1385 results about "Satellite network" patented technology

A method and apparatus for full-duplex data communication in or for a wireless communications network, such as a cellular network, PCS network, or mobile satellite network, where a remote feature access control operation utilizes a switch to reserve and route selected voice channels or traffic channels in response to the remote feature access control operation. The method comprising the steps of: configuring a mobile switching center (MSC) to route the selected voice channels to a multi-port protocol converter (MPPC) for transmitting a selected data message on the selected voice channel. Transmitting the selected data message via the multi-port protocol converter on the selected voice channel via a data messaging channel during the remote feature access control operation. Then the selected data message is received at a communicator, which is communicatively linked to a reverse voice and / or digital traffic channel of the wireless network, thereby providing for both forward and reverse messaging on the wireless communications network. An apparatus is disclosed for data communication in or for a wireless communications network for transmitting and receiving both forward and reverse voice, traffic, and control channel messages utilizing the disclosed methodology.

A method and system are disclosed for utilizing a session processor having multiple internal states to control communication sessions occurring within a wireless and satellite network that includes at least one control interface. First, a message is received from the control interface and is then processed. Next, an internal state of the session processor is changed such that a response message may be formulated. Thereafter, internal tables and counters are updated in response to the message. Finally, the response message is delivered to the control interface, such that the session processor may be utilized to maintain comprehensive and seamless control of communications sessions occurring within the wireless and satellite network.

A telecommunications system and method is disclosed for providing accurate country information to Mobile Stations (MSs) within a satellite network. At the time of location update, the MS sends Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates identifying the location of the MS to a serving Mobile Switching Center (MSC) via a satellite. The MSC determines the identity of the current country that the MS is located in, and calculates the distance to the nearest country border. The current country identity and distance information are transmitted back to the MS via the satellite. Thereafter, the MS continues to calculate GPS coordinate information, and if the distance between the current location of the MS and the location of the MS at the time of the previous location update becomes equal to or greater than received distance information, a query is done to the MSC to determine the current country where the MS is located. If the country has changed, then the new country is displayed on the MS.

An approach for supporting inter-domain routing of a packet is provided. A communication system includes a plurality of terminals having full meshed connectivity, in which each of the terminals is configured to route the packet to one of a plurality of address domains (i.e., terminal is multi-homed) and to notify a source terminal originating the packet of a correct one of the terminals. An address server assigns a network address corresponding to the one address domain based on a destination address associated with the packet, wherein the source terminal routes the packet according to the assigned network address. The present invention has particular applicability to a fully meshed satellite network.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a wireless appliance for monitoring a vehicle. The wireless appliance includes a microprocessor configured to select a vehicle-communication protocol of a host vehicle, and then communicate with the host vehicle through the vehicle-communication protocol. The appliance also includes a vehicle-communication circuit, in electrical communication with the microprocessor, which collects diagnostic data from the host vehicle using the vehicle-communication protocol. A GPS module, also in electrical communication with the microprocessor, generates location-based data. For transmitting these data, the appliance includes a first wireless transmitter operating on a terrestrial network and a second wireless transmitter operating on a satellite network. The microprocessor selects the first or second wireless transmitter for transmitting the diagnostic and location-based data.

An approach for supporting security in a communications network is disclosed. A network device includes a security peer that establishes a secure tunnel over a data network (e.g., satellite network) for transport of encrypted traffic. The device also includes a performance peer for establishing a connection supported by the secure tunnel. The performance peer includes a plurality of modules for providing respective performance enhancing functions to minimize performance impact of latency of the network.

A system and method for communication of information that has particular significance to a specific location only to those individuals that are at or near that geo-spatial location. In particular, providing safety factor data and alerts is a preferred use of the invention. The invention allows information to be tailored to the individual at that location by selectively filtering what is communicated and what is not. The system includes a transmitting proximity event server, a GPS client wireless component that can be a personal wireless communication device (such as Palm Pilot, cellular digital phones, etc.) or personal computer configured for use within a global position satellite network.

