Dynamic access control of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of orbiting satellites

Abstract

Dynamic access control of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a low-Earth satellite constellation. The present invention relates to a method (36) for dynamically controlling access of a terminal to the satellite resources of a low-Earth satellite constellation, comprising the following steps, for a predetermined mission: - prior geolocated planning (38) of the allocation partition of all satellite resources according to a geolocated need associated with said mission, and the predetermined low-Earth movement of each satellite; - dynamic access control (44) of said terminal to said satellite resources by applying, at each predetermined time of said mission, the following substeps: - identification and location (48) of said terminal; - determination (50) of the nature of the service required from said terminal;- routing of said terminal to a piece of said partition according to said identification, said location and said nature of service. Figure for the abbreviation: Figure 2;

Description

Title of the invention: Dynamic access control of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for dynamically controlling access of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites.

[0002] The present invention also relates to a computer program comprising software instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement such a method for dynamic access control of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites.

[0003] The present invention also relates to a manager configured to implement such a method for dynamically controlling access of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites.

[0004] The present invention also relates to a communication system comprising such a manager, a constellation of moving satellites, at least one communication terminal, at least one ground anchoring station.

[0005] The invention relates more particularly to the field of satellite communications (satcom), in particular with a view to applying the future standard (i.e. standard) for non-terrestrial networks 3GPP (from the English Third Generation Partnership Project).

[0006] The new satellite constellations as well as the high-throughput geostationary satellites HTS (High Throughput Satellite) offer global or multi-spot coverage, each spot being typically a circle or ellipse of 100 to 500 km in diameter, multi-spot coverage covering one or more continents, or even the entire globe.

[0007] In the case of governmental uses, the costs of acquiring and operating such constellations are such that it is not conceivable that they be borne by a single country, so much so that an attempt is made to share such satcom capacities between a plurality of operators each covering different or overlapping areas of interest. Furthermore, in such a context of governmental communications, it is also sometimes necessary, for communications which require it, to guarantee their sovereignty between the areas of interest and a sovereign anchorage present geographically in the country.

[0008] Currently, the main known techniques for allowing a plurality of operators (governmental or not) to share a capacity are associated with the 3GPP standards, in particular chapter 4 of the 3GPP TS 28.530 standard or the 3GPP TS 23.247 standard, relating respectively to the capacity to partition all the radio and core network resources to offer a virtual infrastructure with means of orchestration and management of each partition (i.e. piece or slice) on the definition of zones associated with a communication group capable of receiving broadcast messages there.

[0009] However, these current techniques are not suitable for taking into account the constraint associated with the field of protected communications using satellites moving in non-geostationary orbit, such as low Earth orbit (LEO) or medium Earth orbit (MEO).

[0010] Indeed, for such communications under a moving constellation, the coverage is no longer global, but regional under each of the satellites which are no longer “fixed” (i.e. geostationary) but move through space.

[0011] While some brief communications can be made via the same moving satellite, in general, communications must be relayed between satellites when the transmitter and receiver are not or no longer covered by the same satellite. Indeed, since terrestrial communication networks are fixed (i.e. anchored), the anchor stations are not constantly moving to ensure continuity of communication with the same satellite.

[0012] In the context of protected communications, the relaying of communications therefore involves relaying the radiofrequency signal between satellites.

[0013] For such communications using satellites moving in non-geostationary orbit, the partitioning of all the communication resources by moving satellites is generally global over the entire constellation by sharing, according to a static schedule, the network resources in several predefined virtualized networks, for example by applying a predetermined rule of quality of service QoS (from the English Quality Of Service) distributing for example in a static manner 30% of the resources to a first operator and 70% to a second operator.

[0014] Such a global partition (i.e. slice) on the constellation is not optimal, because it is static, non-scalable and retains resources. In addition, it is possible that it will not be used in its entirety. Such a global partition (i.e. slice) is also unsuitable for taking into account the location of the anchors and users, and the capacity associated with the localized geographical need for coverage of the user terminals.

[0015] Furthermore, such a global partition (i.e. slice) is unsuitable for addressing issues such as the governance of physical resources and the optimization of traffic engineering.

[0016] The aim of the invention is then to propose a solution for partitioning all of the satellite communications resources of a constellation of moving satellites making it possible to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art.

[0017] To this end, the invention relates to a method for dynamically controlling access of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites, the method comprising the following steps, for at least one predetermined communication mission:

[0018] - geolocated planning, prior to said mission, of the partition of the allocation of all the satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites according to a geolocated need, associated with said mission, and the predetermined scrolling of each moving satellite of said constellation;

[0019] - dynamic access control of said at least one communication terminal to said satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites by applying, at each predetermined instant of a plurality of predetermined instants of said mission, the following sub-steps:

[0020] - identification and geographical location of said at least one terminal requiring a access to said satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites;

[0021] - determination of the nature of the communication service required by said at least one a terminal requiring access to said satellite communication resources;

[0022] - routing said at least one terminal to a piece of said partition responding to the communication need of said at least one terminal, said need being at least defined according to said identification, said geographical location and said nature of service.

