420 or other processors on the satellite, and they may or may not communicate. Program code storage device 422 may also be used to store temporary variables or other intermediate information during the execution of instructions to be executed by processor 420. The program code may be replaced in response to commands sent to the satellite. When the program code is stored in a non-temporary storage medium accessible to processor 420, the processing portion of the satellite can be turned into a special-purpose machine customized to perform the operations specified in the instructions. The memory component may be a static or dynamic memory, preferably capable of operating in a space environment. A maintenance interface may be provided. Customized hard-wired logic, one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or FPGAs, firmware and / or program logic may be provided, which are combined with processor 420 to implement a special-purpose machine. The execution of the instruction sequence contained in program code storage device 422 may cause processor 420 to perform the processing steps described in the flowchart and elsewhere herein. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuits may be used instead of software instructions or in combination with software instructions. The term "storage media" as used herein may refer to any non-transitory media that store data and / or instructions that cause a machine to operate in a specific manner. Such storage media may include non-volatile media and / or volatile media.

[0093] One aspect of the operation and / or program code of the processor 420 is to receive and send messages to the ground and other satellites so that, as a system, the system transmits the message from the source to the destination. When the satellite receives the message on the uplink via the ground antenna 412, the processor can determine which message path to use based on the location of the intended recipient with the destination device, thereby determining which set of inter-satellite links to use to deliver the message. Since the time required to transmit data through the satellite network is very fast relative to the movement of the satellite around the earth, the satellite located above the recipient when the message is initiated at the source can still make the destination device within its coverage area when the message is finally transmitted (or "terminated" in the telecommunications industry). Even if this is not the case, this fact can be calculated and predicted when transmitting data through the network. Therefore, the satellite that transmits the message or establishes a connection determines whether the satellite to which the message is to be transmitted to the target device of the recipient via the downlink is located in the same orbital plane as the uplink satellite. If not, the satellite that transmits the information transmits the message to another orbital plane by means of cross-plane transmission. Once the message has reached a satellite in the orbital plane of the satellite to which the message is to be transmitted (or terminated) via the downlink, the signal can be transmitted through the remaining path via a forward link or a reverse link on the satellite until the message reaches the final destination satellite.

[0094] Each message may have a message path, and the path of a message may be explicitly provided by the message, or may be determined by a program step performed on the satellite or elsewhere. Regardless of how it is calculated, the message path follows the orbital plane until a suitable cross-plane transmission can be made using the forward / rearward facing antennas. The message path may be stored on the satellite and used to determine which antenna to use to retransmit and therefore forward a received message.

[0095] Figure 5 is a block diagram of a portion of a rail base station according to various embodiments, which discloses Figure 1 The functional parts of an orbiting base station are shown implemented on a satellite 503. A similar set of units can be used for non-terrestrial base stations that are not necessarily located in orbit.

[0096] As shown, the ePC unit 510 (Evolved Packet Core) includes a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 512 , a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 514 , and a Serving Gateway (S-GW) 516 . Figure 5The enhanced base station is capable of both spectrum analysis and mobile network operation utilizing multiple air interfaces (e.g., GSM and its Network Switching Subsystem (NSS) via NSS unit 536, and LTE (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network, or E_UTRAN) unit 520 including multiple eNBs 522). A software defined radio (SDR) 550 may be used by a higher level protocol stack that includes a spectrum analyzer 540 (which may be a spectrum analyzer module). The spectrum analyzer 540 may be used to measure received signal strength on a frequency band of interest. Figure 5 In the example shown, the rail base station includes a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) module 530 (equipped with a BSC 532, one or more BTSs 534, and an optional NSS 536), these units and a spectrum analyzer 540 work through an SDR 550. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other components or combinations of components may be used as Figure 5 Substitution or supplement of the listed components or combinations of components.

[0097] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a portion of a non-terrestrial base station according to various embodiments, which may be used in a non-terrestrial base station described elsewhere herein (e.g., Figure 1 The non-terrestrial base station 103) may have Figure 5 Some common units. Figure 6 In the example shown, the non-terrestrial base station includes a serving gateway (S-GW) 616 that communicates bidirectionally with an eNB stack 610 of an eNB 622, which can be done, for example, via an S1-UP protocol (S1 user plane, where S1 is an interface for Long Term Evolution (LTE), although other protocols may be used alternatively or in addition). The eNB stack 610 may also communicate bidirectionally with an MME module 614 via an S1-CP (S1 control plane) protocol, and bidirectionally with an eNB control unit 612 via medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) control signals. The eNB stack 610 may receive RF front-end control signals from the eNB control unit 612. The air interface unit 608 (which may be, for example, a Long Term Evolution physical air interface (LTE-Uu)) may also communicate bidirectionally with the eNB stack 610 via air interface (e.g., LTE-Uu) signals, and send air interface (e.g., LTE-Uu) input signals to the eNB control unit 612. Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other components or combinations of components may be used as Figure 6 Substitution or supplement of the listed components or combinations of components.