A video processing engine terminates frequency-modulated video signals transported over the so-called third mile (the network segment from the head-end to the access network) for delivery to an end user. In various network architectures, these signals are received at a central office (CO), for the telephone companies; at a fiber node (FN), for MSOs; or at a satellite dish, for satellite networks. By terminating these signals appropriately, high-quality video service can be delivered efficiently to customers over the last mile. Systems and methods for processing these video streams as well as various network architectures that allow the network providers to offer cost effective video services to the mass market are described.

A system and method are provided for creating a picocell service alternate to a wireless network service. The method comprises: detecting a multiple access (MA) wireless communications network, such as a terrestrial or satellite network; and, generating a first picocell in a response to detecting the MA wireless network. Typically, the method comprises receiving requests for picocell service from mobile stations, in response to generating the first picocell. In one aspect, the service requests made by the mobile stations are denied. In another aspect, the method further comprises: establishing a first picocell MSC; and, providing network services to mobile stations via the first picocell, in response to the requests for picocell service. For example, the first picocell MSC may provide the same network services that are provided by a conventional terrestrial network, for example. Alternately, the method establishes an alternative wireless network (a second picocell) to provide services.

A plurality of distributed transceivers in a mobile entity such as a car, a truck, an omnibus (bus), a trailer, a mobile home, train, bus, a forklift, construction equipment, a boat, a ship, and / or an aircraft, and / or one or more corresponding antenna arrays that are communicatively coupled to the distributed transceivers are configured to handle communication of one or more data streams among one or more of a plurality of wireless communication networks, one or more other mobile entities and / or one or more mobile communication devices. The data streams may be communicated utilizing the configured one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers and / or the one or more corresponding antenna arrays. The wireless communication networks includes a satellite network, a wireless wide area network, a wireless medium area network, a wireless local area network, a wireless personal area network, a network cloud and / or the Internet.

A remotely controlled uplink server system has a remote access interface that allows multiple user groups to individually control their respective media files. The user groups also have individual control over their respective remote receivers. The control over the media files includes file uploading, file management and file distribution and the control over the remote receivers includes the identification and grouping of receivers, managing the play list, scheduling and storage space on the receivers and selecting media channels. Through the remote access interface into the uplink server system, each one of the user groups operates and controls its own fully functioning network operations center, sharing the uplink facility with the other user groups. The uplink server also includes a media manager for storing and managing the media files, a network controller for combining control instructions for the remote receivers with the media files in a broadcast signal, and a transmitter for sending the broadcast signal to the remote receivers over the satellite network.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a wireless appliance for monitoring a vehicle. The wireless appliance includes a microprocessor configured to select a vehicle-communication protocol of a host vehicle, and then communicate with the host vehicle through the vehicle-communication protocol. The appliance also includes a vehicle-communication circuit, in electrical communication with the microprocessor, which collects diagnostic data from the host vehicle using the vehicle-communication protocol. A GPS module, also in electrical communication with the microprocessor, generates location-based data. For transmitting these data, the appliance includes a first wireless transmitter operating on a terrestrial network and a second wireless transmitter operating on a satellite network. The microprocessor selects the first or second wireless transmitter for transmitting the diagnostic and location-based data.

A system (10) for long-range, remote keyless control of predefined functions for a vehicle (1) is provided that has a long-range wireless receiver (22) that receives transmission signals (25) from a wireless transmission source (24), such as a cellular phone network or satellite network. A wireless signal transmitter (22) is mounted on the vehicle (1) and uses the same protocol (15) as a hand-held wireless transmitter (12) to perform various vehicle functions, such as locking / unlocking doors (16), opening / closing windows and / or the trunk (18). The advantage being the low cost addition of the long-range control using the vehicle's existing short-range RF receiver and electrical infrastructure.

