Co-Located Satellite Return-Link Beamforming Offloaded to Ground
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing satellite communication systems face challenges in achieving high frequency reuse and efficient energy conservation due to limited satellite processing capabilities and potential component malfunctions, which impact system performance and maintenance costs.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a satellite swarm with co-located satellites that offload signal processing to ground-based systems, utilizing MIMO and beamforming techniques, and employing a central processor to apply beamforming coefficients to satellite-received signal components, thereby reducing energy consumption and simplifying maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If signal processing is performed on satellites, then system performance is improved, but energy consumption increases and maintenance becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the signal processing function from the satellite environment and relocates it to ground-based facilities. The satellite swarm collects raw signal components and transmits them to ground stations, where a field processor performs beamforming and signal reconstruction. This extraction resolves the contradiction by maintaining system performance through ground-based processing while eliminating the energy consumption and maintenance issues associated with onboard satellite processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces ground-based facilities as an intermediary between the satellite swarm and the signal processing function. The satellites serve only to collect and transmit raw signal components, while the ground-based field processor performs the computationally intensive beamforming operations. This intermediary approach allows high-performance signal processing without requiring energy-consuming processing equipment on the satellites themselves.
2Reliability
If signal processing is performed on satellites, then system performance is improved, but maintenance complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex signal processing functionality from the satellite environment and places it in ground-based facilities. This extraction resolves the maintenance contradiction by allowing processing equipment to be maintained, upgraded, and repaired on the ground using standard procedures, rather than requiring complex in-orbit maintenance capabilities. The satellites themselves only need simple signal collection and transmission functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses multiple co-located satellites as redundant copies for signal collection. If one satellite or its processing component fails, the system can continue operating using signals from other satellites in the swarm. This copying approach provides fault tolerance and simplifies maintenance, as individual satellite failures do not compromise the overall system performance.
3Productivity
If frequency reuse is increased, then communication capacity is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves signal processing from the spatial dimension (on individual satellites) to the ground-based dimension, where multiple ground stations can process signals from multiple satellites simultaneously. This dimensional shift enables complex beamforming and frequency reuse management without increasing on-satellite system complexity. The ground-based field processor handles the computational complexity of high frequency reuse scenarios.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces ground-based facilities as an intermediary that manages the complexity of high frequency reuse operations. The satellites simply collect and transmit signals, while the ground-based field processor performs the computationally intensive tasks of beamforming, signal separation, and frequency management. This intermediary approach enables high communication capacity through aggressive frequency reuse without requiring complex onboard processing on each satellite.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and devices for co-located satellites with ground based processing are described. A set of co-located satellites may be configured to collect a set of return link signal components, where each co-located satellite includes a first payload configured to receive a respective return link signal component including one or more return link signal transmitted from one or more terminals and a second payload configured to transmit a representation of the respective return link signal component. One or more ground stations may be configured to receive the representations of the respective return link signal components. A central processor may be configured to apply a set of beamforming coefficients to the representations of the respective return link signal components received by the one or more ground stations to obtain one or more return link beam signals corresponding to one or more return link beams from the set of co-located satellites.