[0098] Figure 7is a block diagram of a portion of an eNB stack 700 for a non-terrestrial base station according to various embodiments. Figure 7 In the example shown, the non-terrestrial base station may be similar to Figure 6 The eNB stack 610 is shown and may include a radio resource control (RCC) module 702 that communicates with the outside of the eNB stack 700, for example via the S1-CP protocol as described herein, and communicates with the eNB control unit via MAC and physical layer control signals.

[0099] exist Figure 7 In the illustrated example, the eNB stack 700 also includes a packet data convergence control (PDCP) module 704 that communicates with the outside of the stack 700 via S1-UP as described above. The PDCP module 704 communicates bidirectionally with a radio link control (RLC) module that communicates bidirectionally with an enhanced medium access control (MAC) module 708 that communicates bidirectionally with an enhanced physical layer (PHY) that communicates bidirectionally with a radio frequency (RF) front end and / or beamformer 712. In the example, the RF front end and / or beamformer 712 receives RF front end control signals and communicates with the outside of the eNB stack 700 via air interface (e.g., LTE-Uu) signals as described herein.

[0100] In the example, the RCC module 702 sends control signals to the PDCP module 704, the RLC module 706, the enhanced MAC module 708, and the enhanced physical layer (PHY) module 710. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other components or arrangements of components may be used as Figure 7 Alternatives or supplements to the components or arrangements of components shown. Spectrum Analysis

[0101] Figure 8 8 is a block diagram of an eNB control unit 810 of a non-terrestrial base station according to various embodiments. Figure 8 In the example shown, the eNB control unit 810 may be similar to Figure 6 The eNB control unit 612 shown in FIG. 1 may include an eNB state space controller 802 that exchanges MAC and physical layer control signals with the eNB stack 700 (see FIG. 1 ). Figure 7 ), and sends RF front-end control signals to the RF front-end and / or beamformer 712 (see Figure 7 Detection of insufficient terrestrial capacity may involve the use of a base transceiver station by the satellite (e.g. Figure 5The radio device of the BTS 534 shown in the figure acts as a spectrum analyzer to detect and analyze radio traffic on the ground. Such spectrum analysis capabilities on the enhanced base station disclosed herein may include, for example, a digital signal processor (DSP) 804, a layer 1 signal processing module 806, and a receiver front end 812. These components may be hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) programmed to perform the functions described herein. In an example, the DSP 804 receives control signals from the eNB state space controller 802 and returns processed signals to the eNB state space controller 802, and communicates bidirectionally with the layer 1 signal processing module 806. The layer 1 signal processing module 806 receives control signals from the eNB state space controller 802, and receives signals from the receiver front end 812, which receives control signals from the eNB state space controller 802 and signals from an air interface module (e.g., Figure 6 6. The air interface module 608 shown in FIG. 6 shows an air interface (eg, LTE-Uu) signal of the air interface module 608 of FIG. 6.

[0102] These units may be configured together to generate a data set that may be transmitted back to an enhanced mobility management entity (MME) 514 (eg, Figure 5 ), to notify the interference table (e.g., Figures 9 to 13 The receiver front end 812 may be configured to focus on a particular frequency band of interest and may be similar or identical to the front end used by a base station radio. The front end may be responsible for filtering and low noise amplification of signals on some resource blocks of interest. Layer 1 signal processing 806 may perform analog-to-digital (A / D) conversion and digital filtering on the signal. This may involve an FPGA, which may be reprogrammed or reconfigured by the base station state space controller.