[0023] Thus, the present invention proposes dynamic access control based on the identification, location and nature of the required service, which advantageously makes it possible to dynamically take into account the specific aspects and needs associated with the prior implementation of geolocalized planning providing a geolocalized partition (associated with the English notion of "geofencing") making it possible to offer a physical partition over a zone or several defined zones, unlike the aforementioned global partition which is unsuitable for taking into account a geolocalized need depending on the location of the anchors and users.

[0024] Such dynamic access control according to the present invention makes it possible to manage the notion of geographical zone to ensure differentiated planning according to location. This results in non-uniform planning of resources according to the zone. to be covered and the use made of it, taking into account the location and nature of the service in access control.

[0025] The partition provided according to the present invention is thus finely adapted directly to the geolocated need. This provides a dynamic orchestration capable of guaranteeing access control to a geolocated spatial resource (and not defined globally as carried out according to the current state of the art). Such an orchestration allows, for example, in particular, that a user terminal located in a territory such as France has preferential access to satellite communications which are themselves also located above French territory, unless the service required by its nature is sovereign and in this case a user terminal attached to a country other than France but located in France may, according to the present invention, be judiciously routed to a suitable anchoring making it possible to guarantee the required sovereignty as described in more detail below.

[0026] According to other advantageous aspects of the invention, the method for dynamic access control of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites comprises one or more of the following characteristics, taken in isolation or in all technically possible combinations:

[0027] - said geolocated planning of the partition of the allocation of all of the satellite communication resources of said constellation of orbiting satellites includes the geographical sharing of three distinct types of space resources by orbiting satellite, said three types corresponding to:

[0028] - space resources associated with the communication links between said satellite scrolling and at least one communication terminal;

[0029] - space resources associated with the communication links between said satellite scrolling and at least one ground anchor station;

[0030] - space resources associated with inter-satellite communication links between said moving satellite and at least one other satellite of said constellation;

[0031] said geographical sharing consisting of distributing, in advance, each of the three types of spatial resources according to the geographical coverage of said moving satellite, at each predetermined instant of said plurality of predetermined instants of said mission;

[0032] - said geographical sharing is further associated, for each type of resource spatial, to the reservation of a buffer capacity dedicated to the inter-satellite management of the slippage of the coverage area, provided by the moving satellite, between a predetermined current instant of said mission and a predetermined next instant of said plurality of predetermined instants of said mission;

[0033] - the method further comprises predicting the mobility vector of said terminal and its taken into account during said routing;

[0034] - the method further comprises determining the density and / or traffic of the communication terminals requiring access, and taking into account this density and / or traffic in the dynamic access planning and / or control stage;

[0035] - said determination uses a predetermined ARIMA model;

[0036] - said routing is a routing according to one of the following three types:

[0037] - routing said at least one terminal to a ground anchoring station whose location is imposed by the said nature of service;

[0038] - routing said at least one terminal to the nearest ground anchoring station;

[0039] - routing to at least one spatial resource, associated with the links of inter-satellite communication between said moving satellite and at least one other satellite of said constellation, and imposed by said nature of service.

[0040] The invention also relates to a computer program comprising software instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a method for dynamically controlling access of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites as defined above.

[0041] The invention also relates to a manager, also called orchestrator hereinafter, configured to implement the aforementioned method.

[0042] The invention also relates to a communication system comprising such a manager, a constellation of moving satellites, at least one communication terminal, at least one ground anchoring station.

[0043] The invention will appear more clearly on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of non-limiting example, and made with reference to the drawings in which:

[0044] - [Fig.l] [Fig.l] is a schematic view of a manager according to the invention;

[0045] - [Fig.2] [Fig.2] is a flowchart of a dynamic access control method of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites, according to the invention. The configuration method is implemented by the manager of [Fig.l];

[0046] - [Fig.3] [Fig.3] illustrates an example of geolocated access control implemented according to the present invention;

[0047] - [Fig.4] [Fig.4] illustrates how the constellation of moving satellites anticipates the geolocated partition used according to the present invention to provide dynamic access control to at least one communication terminal.

[0048] The manager 10, also called orchestrator, according to the invention is illustrated in [Fig.l]. As can be seen in this figure, the manager 10 comprises firstly a planning module 12 configured to implement geolocated planning, prior to said mission, of the partitioning of the allocation of all the satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites according to a geolocated need, associated with said mission, and of the predetermined moving of each moving satellite of said constellation.

[0049] In addition, the orchestrator 10 according to the present invention also comprises a dynamic access control module 14 configured to provide dynamic access control of said at least one communication terminal to said satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites.

[0050] To do this, the dynamic access control module 14 comprises at least the different tools 16, 18 and 20.

[0051] The tool 16 (or sub-module 16) is an identification and location tool configured to identify and geographically locate said at least one terminal requiring access to said satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites.