An approach for adaptively providing network performance enhancing functions in a secure environment, such as a virtual private network, is disclosed. Traffic, for example, Internet Protocol (IP) packets, is received for transport over an access network (e.g., satellite network). Next, characteristics (e.g., latency) of the access network are determined. A connection (which supports the performance enhancing functions) is selectively established based on the determined characteristics for transport the received packets over the access network. An encrypted tunnel is provided over the established connection to transmit the received packets.

An approach for adaptively providing network performance enhancing functions in a secure environment, such as a virtual private network, is disclosed. Traffic, for example, Internet Protocol (IP) packets, is received for transport over an access network (e.g., satellite network). Next, characteristics (e.g., latency) of the access network are determined. A connection (which supports the performance enhancing functions) is selectively established based on the determined characteristics for transport the received packets over the access network. An encrypted tunnel is provided over the established connection to transmit the received packets.

The invention discloses a software defined network (SDN)-based space network QoS guarantee method and a management center. An SDN-based space network is divided into a management layer, a control layer, and a forwarding layer, and includes a bottom-up information collecting process and a top-down strategy sending process. A satellite network management center in the management layer is an entity for making a QoS guarantee strategy, and the QoS guarantee strategy mainly includes the results in service grade authentication, traffic scheduling and bandwidth allocation, wherein service grade authentication is a process in which different service requests of users are distinguished according to the service grading standard, traffic scheduling is a process in which transmission paths meeting the QoS requirement are planned for data flows at different service grades, and bandwidth allocation is a process in which priority-based on-demand bandwidth resources are provided in a link sharing state. In addition, the invention provides a network status monitoring method in the control layer, which is the basis for the satellite network management center to make a QoS guarantee strategy. According to the invention, based on a controllable and manageable software defined network, space network resource allocation is optimized, on-demand service of the space network is realized, and the purpose of QoS guarantee is achieved.

Systems and methods are described for using opportunistically delayed delivery of content to address sub-optimal bandwidth resource usage in network infrastructures that allow subscribers to share forward link resources. According to some embodiments, content is identified as delayable and assigned to a delaycast queue and / or service flow. For example, a server system of a satellite communications system identifies content that can be delayed to exploit future excess link capacity through multicasting and to exploit subscriber-side storage resources. Some implementations attempt to exploit any excess link resources at any time, while others exploit unused bandwidth only during certain times or when a certain threshold of resources is available. Various embodiments also provide content scoring and / or other prioritization techniques for optimizing exploitation of the delaycast queue.

The invention discloses a route exchange method suitable for a GEO / LEO double layered constellation network. According to the method, a system period is divided into equal-duration time sections based on a dynamic boundary value; a GEO layer satellite high in on-board processing capacity is used for calculating the best route and the second best route for each LEO satellite; in the processes of information transmission and exchange, when loads of the LED satellites are large, the GEO satellite shares part of low priority services in time for the LED satellites, and it is guaranteed that important information is reliably transmitted in real time; when link congestion, node ineffectiveness and other emergency conditions happen in the satellite network, in order to avoid rerouting of the whole network, and the GEO satellite only calculates rerouting for affected routes; after link congestion is eliminated, the LED satellites recover route information in time before congestion in order to avoid link resource waste in the network. In the network that topology time varying happens, links are prone to congestion, on-board resources are limited, continuous high-load flows are prone to being generated, and nodes are prone to being ineffective at the special period, the method can reduce constellation system cost, shorten convergence time, save the on-board resources, increase the utilization rate of the link resources, guarantee that important information is reliably transmitted in real time and improve invulnerability and robustness of the satellite network.

Mobile wireless device(s) roam within and between premises and a vehicle or other mobile platform and interface to wireless local area networks within the premises or vehicle. When using the intra-vehicular network, a communication relay within the vehicle routes communications from the wireless device to a wide area wireless network such as cellular network or satellite network. This allows the power consumption of the mobile wireless device to be greatly reduced as the mobile device need only communicate with the local intra-vehicular WLAN. The vehicle acts as the power supply for the relay. When the coverage area of the intra-vehicular WLAN overlaps that of another WLAN, seamless handoff allows continuous data or voice connectivity between the overlapping wireless networks.