[0103] The digitally filtered signals from the layer 1 signal processing (which may be I and Q from the RF samples) may be passed back to the DSP block 804 for further processing. If the spectrum analyzer front end (e.g., DSP block 804, layer 1 signal processing 806, and receiver front end 812) can be used to digitally sample I and Q from spectrum blocks up to 20 MHz with 16-bit resolution, it may be necessary to sample at a rate at least twice the bandwidth or higher (e.g., 40 MHz). Since the data does not necessarily need to be demodulated at a certain bit rate when performing spectrum analysis, the sampling rate may be reduced in some embodiments. At this rate, a 10 millisecond sample of a 20 MHz LTE uplink block (e.g., 1 LTE radio time frame) will generate 1.6 megabytes (MB) before any packet overhead or compression process. If continuous sampling continues, the spectrum analyzer may generate data at a rate of 1.28 Gbits / second. This may or may not exceed the ability of the spacecraft to downlink raw data at a faster rate than it can sample and record the data before filling up the memory, data buffer, etc. Therefore, particularly in the early stages of constellation deployment, digital signal processing and compression algorithms may be desirable or even required to manage the size of the spectrum analysis data, which may be facilitated by the DSP block 804.

[0104] The DSP block 804 may implement methods and / or be programmed to reduce the size of the collected data by performing calculations or processing that generates some smaller-sized numerical data sets to be used as actionable intelligence in the state-space prediction engine. For example, the DSP block 804 may perform a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) on the time slots of a particular resource block and evaluate the interference margin (in dB) above the expected noise floor on the 180kHz resource block. Interference may be evaluated across time windows and resource blocks and time-stamped so that it may be transmitted back as a digital matrix representing the interference environment on a particular frequency channel at a particular time.

[0105] This information on radio signal strengths at various frequencies of interest and the signal levels measured at recorded geographic locations, frequencies and times can be stored in a database of historical spectrum analysis measurements, such as Figures 9 to 13 As suggested in .

[0106] If the current signal is determined to be below contractual terms, the satellite may be triggered to commence operation to replace an under-capable terrestrial network subject to a static polygon on the ground corresponding to the mobile network operator's contractual service terms. Alternatively, if the orbital network management system (or its components) observes a substantial power drop relative to historical signal levels taking into account day / night, weekend / weekday variations, the satellite network may trigger actions such as: notifying the network operations center (NOC) that the network may be under-capable, notifying the relevant mobile network operator that a drop in radio signal strength in its terrestrial coverage area has been observed and suggesting that the satellite network take over, or automatically replace the terrestrial network, or continue operation of the satellite network. This list may not be exhaustive of the multiple actions that may be triggered by these observed spectrum analysis measurements and should be viewed as exemplary and not limiting.

[0107] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other components or arrangements of components may be used as Figure 8 Alternatives or supplements to the components or arrangements of components shown.

[0108] Fig. 9 is a block diagram of a portion of an interference table 900 according to various embodiments, which interference table, for example, may be stored in a node associated with an eNB (e.g., Figure 5 The data in the interference table 900 may be used, for example, in a calculation to determine whether a network outage has occurred and the location and / or severity of the outage. Depending on the implementation, the interference table 900 may include a grid point table 904, a polygon table 906, a dynamic coverage table 908, and an outage monitoring list table 910, as described herein.

[0109] Fig.10 An example of a grid point table 1000 is shown according to various embodiments, the grid point table 1000 including frequency, signal strength, measurement conditions, and other information about previously detected signals associated with a terrestrial wireless communication network, which may be Fig. 9 A portion of interference table 900 is shown. The processor may, for example, check this information against current or recent measurements to help determine if an expected signal is missing or attenuated.

[0110] Fig.11 1 shows an example of a polygon table 1100 according to various embodiments, which may include, for example, geographic information and other information about terrestrial base stations, ranges or coverage areas associated with a particular terrestrial network. The polygon table 1100 may be an interference table (e.g., Fig. 9 A portion of the interference table 900 is shown.

[0111] The processor can use this information to determine whether the detected outage is associated with a partner terrestrial network (e.g., a terrestrial network that has contracted for backup satellite communication services). Such areas can be considered areas of interest. For example, a negotiated agreement can be reached with a given terrestrial network to provide coverage during an outage. If the non-terrestrial base station does not detect any expected communications from these areas of interest at all, the system can, for example, assume that a complete outage has occurred and backup services can be provided. For example, the detection of outages can include machine learning or other artificial intelligence techniques that identify relevant parameter changes over time.

[0112] In some embodiments, machine learning techniques may also be used to examine historical trends in usage and combine different data sources (e.g., population density maps, detection of cellular broadcast messages sent from terrestrial cell towers alerting mobile phones to certain events that may cause nearby terrestrial cell towers in the vicinity to be inoperable and / or under-capacitated, as well as seasonal variations in usage and similar holiday considerations) to best identify when a drop in spectrum usage may be due to an event such as a holiday rather than due to insufficient network capacity. Such techniques may be referred to, for example, as artificial intelligence with machine learning based on years of statistical evaluation.