[0052] The tool 18 (or sub-module 18) is a determination tool configured to determine the nature of the communication service required by said at least one terminal requesting access to said satellite communication resources.

[0053] The tool 20 (or sub-module 20) is a routing tool configured to route said at least one terminal to a piece of said partition meeting the communication needs of said at least one terminal, said need being at least defined as a function of said identification, said geographical location and said nature of service.

[0054] Each of these modules / tools and, where applicable, their implementation options are detailed in more detail below.

[0055] As an optional addition, the module 12 for geolocated planning of the partition of the allocation of all the satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites comprises a sharing tool 22 configured to geographically share the three distinct types of spatial resources per moving satellite, said three types corresponding to:

[0056] - space resources associated with the communication links between said satellite scrolling and at least one communication terminal (in English these resources are known as User Link because they are associated with the user's location);

[0057] - space resources associated with the communication links between said satellite scrolling and at least one ground anchor station (in English these resources are known as Feeder Link because they are associated with the location of the anchor station);

[0058] - space resources associated with inter-satellite communication links between said moving satellite and at least one other satellite of said constellation, in other words, associated with the position of the satellites (in English these resources are known via the acronym ISL for Inter-satellite Links and associated with the position of the satellites).

[0059] Said geographical sharing implemented by said sharing tool 22 consists of distributing, in advance, each of the three types of spatial resources according to the geographical coverage of said moving satellite, at each predetermined instant of said plurality of predetermined instants of said mission.

[0060] As an optional addition, the module 12 for geolocated planning of the partition of the allocation of all the satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites comprises a reservation tool 24, associated with said sharing tool 22, configured, for each type of aforementioned spatial resources, to reserve a buffer capacity dedicated to the inter-satellite management of the sliding of the coverage area, provided by the moving satellite, between a current predetermined instant of said mission and a following predetermined instant of said plurality of predetermined instants of said mission.

[0061] As an optional addition, the dynamic access control module 14 further comprises a prediction tool 26 configured to predict a mobility vector of said terminal suitable for being taken into account by the routing tool 20.

[0062] As an optional addition, the orchestrator 10 according to the present invention also comprises a determination tool 28 configured to determine the density and / or traffic of the communication terminals requiring access, this density and / or this traffic being suitable for being taken into account by the planning module 12 and / or by the dynamic access control module 14.

[0063] In the example of [Fig.l], the orchestrator 10 comprises a processing unit 30 formed for example by a memory 32 and a processor 34 associated with the memory, and the orchestrator 10 is at least partly implemented in the form of software, or a software brick, executable by the processor, in particular the planning module 12 and its optional sharing and reservation tools 22 and 24 respectively, and / or the dynamic access control module 14 with its identification tools 16, determination tools 18, routing tools 20 and optionally prediction tools 26. The memory 32 of the orchestrator 10 is then capable of storing such software or software bricks, and the processor 34 is then capable of executing them.

[0064] In a variant not shown, the planning module 12 and its optional sharing and reservation tools 22 and 24 respectively, and / or the dynamic access control module 14 with its identification tools 16, determination tools 18, routing tools 20 and optionally prediction tools 26 are each produced in the form of a programmable logic component, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). Gate Array), or in the form of a dedicated integrated circuit, such as an ASIC (Application Specified Integrated Circuit).

[0065] When a part of the orchestrator 10 according to the present invention is produced in the form of one or more software programs, that is to say in the form of a computer program, this part is furthermore capable of being recorded on a medium, not shown, readable by a computer. The computer-readable medium is, for example, a medium capable of storing electronic instructions and of being coupled to a bus of a computer system. By way of example, the readable medium is an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM memory, a RAM memory, any type of non-volatile memory (for example EPROM, EEPROM, FLASH, NVRAM), a magnetic card or even an optical card. A computer program comprising software instructions is then stored on the readable medium.

[0066] A method 36 for dynamic access control of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites, implemented by the manager 10, will now be explained with reference to [Fig.2] presenting a flowchart of the steps of this method and to figures 4 and 5 illustrating an implementation thereof.

[0067] The method 36 for dynamic access control of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites firstly comprises a first step 38 of geolocated planning, prior to said mission, of the partitioning of the allocation of all the satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites as a function of a geolocated need, associated with said mission, and of the predetermined moving of each moving satellite of said constellation.

[0068] As an optional addition, as illustrated by [Fig.2], such a planning step 38 comprises a sub-step 40 of geographical sharing PG_Ri, PG_R2, PG_R3 of three distinct types RbR2,R3, of spatial resources by scrolling satellite.

[0069] The first type Ri corresponds to the spatial resources associated with the communication links between said moving satellite and at least one communication terminal (in English these resources are known under the term UserLink because they are associated with the location of the user). For example, for a given mission, 80% of the UserLink capacity is reserved for French territory when the satellite in question is above France, and of the UserLink capacity is reserved for non-French territory for communication flows whose flow rate is likely to be, for example, of the order of 100 Mb / s.