The present invention discloses a method for increasing the channel capacity of a communications network, comprising a plurality of one-way TDMA transmitters sharing said channel, and at least one compatible receiver, by reducing transmission collisions among said transmitters. This is achieved by coupling a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) decoder, such as a GPS receiver, to each transmitter, and limiting transmissions to discrete time slots, determined by timing signals provided by said GNSS. Further, this basic set of time slots is divided into several sub sets, and each transmitter selects a sub set of time slots according to its geographic location, in order to enable reusing time slots in spaced apart areas, as frequencies are reused in cellular networks. Then, each transmitter selects its own transmission time slot, from said sub set, in a way that statistically minimizes collisions among nearby transmitters. The present invention does not intend to ensure collision-free communications, yet is projected to reduce the transmission collision rate among simplex in nature transmitters, which have no means to detect other transmissions, or discover if a transmission was successful. One embodiment of this invention is related to distress radio beacons in satellite based Search and Rescue (SAR) systems, such as Cospas-Sarsat.

A ground simulation-test system of satellite attitude based on satellite network comprises simulation test unit of parts grade, digital simulation test unit of system grade and semiphysical simulation test unit of system grade. It is featured as using simulation test unit of parts grade and digital simulation test unit of system grade to provide physical data basis for semiphysical simulation test unit of system grade. The ground simulation testing-method of satellite attitude based on satellite network is also disclosed.

In Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite networks data routes for point to point and point to multipoint communication sessions in LEO satellite networks are determined by considering session bandwidth, priority, and the constantly changing terminal-satellite and satellite-satellite connectivity. Multiple routes are computed for a session to facilitate automatic adaptive rerouting by satellite payloads when they encounter network failures or congestion conditions.

Near real time downloading and verifying of a subscriber's remote record request is provided to control a DVR using the existing satellite network. The insertion of the programming request into the continuous broadcast stream enables near real time processing of the request by a subscriber IRD to accommodate same day and even last minute remote programming requests. The use of a back channel to verify the request provides the subscriber with assurance that the request has been processed successfully and flexibility to change services on the fly.

A system for safe disablement of a mobile piece of equipment (MPE) in which an onboard processor (CPU) includes a component control unit (CCU) coupled to a critical operational component of the MPE. The CCU is operable to effect immobilization of the MPE in a first mode of operation and to enable the critical operational component in second more of operation. Using an integral communications interface, the CPU can be accessed by a cellular telephone network, pager signal, RF transmission, or via a satellite network. A software algorithm initiates a Disable Procedure which continuously queries the binary status of the key power circuit at preset intervals to determine if it is on or off. If the status of the key power circuit remains off for a predetermined interval, the critical component is then disabled by actuating the CCU. A disable command can originate remotely using wireless transmission means. The disablement can also be automatic based on calendar and geographic location parameters. Disablement is also effected when system tampering is detected.

A multi-mode in-vehicle control unit (ICU) contains a plurality of modems. Each modem allows the multi-mode ICU to transmit vehicle data over a different kind of transmission network. Exemplary transmission networks include wireless data networks, cellular telephone networks and satellite networks. Vehicle data is collected. The multi-mode ICU selects one of the modems for transmission of vehicle data to a processing center. Priorities can be assigned to the transmission networks and or modems to control order the transmission network selection process.

A satellite network constellation employs a technique for multicasting packets through the network according to the present invention. The network comprises plural satellites in plural orbital planes with each satellite equipped with a plurality of high-speed point-to-point full duplex radio links for inter-satellite communications. A node intending to send a multicast packet to a multicast group or a set of destination satellite nodes initially sends the packet to the orbital planes that include the group members. Once reaching the plane, in-plane routing techniques are used to forward the packet to the intended group members. If there are broken or disabled links, an alternative path is taken to forward the packet without disrupting the functioning links.