[0113] Fig.12 1 shows an example of a dynamic overlay table 1200 according to various embodiments. The dynamic overlay table 1200 may be an interference table (e.g., Fig. 9 The dynamic coverage table 1200 may be a portion of the interference table 900 shown in FIG. 1200 . According to various embodiments, the dynamic coverage table 1200 may, for example, store and continuously update information about geographic areas or coverage areas that are currently serviceable by one or more non-terrestrial base stations (e.g., one or more satellites in a satellite constellation). This information may be used, for example, to determine which non-terrestrial assets (e.g., which satellites or non-terrestrial base stations) are able to provide services to customers of a particular network that is currently experiencing an outage. In some cases, the non-terrestrial base station may be an orbiting satellite, or may be a portion of an orbiting satellite. In other cases, the non-terrestrial base station may be carried on a balloon, aircraft, drone, projectile, or other non-terrestrial delivery vehicle.

[0114] Fig.13 An example of an interrupt monitoring list table 1300 is shown. The interrupt monitoring list table 1300 may be an interference table (eg, Fig. 91300). According to various embodiments, the outage watch list table 1300 may store geographic information or other information about areas affected by natural disasters or other events that may cause terrestrial network outages. Such areas may, for example, be considered areas of interest, and the information may, for example, be used to instruct non-terrestrial assets to detect or analyze signals from the areas of interest in order to determine whether one or more network outages have actually occurred. The outage watch list table may, for example, include weather data (e.g., predicted hurricanes), news, seismic events, war zones, evacuation zones, etc.

[0115] In an example, a NOC operator associated with a non-terrestrial communications network (e.g., a satellite constellation) may be monitoring for natural disasters and may observe if and when the orbital network management system determines that a terrestrial network is degraded / inadequate in capacity. The NOC operator may then command a satellite base station to check for degradation in signal levels from terrestrial networks in the affected area, and whenever a terrestrial network failure is observed (observed only by satellite), the satellite may substitute for the partner organization's inadequate terrestrial network either under contract or upon direct request or instruction (if the MNO partner can be contacted during the period of inadequate capacity). Example Operation

[0116] Once a satellite, non-terrestrial base station, ground operating system, or other component of the airborne cellular network detects a lack of capacity on the part of the base station of the terrestrial cellular tower by analyzing the spectrum or otherwise, detecting activity or inactivity of the terrestrial cellular network as an indicator of operation or failure of the terrestrial network, or otherwise, the airborne cellular network may restore some capacity. For example, the non-terrestrial base station may advertise availability to terminals in the geographic area where the lack of terrestrial network service capacity is detected, and withdraw such advertising when the terrestrial network service capacity appears to be restored.

[0117] The base station radio can sense power in the uplink frequency band, looking for user equipment transmissions that are a sign of terrestrial network operation. Alternatively, user equipment or base station transmissions on the time division duplex (TDD) band can be monitored. Finally, the satellite base station radio can be equipped with filtering and switching capabilities to measure downlink terrestrial network frequencies, directly measuring the network's radio transmissions. This information can be used to trigger the satellite to fill in the gaps in terrestrial cellular service when needed, as well as to stop providing mobile satellite service when terrestrial service resumes normal operation. Example of detection of insufficient capacity

[0118] Space-based spectrum analyzers can detect network outages on the ground (e.g., a specific set of cell towers that are inoperative or under-powered for a defined period of time). Based on these observations, space-based cellular networks can begin radio transmissions toward areas where there are no regular operations to replace those under-powered terrestrial cell towers.

[0119] When a terrestrial tower is ready to resume operation (e.g., a mobile network operator (MNO) sends a technician to repair the tower and restore power), an airborne spectrum analyzer can detect an increase in terrestrial radio transmissions, and this can trigger the airborne cellular network to shut down the beams generated for insufficient capacity.

[0120] An alternative approach could be that the MNO has an IoT device that will send SMS to the air-based network, letting it know the status of the terrestrial cell towers so that the base stations on the satellite can become active when needed and inactive when not needed.

[0121] An alternative approach could be for the MNO to use a network connection to the ground network portion of the space-based network, or to use a network connection directly to the space-based network. The network connection can be used to provide signaling between the networks, where the MNO terrestrial network can notify the space-based network of an outage and take corrective action. In some embodiments, the space-based cellular network can identify the exact location to place a new beam in order to re-optimize coverage deployment and bandwidth in the event of an outage or capacity shortfall. In addition, the space-based network can notify the MNO terrestrial network that is providing enhanced coverage of capacity shortfalls that have been measured by the satellite's own spectrum analysis sensors.