[0070] The second type R2 corresponds to the space resources associated with the communication links between said moving satellite and at least one ground anchoring station (In English, these resources are known as Feeder Links because they are associated with the location of the anchor station.) For example, for the same mission mentioned above, 50% of the Feeder Link capacity is reserved for French territory for anchor stations located in France.

[0071] The third type R3 corresponds to the spatial resources associated with the inter-satellite communication links between said moving satellite and at least one other satellite of said constellation (in English these resources are known via the acronym ISL for Inter-satellite Links and associated with the position of the satellites). For example, for the same mission mentioned above, 20% of the ISL capacity is reserved for communications between the anchor station and the theatre of operation for a European operation.

[0072] More precisely, said geographical sharing 40 consists of distributing, in advance, each of the three types Ri, R2, R3 of spatial resources according to the geographical coverage of said moving satellite, at each predetermined instant of said plurality of predetermined instants of said mission.

[0073] Compared to the overall distribution of the state of the art, such geolocated planning provides a much finer partition because it is not only geolocated according to a geolocated need, associated with said mission, and the predetermined scrolling of each satellite scrolling in said constellation, and moreover adapted to each type of aforementioned spatial resources.

[0074] As an optional addition, as illustrated by [Fig.2], such a planning step 38 comprises, associated with said sharing sub-step 40, a sub-step 42 of reserving a buffer capacity R_CT dedicated to the inter-satellite management of the sliding of the coverage area, provided by the traveling satellite, between a current predetermined instant of said mission and a following predetermined instant of said plurality of predetermined instants of said mission.

[0075] After said prior planning 38, the method 36 for dynamic access control of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites comprises a step 44 for dynamic access control of said at least one communication terminal to said satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites.

[0076] More precisely, according to this step 44, such control is implemented by applying a first set 46 of sub-steps comprising first of all a sub-step 48 of identification and geographical location I_L of said at least one terminal requiring access to said satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites.

[0077] To do this, a set of mechanisms is implemented to enable the terminal requesting access to be identified. Such mechanisms correspond in particular the use of its signature in relation to its characteristics: its international mobile equipment identity IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity), its allocated IP address (Internet Protocol), and those of the user with, for example, an artificial intelligence mechanism allowing biometric recognition, etc.

[0078] Identification makes it possible to select the appropriate partition, and location makes it possible to determine the capacity threshold to be applied in access, to prioritize or, where appropriate, to preempt.

[0079] This first set 46 of sub-steps also comprises a sub-step 50 of determining DET_NS the nature of the communication service required by said at least one terminal requesting access to said satellite communication resources.

[0080] As an optional addition, this first set 46 also comprises a sub-step 52 of prediction P_VM of the mobility vector of said terminal and its optional consideration during a subsequent sub-step 54 detailed below, said sub-step 54 corresponding to the routing of said at least one terminal to a piece of said partition meeting the communication need of said at least one terminal, said need being at least defined as a function of said identification and said geographical location, obtained during said sub-step 48 of identification and geographical location I_L, and of said nature of service obtained during said sub-step 50 of determination DET_NS of the nature of the service.

[0081] As indicated above, step 44 of dynamic access control comprises, after implementation of the aforementioned sub-steps 48, 50 and optionally 52, the sub-step 54 of routing said at least one terminal to a piece of said partition meeting the communication need of said at least one terminal, said need being at least defined as a function of said identification, said geographical location and said nature of service.

[0082] In other words, based on the criteria and characteristics of the supported mission, the requested security domain and the geographical area, the terminal(s) will be integrated, as described by way of example below, into a specific partition (from the English slice) which can preempt or not access to the radio resources requested in relation to said partition, prioritize or not access to the radio resources requested in relation to said partition, or even offer available resources which can meet the so-called BE (from the English best effort) requirement.

[0083] In the embodiment illustrated by [Fig.l], the routing implemented is optionally, as described in more detail, according to one of the following three types:

[0084] - routing said at least one terminal to the nearest ground anchoring station;

[0085] - routing to at least one spatial resource, associated with the links of inter-satellite communication between said moving satellite and at least one other satellite of said constellation, and imposed by said nature of service;

[0086] - routing said at least one terminal to a ground anchoring station whose location is imposed by the said nature of service.

[0087] To do this, as illustrated by [Fig.2], the sub-step 54 firstly comprises a first sorting 56 according to a first condition Ci corresponding to the nature of the geographical location provided by the aforementioned sub-step of identification and geographical location I_L of said at least one terminal.

[0088] According to a first case, represented by the arrow 58, the location of said at least one terminal is within the metropolitan territory with which said manager 10 is associated, and according to a second case, represented by the arrow 60, the location of said at least one terminal is outside the metropolitan territory with which said manager 10 is associated.

