Airborne Cell Base Station for Disaster Communication
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Solution Overview
Problem
During natural disasters or in remote areas without operational cell base station towers, cell phone communication access is disrupted, hindering search and rescue operations and emergency assistance.
Innovation Solution
Deploying a cell phone router system on an aircraft equipped with a cell base station and antennas to detect and route calls from cell phones in areas without operational base stations, using a telecommunication switching system to configure antennas, detect registration requests, and route IDs and locations to ground-based switching offices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ground-based cell base station towers are used to provide cell phone communication access, then communication coverage is provided within the service provider's infrastructure, but communication access is interrupted when base station towers are destroyed or rendered inoperable during natural disasters or in remote areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by transitioning the cell base station from a static ground-based tower to a mobile airborne platform. The aircraft can be dynamically deployed to any location requiring communication service, whether disaster zones or remote areas, providing adaptable and reliable communication access where fixed infrastructure is unavailable or damaged.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the aircraft as an intermediary platform between ground-based communication needs and service provider infrastructure. The airborne cell base station acts as a mobile intermediary that can establish temporary communication networks in areas without operational ground towers, bridging the gap between cell phones and the broader communication network via satellite or other air-to-ground links.
2Reliability
If airborne cell base station is deployed to restore communication access in areas without operational base stations, then communication access is restored for search and rescue operations, but device complexity increases due to aircraft integration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing the airborne communication system to perform multiple functions: it serves as both a cell base station for emergency communication and utilizes the aircraft's existing navigation, positioning, and flight control systems. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity by leveraging the aircraft's inherent capabilities rather than adding entirely separate systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the cell base station functionality with the aircraft platform, combining communication equipment with existing aviation systems. The integration of the communication system with the aircraft's electrical, structural, and control systems creates a unified platform that reduces complexity compared to maintaining separate ground-based and airborne systems.
3Area of stationary object
If multiple antennas are configured to monitor respective sectors for cell phone communication, then communication coverage area is expanded, but device complexity increases due to antenna configuration and sector monitoring
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the communication coverage area into multiple sectors, each monitored by a dedicated antenna. This segmentation allows the system to cover a broader area while managing complexity through functional specialization, where each antenna handles a specific sector rather than requiring a single complex omnidirectional system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the three-dimensional space available in airborne deployment by positioning antennas to monitor different vertical and horizontal sectors. This spatial dimensionality allows expanded coverage area without proportionally increasing ground-based infrastructure complexity, as the aircraft's altitude provides natural separation and coverage of multiple sectors simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture enable routing a communication from a cell phone associated with a service provider in which the cell phone is located in a predetermined area in which the service provider does not have an operational base station or in which routing assistance is required. A cell base station having one or more antennas is provided in an aircraft. Each of the antennas is configured to monitor a respective sector of the predetermined area for a cell phone communication when the aircraft is flown in proximity to the predetermined area. A registration request from a first cell phone in the predetermined is detected via the cell base station and an ID and location associated with the first cell phone is routed to a ground based telephone switching office, such as the mobile telephone switching office associated with the service provider of the detected cell phone.