[0122] An alternative method for determining whether a previously under-capable terrestrial network has resumed operation is for the satellite's Base Station Controller (BSC) to monitor measurement reports from mobile phones in the outage area as usual. In normal operation of a mobile network such as GSM, mobile phones periodically measure the signal quality of nearby cells and various frequency channels. These measurements are reported to the base station every 480 milliseconds over the Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH). These measurement reports are typically used to trigger a mobile handover when the connection to the new cell is better than the existing connection. In the case of a network that has resumed operation, the mobile phone may measure that the connection to the terrestrial network is stronger than the connection to the satellite network, and therefore a handover to the terrestrial network should be initiated. In this case, as the terrestrial network stabilizes, the mobile station connected to the satellite should switch to the preferred terrestrial network when the terrestrial network resumes normal operation.

[0123] Once all mobile stations have switched to the terrestrial network, the satellite may, for example, stop transmitting to the area in order not to cause any radio interference to the terrestrial network that may be operating on the same or adjacent frequencies to those used by the satellite. Identify changes in wireless usage needs

[0124] Traditionally, mobile operators can monitor dropped call rates to identify areas where additional base stations and cell towers should be built. However, this technology cannot identify isolated areas of emerging demand for unmet wireless services. To address this problem, mobile operators also monitor real estate transactions and general news for announcements of new residential construction, zoning for new amusement parks, and even outdoor concerts and sporting events that may draw crowds to areas with limited or no existing mobile coverage.

[0125] The satellite capabilities disclosed herein and the resulting ability to identify and even connect to mobile phones that are unable to connect to terrestrial networks provide a method of measuring the presence of such areas and providing mobile phone services via satellite. If the capacity of the serving satellite is becoming saturated, then a mobile operator may be alerted, for example, to the need to construct additional terrestrial base stations to meet the unexpected increase in demand in the area. Example Data Structure

[0126] Fig.14 An example of a data structure that can exist in a memory or storage device accessible to a computer processor is shown. In some embodiments, the data structure is used by various components and tools, some of which are described in more detail herein. The data structure and program code for operating on the data structure can be provided and / or carried by a transient computer-readable medium (e.g., a transmission medium in the form of a signal sent over a network).

[0127] According to some embodiments, the techniques described herein are implemented by one or more general-purpose computing systems that are programmed to perform the techniques according to program instructions in firmware, memory, other storage, or a combination thereof. Special-purpose computing devices, such as desktop computer systems, portable computer systems, handheld devices, networked devices, or any other device that incorporates hardwired and / or program logic to implement the techniques may be used.

[0128] One embodiment may include a carrier medium carrying data, including data that has been processed by the methods described herein. The carrier medium may include any medium suitable for carrying data, including a storage medium (e.g., a solid-state memory, an optical or magnetic disk), or a transient medium (e.g., a signal carrying data, such as a signal sent over a network, a digital signal, a radio frequency signal, an acoustic signal, an optical signal, or an electrical signal).

[0129] Fig.14is a simplified functional block diagram of a storage device 1448 having an application that can be accessed and executed by a processor in a computer system, which may be part of an embodiment of a method and / or apparatus for providing a backup network service in a communication network used by a mobile terminal and / or a computer system that provides such a backup network service. Fig.14 Also shown are examples of memory units that can be used by a processor to implement the units of the embodiments described herein. In some embodiments, the data structure is used by various components and tools, some of which are described in more detail herein. The data structure and the program code for operating the data structure can be provided and / or carried by a temporary computer-readable medium (e.g., a transmission medium in the form of a signal sent over a network). For example, when a function block is referenced, it can be implemented as a program code stored in a memory. The application can be one or more of the applications described herein, which run on a server, client, or other platform or device, and can represent the memory of one of the clients and / or servers shown elsewhere.

[0130] The storage device 1448 may be one or more memory devices that can be accessed by the processor, and the storage device 1448 may have application code 1450 stored thereon, which may be configured to store one or more processor-readable instructions in the form of write-only memory and / or writable memory. The application code 1450 may include application logic 1452 associated with the application, library functions 1454, and file I / O functions 1456. Fig.14 The memory unit may be used in a server or computer that interacts with users, generates data, and / or manages other aspects of the processes described herein.