[0089] When, according to the first case 58, the location of said at least one terminal is within the metropolitan territory with which said manager 10 is associated, a sub-step 62 then consists of determining A_T the anchor station(s) associated with said metropolitan territory with which said manager 10 is associated and in the vicinity of said location.

[0090] According to a sub-step 64, a second sorting is then carried out according to a second condition C2 corresponding this time to the nature of the communication service required by said at least one terminal.

[0091] When the nature of the service corresponds to a sovereign flow, according to arrow 66, a sub-step 68 of requesting access from said at least one terminal to an ACi anchor on said metropolitan territory with which said manager 10 is associated is implemented to respect said required sovereign nature of service. This access sub-step 68 is then followed by a sub-step 70 of determining the number and type of traffic(s) to be supported associated with this access, the result of which is taken into account continuously to continue the access request according to sub-step 68 or to change it if necessary, in particular as a function of the movement of said terminal.

[0092] In the negative, that is to say if the nature of the service required by said at least one terminal located on the metropolitan territory is not sovereign, according to arrow 72, the access request of said terminal is redirected, in the same way as the access requests of terminals whose location is outside the metropolitan territory according to the aforementioned case 60, to sub-step 73.

[0093] Sub-step 73 is a sorting sub-step F_S also according to the condition C3 corresponding to the nature of service, this sub-step 73 being associated with case 60 where the location of said at least one terminal is outside the metropolitan territory with which said manager 10 is associated.

[0094] If, according to arrow 74, said nature of service corresponds to a sovereign flow with long elongation, that is to say that in the case of arrow 74, the location is outside the metropolitan territory with which said manager 10 is associated, and that the flow is sovereign relative to this metropolitan territory, then a sub-step 76 of requesting access from said at least one terminal to an AC2 anchor outside the metropolitan territory is carried out with resource reservation on an inter-satellite link ISL (from the English Inter-satellite Links).

[0095] This access sub-step 76 is then followed by a sub-step 70 of determining the number and type of traffic(s) to be supported associated with this access, the result of which is taken into account continuously to continue the access request according to sub-step 76 or to change it if necessary, in particular depending on the movement of said terminal.

[0096] If, according to arrow 78, said nature of service corresponds to a non-sovereign flow, that is to say that in the case of arrow 78, the location is in or outside the metropolitan territory with which said manager 10 is associated, and that the flow is non-sovereign relative to this metropolitan territory, then a sub-step 80 of requesting access from said at least one terminal to an AC3 anchor that is the closest and least loaded (local access break out in English) is then implemented.

[0097] This access sub-step 80 is then followed by a sub-step 70 of determining the number and type of traffic(s) to be supported associated with this access, the result of which is taken into account continuously to continue the access request according to sub-step 76 or to change it if necessary, in particular depending on the movement of said terminal.

[0098] According to an optional step 81 DET_D / T illustrated in dotted lines, the method 36 according to the present invention further comprises a step of determining the density and / or traffic of the communication terminals requiring access, and taking into account this density and / or this traffic in the step of planning and / or dynamic access control. Indeed, for example depending on the territorial zones, the density of terminals requires 80% of the partition, or for a lower density 50% of the partition, and for an even lower density 20% of the partition.

[0099] According to an optional variant, said determination uses a predetermined ARIMA model as described in more detail below in relation to [Fig.4].

[0100] Thus, according to [Fig.2], it is understood that the “Geo-slicing” implemented according to the present invention is advantageous because it is a geographical partitioning of the virtualized networks which, specifically according to the present invention, takes into account the location of the anchors and the users. There is therefore taking into account the access resource, the ISL resource and the anchor resource.

[0101] This provides a capacity associated with the geographical need located in a coverage of the terminals, and where appropriate, an adaptive partition (i.e. slice) in relation to a capacity associated with a traffic / number of terminals to be covered.

[0102] It is therefore possible, according to the present invention, to determine, for example, that coverage of an area of ​​a thousand terminals with traffic of a predetermined number X of Mbps requires 30% of the capacity of the partition of the global capacities, and that fifty kilometers further the need for coverage can be reduced due to the fact that there is no longer a need to cover a thousand terminals in this area but fifty terminals, which amounts to requiring only 5% of the resources for example.

[0103] [Fig.3] schematically illustrates the three types of routing, in particular according to the aforementioned sub-steps 68, 76 and 80.

[0104] More precisely, [Fig.3] schematically represents a geographical area 82 crossed by a border 84 between two distinct territories 86 and 88, for example France 86 and another country 88 bordering France 86.

[0105] A plurality of user terminals Ub U2, U3, U4, U5, U6 and U7 are represented within said zone 82 as well as three anchor stations: Ai in territory 86, A2 and A3 in territory 88 (i.e. outside territory 86) connected by a ground network 90.

[0106] The identification made it possible to establish that the user terminals Ui, U2, U3, U4 are of the nationality associated with territory 86 while the user terminals U5, U6 and U7 are of the nationality associated with territory 88.