[0131] The storage device 1448 may also include application variables 1462, which may include one or more memory locations configured to receive input variables 1464. The application variables 1462 may include variables generated by the application or local to the application. The application variables 1462 may be generated, for example, based on data retrieved from an external source (e.g., a user or an external device or application). The processor may execute the application code 1450 to generate the application variables 1462 provided to the storage device 1448. The application variables 1462 may include operational details required to perform the functions described herein.

[0132] Storage devices 1448 may include storage devices for databases and other data described herein. One or more memory locations may be configured to store device data 1466. Device data 1466 may include data originating from an external source (e.g., a user or an external device). Device data 1466 may include, for example, records passed between servers before being sent or after being received. Other data 1468 may also be provided.

[0133] The storage device 1448 may also include a log file 1480 having one or more memory locations 1484 configured to store the results of the application or the input provided to the application. For example, the log file 1480 may be configured to store a history of actions, reminders, error messages, etc.

[0134] According to some embodiments, the techniques described herein are implemented by one or more general-purpose computing systems that are programmed to perform the techniques according to program instructions in firmware, memory, other storage, or a combination thereof. Special-purpose computing devices, such as desktop computer systems, portable computer systems, handheld devices, networked devices, or any other device that incorporates hardwired and / or program logic to implement the techniques may be used.

[0135] One embodiment may include a carrier medium carrying data, including data that has been processed by the methods described herein. The carrier medium may include any medium suitable for carrying data, including a storage medium (e.g., a solid-state memory, an optical or magnetic disk), or a transient medium (e.g., a signal carrying data, such as a signal sent over a network, a digital signal, a radio frequency signal, an acoustic signal, an optical signal, or an electrical signal).

[0136] Fig.15 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system 1500 on which the computer system and / or Fig.14 The computer system 1500 includes a bus 1502 or other communication mechanism for transmitting information, and a processor 1504 coupled to the bus 1502 for processing information. The processor 1504 may be, for example, a general-purpose microprocessor.

[0137] The computer system 1500 also includes a main memory 1506 (e.g., a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device) coupled to the bus 1502 for storing information and instructions to be executed by the processor 1504. The main memory 1506 may also be used to store temporary variables or other intermediate information during the execution of instructions to be executed by the processor 1504. Such instructions, when stored in a non-transitory storage medium accessible to the processor 1504, render the computer system 1500 into a special-purpose machine customized to perform the operations specified in the instructions.

[0138] Computer system 1500 also includes a read only memory (ROM) 1508 or other static storage device coupled to bus 1502 for storing static information and instructions for processor 1504. A storage device 1510 (eg, a magnetic or optical disk) is provided and coupled to bus 1502 for storing information and instructions.

[0139] The computer system 1500 may be coupled to a display 1512 (e.g., a computer monitor) via the bus 1502 for displaying information to a computer user. An input device 1514 (including alphanumeric and other keys) is coupled to the bus 1502 for communicating information and command selections to the processor 1504. Another type of user input device is a cursor control 1516, such as a mouse, trackball, or cursor direction keys, for communicating direction information and command selections to the processor 1504 and for controlling cursor movement on the display 1512. The input device typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes, i.e., a first axis (e.g., x) and a second axis (e.g., y), which allows the device to specify a position within a plane.

[0140] Computer system 1500 may implement the techniques described herein using custom hardwired logic, one or more ASICs or FPGAs, firmware, and / or program logic (which is combined with the computer system to make computer system 1500 a special purpose machine or program computer system 1500 to be a special purpose machine). According to one embodiment, computer system 1500 performs the techniques described herein in response to processor 1504 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 1506. Such instructions may be read into main memory 1506 from another storage medium (e.g., storage device 1510). Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in main memory 1506 causes processor 1504 to perform the processing steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hardwired circuits may be used in place of software instructions or in combination with software instructions.

[0141] The term "storage medium" as used herein refers to any non-temporary medium that stores data and / or instructions that cause a machine to operate in a particular manner. Such storage media may include non-volatile media and / or volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device 1510. Volatile media include dynamic memory, such as main memory 1506. Common forms of storage media include, for example, floppy disks, flexible disks, hard disks, solid-state drives, tapes, or any other magnetic data storage media, CD-ROMs, any other optical data storage media, any physical media with a pattern of holes, RAM, PROMs, EPROMs, FLASH-EPROMs, NVRAMs, any other memory chips, or cassettes.

[0142] Storage media are distinct from, but can be used with, transmission media. Transmission media participate in the transmission of information between storage media. For example, transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire, and optical fiber, including the wiring that comprises bus 1502. Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio wave and infrared data communications.

[0143] Various forms of media may be involved when carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor 1504 for execution. For example, the instructions may initially be carried on a disk or solid-state drive of a remote computer. The remote computer may load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over a network connection. A modem or network interface local to the computer system 1500 may receive the data. The bus 1502 carries the data to the main memory 1506, from which the processor 1504 retrieves and executes the instructions. The instructions received by the main memory 1506 may optionally be stored on the storage device 1510 before or after being executed by the processor 1504.

[0144] The computer system 1500 also includes a communication interface 1518 coupled to the bus 1502. The communication interface 1518 provides a two-way data communication coupled to a network link 1520, which is connected to a local network 1522. For example, the communication interface 1518 can be a network card, a modem, a cable modem, or a satellite modem, which is used to provide a data communication connection with a corresponding type of telephone line or communication line. A wireless link can also be implemented. In any such implementation, the communication interface 1518 sends and receives electrical signals, electromagnetic signals, or optical signals carrying digital data streams, which represent various types of information.

[0145] The network link 1520 typically provides data communications with other data devices through one or more networks. For example, the network link 1520 may provide a connection to a host computer 1524 or data equipment operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 1526 through a local network 1522. The ISP 1526 in turn provides data communication services through a global packet data communication network, now commonly referred to as the "Internet" 1528. Both the local network 1522 and the Internet 1528 use electrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals that carry digital data streams. The signals through the various networks and the signals on the network link 1520 and through the communication interface 1518, which carry the digital data to the computer system 1500, are example forms of transmission media.

[0146] Computer system 1500 may send messages and receive data, including program code, through the network, network link 1520, and communication interface 1518. In the Internet example, server 1530 may send code for a requested application program through Internet 1528, ISP 1526, local network 1522, and communication interface 1518. The received code may be executed by processor 1504 after it is received, and / or stored in storage device 1510 or other non-volatile storage for later execution.

[0147] Unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context, the operations of the processes described herein may be performed in any appropriate order. The processes described herein (or variations thereof and / or combinations thereof) may be performed under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, and may be implemented as codes (e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs, or one or more applications) that are collectively executed on one or more processors by hardware or a combination thereof. The code may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in the form of a computer program including multiple instructions executable by one or more processors. The computer-readable storage medium may be non-transitory. The code may also be carried and / or provided by a temporary computer-readable medium (e.g., a transmission medium in the form of a signal sent over a network).

[0148] Unless expressly stated otherwise or clearly contradicted by context, conjunctive language such as phrases of the form "at least one of A, B, and C" or "at least one of A, B, and C" should be understood in context as generally used to express that an item, term, etc. can be any non-empty subset of the set of A or B or C, or A and B and C. For example, in the illustrative example of a set with three members, the conjunctive phrases "at least one of A, B, and C" and "at least one of A, B, or C" refer to any of the following sets: {A}, {B}, {C}, {A, B}, {A, C}, {B, C}, {A, B, C}. Thus, such conjunctive language is generally not intended to imply that a particular embodiment requires the presence of at least one A, at least one B, and at least one C.

[0149] The use of examples or exemplary language (e.g., "for example, such as") provided herein is intended only to better illustrate embodiments of the invention and does not impose limitations on the scope of the invention unless otherwise required. No term in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.

[0150] In the foregoing description, embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to numerous specific details that may vary from implementation to implementation. Therefore, the description and drawings should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. The only and exclusive indicator of the scope of the present invention and the scope of the present invention that the applicant intends to protect is the literal and equivalent scope embodied in the specific form of these claim announcements from the set of claims published in this application, including any subsequent corrections.

[0151] Those of ordinary skill in the art may envision additional embodiments after reading this disclosure. In other embodiments, combinations or sub-combinations of the invention disclosed above may be advantageously made. For illustrative purposes, example arrangements of components are shown, and combinations, additions, rearrangements, etc. are contemplated in alternative embodiments of the invention. Therefore, although the invention has been described with respect to exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications may be made.

[0152] For example, the processes described herein may be implemented using hardware components, software components, and / or any combination thereof. Therefore, the description and drawings should be viewed as illustrative rather than restrictive. However, it is apparent that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims, and the invention is intended to cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of the appended claims.

[0153] All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.