[0107] Thus, according to this example, if the method previously described in relation to [Fig.2] is applied, the user terminals Ui, U2, U4, U6 and U7 are located within their respective territories (i.e. conforming to case 58 of [Fig.2]) while the user terminals U3 and U5 are located outside their respective territories (i.e. conforming to case 60 of [Fig.2]).

[0108] The nature of the service required by the terminal Ui is, for example, a sovereign service (i.e. conforming to case 66 of [Fig.2]) so that the routing towards the anchor Ai of the territory 86 of Ui on which it is itself present is implemented (case 68 of [Fig.2]).

[0109] On the other hand, according to another example, the nature of the service required by the user terminal U2 is not a sovereign service (i.e. conforming to case 72 then 78 of [Fig.2]) so that the routing towards the anchor closest to U2, namely the anchor Ai, is implemented (case 80 of [Fig.2]).

[0110] In other words, according to this the user terminals Ui and U2 are both implemented towards the same anchor Ai but not for the same reasons / needs.

[0111] As indicated previously, the user terminal U3 is located outside its territory (i.e. the one of which it has nationality, namely territory 86), which corresponds to case 60 of [Fig.2], and the nature of the service it requires is not a sovereign service (case 78 of [Fig.2]), so it is routed to the nearest and least loaded anchor Ai (in English Local Break out).

[0112] Similarly, the nature of the service required by the user terminal U4 is not a sovereign service (i.e. conforming to case 72 then 78 of [Fig.2]) so that the routing towards the anchor closest to U4, namely the anchor A2, is implemented (case 80 of [Fig.2]) independently of the fact that the anchor A2 is not in the same territory as the user terminal U4.

[0113] The nature of the service required by the user terminal U5 is a long-range sovereign service and the nationality of the user terminal U5 is that of the territory 88 while the user terminal U5 is located outside (i.e. in accordance with case 74 of [Fig.2]), so that routing to the anchor A3 of the territory 88, outside the territory 86 on which the user terminal U5 is located, is carried out with resource reservation on an inter-satellite link ISL (from the English Inter-satellite Links).

[0114] The nature of the service required by the terminal U6 is, for example, a sovereign service (i.e. conforming to case 66 of [Fig.2]) so that the routing towards the anchor A2 of the territory 88 of U6 on which it is itself present is implemented (case 68 of [Fig.2]).

[0115] The nature of the service required by the user terminal U7 is not a sovereign service (i.e. conforming to case 72 then 78 of [Fig.2]) so that the routing towards the anchor closest to U7, namely the anchor Ab is implemented (case 80 of [Fig.2]) independently of the fact that the anchor Ai is not in the same territory as the user terminal U7.

[0116] Thus, [Fig.3] illustrates that if the required service is sovereign, routing to an anchor in the territory of which the terminal has nationality is implemented.

[0117] [Fig.4] illustrates how the constellation of moving satellites anticipates the geolocated partition used according to the present invention to provide dynamic access control to at least one communication terminal.

[0118] According to the example of [Fig.4], several satellites 92b 922, 923 of a constellation of moving satellites are represented.

[0119] Note that for the sake of simplicity in [Fig.4] the satellites 92b 922, 923 are represented "as" only aligned according to the same orbit whereas in reality each of the satellites of said constellation follows a predetermined orbit or rhumb line which is specific to it, such as a low Earth orbit (LEO) or a medium Earth orbit (MEO) depending on the constellation considered, and this according to a direction of movement D, with inter-satellite links 94 (here illustrated diagonally) and 96 (here illustrated laterally) to the neighboring moving satellites of said constellation.

[0120] On the ground an anchoring station 98 is shown in [Fig.4], said anchoring station 98 being able to communicate according to the communication links 100 respectively with each moving satellite 92 shown.

[0121] As illustrated in [Fig.4], the set of satellite elements 92H 922, 923 each carrying a remote communication unit DU (from the English Deported Unit) is suitable, according to the present invention, for preparing, supporting or releasing partitions (from the English slices) according to the terminals 102 and services to be carried, and this while being attached to a centralized element CU (from the English Central Unit) of the anchoring station 98 positioned on the ground and associated with a predetermined zone (i.e. a territory) (from the English tracking area).

[0122] As indicated optionally, according to step 81, the method according to the present invention is furthermore capable of taking into account the densification of terminals and traffic.

[0123] To do this, in relation to the element of the manager 10 (i.e. orchestrator) dedicated to the orchestration service interfacing with a resource reservation tool depending on: the requested service, the security level and rights, etc. (also called in English service management control element), a first level planning calculation (i.e. an initial planning) is implemented to manage the first allocation of resources (calculation located within the aforementioned centralized CU (Central Unit)).

[0124] In a second step, a calculation associated with an artificial intelligence AI embedded in each distributed communication unit DU in charge of estimating variations or developments in traffic, called predictive (from the English forecast) based on an ARIMA type model (from the English AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average) simplified because embedded.