Claims

1. A method for providing a backup network service in a communication network used by a mobile terminal, the method comprising: receiving information about a terrestrial base station of the communication network; detecting insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station by using a first non-terrestrial base station and information about the terrestrial base station; identifying a second non-terrestrial base station within communication range suitable for providing backup services to the communication network; introducing the second non-terrestrial base station as a new base station of the communication network; as well as The service between at least one mobile terminal and the communication network is carried via the second non-terrestrial base station for at least one mobile terminal among a plurality of mobile terminals that can be connected to the terrestrial base station at least during periods other than periods of insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first non-terrestrial base station and the second non-terrestrial base station are the same.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The service includes at least one of voice, text message or data.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The detection of insufficient capacity is performed partly at the ground station and partly at the first non-terrestrial base station.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Identifying the second non-terrestrial base station is based on a geographic location of the terrestrial base station and an orbital location of the second non-terrestrial base station.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Detection of insufficient capacity is performed by analyzing signals within the spectrum used by the terrestrial base stations.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: Analysis of the signal is performed by the first non-terrestrial base station.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein: Analysis of the signal is performed by a ground station and the results of the analysis are transmitted to the first non-terrestrial base station.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein: Detection of undercapacity is performed by detecting cellular broadcast messages sent from terrestrial cellular towers relating to possible tower undercapacity events.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The second non-terrestrial base station operates as a base station that appears to the at least one mobile terminal to be compatible with a communication protocol used between the at least one mobile terminal and the terrestrial base station.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A plurality of mobile terminals that can connect to the terrestrial base station at least during periods other than periods of insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station are notified that the second non-terrestrial base station can be used to carry traffic between mobile terminals of the plurality of mobile terminals and the communication network.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A spectrum analyzer function is provided in the first non-terrestrial base station for monitoring spectrum occupancy of the terrestrial spectrum.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: Detecting insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station is performed at least in part using the spectrum analyzer functionality.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The spectrum analyzer functionality utilizes physical components of the first non-terrestrial base station but simultaneously operates in software, enabling the first non-terrestrial base station to provide service in a first portion of its potential coverage area while monitoring spectrum usage in at least a second portion of its potential coverage area.

15. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: A filter switch is provided within the first non-terrestrial base station or the second non-terrestrial base station for enabling a radio of the first non-terrestrial base station or the second non-terrestrial base station to tune to and receive a frequency band used by the terrestrial base station.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein: Introducing the second non-terrestrial base station as a new base station of the communication network comprises triggering the second non-terrestrial base station to begin operating at least partially within a spectrum vacated by the under-capable terrestrial base station.

17. The method according to claim 12, wherein: Introducing the second non-terrestrial base station as a new base station of the communication network includes triggering the second non-terrestrial base station to begin operating at least partially in a geographical area vacated by the under-capable terrestrial base station.

18. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: Displaying occupancy information to a human operator regarding changes in monitored spectrum occupancy; as well as Authorization is received from the human operator to introduce the second non-terrestrial base station as a new base station for the communication network.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting, by the first non-terrestrial base station or the second non-terrestrial base station, a recovery capability of the terrestrial base station; as well as The second non-terrestrial base station is disconnected from the communications network.

20. A method for providing a backup network service in a communication network used by a mobile terminal, the method comprising: receiving a first message from a device in communication with the communication network, the first message comprising information about insufficient capacity of a terrestrial base station of the communication network or information about a future event predicted to cause insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station; identifying, based at least in part on the first message, at least one non-terrestrial base station having a predicted line of sight to the terrestrial base station or at least a portion of its radio coverage area; introducing the at least one non-terrestrial base station as at least one new base station of the communication network; carrying, via the at least one non-terrestrial base station, traffic between the at least one mobile terminal and the communications network for at least one mobile terminal among a plurality of mobile terminals that are capable of connecting to the terrestrial base station at least during periods other than periods of insufficient capacity of the terrestrial base station; receiving a second message from a device in communication with the communication network, the second message including information about the terrestrial base station recovery capability; as well as Based at least in part on the second message, the at least one non-terrestrial base station is disconnected from the communications network.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein: The device is an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or the message is a Simple Messaging Service (SMS) message.

22. A method for managing network demand in an unserved area not currently served by a terrestrial base station, the method comprising: receiving information regarding a land terminal in the unserved area that is seeking to connect to the wireless communication network; detecting insufficient capability of terrestrial base stations of the terrestrial network in the unserved area by using non-terrestrial base stations; reporting a capacity shortfall when the terrestrial network lacks capacity to meet growing wireless network demand in the unserved area; as well as Network planners are alerted to the growing demand for wireless service in the unserved areas as an unmet need that can be addressed by mobile satellite service or by building additional terrestrial wireless infrastructure to provide service to the unserved areas.

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