[0125] This mechanism makes it possible to use slow loop information about planned or forecasted events in the network to estimate the associated flow variation. For example, if it is known in advance that a significant event will occur, such as a traffic peak during a peak period, it is then possible to adjust the forecasts accordingly and therefore the allocation of resources on the geo-partition (geo-slice).

[0126] This planning preparation is associated with the missions, this allows a provisioning of a slow loop of geo-partitions (Geo-slices) which adapts to the operational context: increase in traffic requirements or number of terminals, according to a so-called fast loop.

[0127] On the remote communication unit DU side, the so-called “light” ARIMA model makes it possible to set up, in relation to a time series, a static model fed by the access needs associated with the terminals, this statistical model being taken into account as represented by step 81 of [Fig.2] both in the planning step and / or in the dynamic access control step.

[0128] More specifically, three components are associated with the ARIMA model, namely the so-called autoregression (AR), integration (I) and moving average (MA) determination mechanisms. Each of these components captures different characteristics of the time series.

[0129] The autoregression AR component models the linear dependency associated with the number of terminals accessing the resource and the minimum traffic required in order to validate past observations and current observations on the traffic and terminal relationship (this model can be enriched by using the type of terminals versus the type of services).

[0130] Such a model makes it possible to integrate past “traffic” values ​​from the time series, which have an impact on future traffic. The order p of the autoregression indicates the number of past values ​​taken into account. For example, for the application of the present invention, the value of p is limited so as to take into account approximately seven minutes of past values, this value of p being established in relation to the rate of the satellites. These calculations are shared with the neighboring satellite responsible for taking over the allocation of resources, for example as illustrated in [Fig.4] satellite 922 which will succeed satellites 923 in the direction of movement D.

[0131] The integration component I is used to deal with non-stationary trends in time series. Integration consists of differentiating the time series to make it stationary. The integration order d indicates the number of differentiations required to make the time series stationary. This integration component is limited to allow a short estimate of the future forecast. It is not necessary to stretch the predictive model to a high confidence value (95% for so-called high models) but towards a so-called acceptable model allowing a trend to be assessed.

[0132] The moving average (i.e. rolling) component models the effect of previous prediction errors on current observations. It considers that past prediction errors have an impact on future values. The order q of the moving average indicates the number of previous prediction errors taken into account.

[0133] In order to optimize the mechanism allowing short management of the ARIMA model, a set of simulations and feedback allows the evaluation of the different so-called order parameters (AR / I / MA) from autocorrelation analysis (ACF). These estimates can be based on “Akaike (AIC)” or “Bayesian (BIC)” models.

[0134] Furthermore, [Fig.4] illustrates in particular that access to scrolling DU resources (from the English Distributed Unit) is finite and can only respond to CPU constraints (from the English central process unit) in particular for the processing of physical layers, memories, in particular for the management of queues, etc.) and energy constraints.

[0135] According to the present invention, a communication system comprising the manager illustrated by [Fig.l], the constellation of moving satellites 92 illustrated by this [Fig.4], at least one communication terminal 102 and at least one ground anchoring station 98, is capable of pre-planning the moving satellite elements 92H 922, 923 which will be responsible for taking into account the need for partition (from the English slices) and implicitly the release of resources according to the movement of the satellites 92B 922, 923 and, optionally, the mobility vector of the terminals 102 (which may or may not be predictable).

[0136] More specifically, [Fig.4] illustrates the capacity threshold mechanism used to manage sliding partition mobility (slice) relative to the host remote communication unit DU and its buffer capacity for processing and hosting new so-called incoming terminals.

[0137] Indeed, the coverage areas 104, 106 and 108, respectively associated with the satellites 92 H 922, 923 illustrate that, as the scrolling progresses in the direction of movement D, the partition of the coverage area is sliding.Indeed, according to for example the aforementioned MEO or LEO type constellations, the area covered by a satellite scrolls due to the scrolling of the satellite and only covers a given area of ​​the planet for a few minutes, so that according to the present invention, as the scrolling progresses, each distributed communication unit DU is able to anticipate by prediction the change in distribution of its coverage area between different operators on the ground and to do this implements a reservation of a buffer capacity dedicated to the inter-satellite management of the sliding of the coverage area provided by the scrolling satellite considered as the scrolling progresses between a current predetermined instant of the mission and a following predetermined instant of the plurality of predetermined instants of the predetermined communication mission.

[0138] The coverage area 104 of the satellite 923 is, for example, schematically partitioned into three partitions A, B, C illustrated respectively by three different textures in [Fig.4]. In particular, partition A (i.e. dedicated to an operator A) is in the majority. The intermediate partition B corresponds to the buffer capacity reserved for the preparation of the slide according to the direction of movement D, and the partition C (i.e. dedicated to an operator C) is in the minority.

[0139] For the coverage area 106 of satellite 922, which precedes satellite 92i in the direction of movement D, partition A (i.e. dedicated to an operator A) remains in the majority but has decreased compared to that of coverage 104 of satellite 92, in favor of partition B dedicated to buffer capacity, and partition C (i.e. dedicated to an operator C).

[0140] Finally, the coverage area 108 of satellite 923, which precedes satellite 922, in the direction of movement D, presents substantially an equipartition between partition A (i.e. dedicated to an operator A) and partition C (i.e. dedicated to an operator C). In other words, [Fig.4] illustrates how the buffer capacity temporarily allows a satellite to prepare to accommodate a geolocated partition change as it scrolls.

[0141] Those skilled in the art will understand that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, nor to the particular examples of the description, the embodiments and variants mentioned above being suitable for being combined with each other to generate new embodiments of the invention.

[0142] The present invention thus makes it possible to take into account the specific aspects and needs associated with the establishment of a geolocalized partition (according to the English concept of geofencing) making it possible to offer a physical partition over a defined zone or several zones.

[0143] The present invention also makes it possible to take into account issues such as the governance of physical means and optimization of traffic engineering.by geographically sharing the three distinct types of space resources per moving satellite, namely the space resources associated with the communication links between said moving satellite and at least one communication terminal (in English these resources are known under the term User Link because associated with the location of the user); the space resources associated with the communication links between said moving satellite and at least one ground anchor station (in English these resources are known under the term Feeder Link because associated with the location of the anchor station); and the space resources associated with the inter-satellite communication links between said moving satellite and at least one other satellite of said constellation (in English these resources are known via the acronym ISL for Inter-satellite Links and associated with the position of the satellites).

[0144] The present invention also makes it possible to take into account traffic engineering associated with physical inter-satellite links or between remote communication units DU and centralized elements CUs of the anchor station, in particular using means called "light speed" taking into account user requests within the limits of the capacities of the three types of resources mentioned above.

[0145] Thus, the present invention makes it possible to guarantee a geolocated spatial resource and control access to this resource, to optimize the use of the spatial resource, to dynamically orchestrate quasi-instantaneous planning known as “Zero day”, to offer a preemption and prioritization capacity on the geolocated partition (slice), as well as a partition capacity known as user tracking.

Claims

Claims

1. Method (36) for dynamic access control of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites, the method comprising the following steps, for at least one predetermined communication mission: - geolocated planning (38), prior to said mission, of the partition of the allocation of all the satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites as a function of a geolocated need, associated with said mission, and of the predetermined movement of each moving satellite of said constellation;- dynamic access control (44) of said at least one communication terminal to said satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites by applying, at each predetermined instant of a plurality of predetermined instants of said mission, the following sub-steps: - identification and geographical location (48) of said at least one terminal requiring access to said satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites; - determination (50) of the nature of the communication service required by said at least one terminal requiring access to said satellite communication resources; - routing of said at least one terminal to a piece of said partition meeting the communication need of said at least one terminal, said need being at least defined as a function of said identification, said geographical location and said nature of service.;

2. Method according to claim 1, in which said geolocated planning of the partition of the allocation of all the satellite communication resources of said constellation of moving satellites comprises the geographical sharing (40) of three distinct types of spatial resources per moving satellite, said three types corresponding to: - spatial resources associated with the communication links between said moving satellite and at least one communication terminal; - space resources associated with the communication links between said moving satellite and at least one ground anchoring station; - space resources associated with the intersatellite communication links between said moving satellite and at least one other satellite of said constellation; said geographical sharing consisting of distributing, in advance, each of the three types of space resources according to the geographical coverage of said moving satellite, at each predetermined instant of said plurality of predetermined instants of said mission.

3. Method according to claim 2, in which said geographical sharing is further associated, for each type of spatial resources, with the reservation (42) of a buffer capacity dedicated to the inter-satellite management of the sliding of the coverage area, provided by the moving satellite, between a current predetermined instant of said mission and a following predetermined instant of said plurality of predetermined instants of said mission.

4. Method according to any one of the preceding claims further comprising predicting the mobility vector of said terminal and taking it into account during said routing.

5. A method according to any preceding claim further comprising determining the density and / or traffic of the communication terminals requiring access, and taking this density and / or traffic into account in the dynamic access planning and / or control step.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said determining uses a predetermined ARIMA model.

7. Method according to any one of the preceding claims in which said routing is a routing according to one of the following three types: - routing of said at least one terminal to a ground anchoring station whose location is imposed by said nature of service; - routing of said at least one terminal to the nearest ground anchoring station; - routing to at least one space resource, associated with the inter-satellite communication links between said moving satellite and at least one other satellite of said constellation, and imposed by said nature of service.

8. A computer program comprising software instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a

9.

10. method for dynamic access control of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites according to any one of the preceding claims. Manager configured to implement the method for dynamic access control of at least one communication terminal to the satellite communication resources of a constellation of moving satellites according to any one of claims 1 to 7. Communication system comprising: - a manager according to claim 9; - a constellation of moving satellites; - at least one communication terminal; - at least one ground anchoring station.

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