Terrestrial multi-antenna system for airborne wireless service
Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to systems and methods for delivering telecommunications coverage to airborne user equipment (UE). More particularly, in aspects set forth herein, systems and methods utilize a multi-antenna system at a terrestrial base station in order to separately communicate signals to UEs at (or near) ground level and to UEs that are airborne.
1 . A multi-antenna system comprising:
a controller;
a first antenna panel having a first tilt that is configured to communicate a first set of wireless signals to a first coverage area configured to serve a plurality of terrestrial user equipment (UEs); and
a second antenna panel having a second tilt that is configured to communicate a second set of wireless signals to a second coverage area configured to serve a plurality of airborne UEs,
wherein the controller is configured to:
in response to a determination that a UE is terrestrial, serve the UE using the first antenna panel;
in response to a determination that the UE is airborne, serve the UE using the second antenna panel;
utilize one or more interference mitigation measures to prevent the first set of wireless signals from interfering with the second set of wireless signals;
wherein the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel are separated by a vertical distance; and
wherein determining whether the UE is airborne or terrestrial comprises comparing the UE's speed to a threshold.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is terrestrial-based.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the second coverage area does not comprise the ground level.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first set of wireless signals uses a first frequency and the second set of wireless signals uses a second frequency, wherein the first frequency and the second frequency are different.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the first set of wireless signals has a first mobile country code mobile network code (MCC/MNC) and the second set of wireless signals has a second MCC/MNC, wherein the first MCC/MNC and the second MCC/MNC are different.
6 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a predetermined angular distance that is an angular separation between the first set of wireless signals and the second set of wireless signals, wherein the predetermined angular distance reduces or prevents the first set of wireless signals from overlapping with the second set of wireless signals.
7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein a first frequency is used to communicate the first set of wireless signals and a second frequency is used to communicate the second set of wireless signals, wherein the first frequency and the second frequency are the same.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a base station comprising the multi-antenna system is located within a pre-determined distance of a known flight path.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel comprise a plurality of antenna elements, and wherein the controller utilizes beamforming to define the second coverage area with the second set of wireless signals.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first antenna panel is coupled to the second antenna panel.
11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the UE's speed comprises using automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data associated with an aircraft carrying the UE.
12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to disallow attachment of an airborne UE to the first coverage area.
13 . A method for providing airborne wireless service, the method comprising:
communicating a first set of wireless signals from a first antenna panel having a first tilt to a first coverage area configured to serve a plurality of terrestrial user equipment (UEs);
communicating a second set of wireless signals from a second antenna panel having a second tilt to a second coverage area configured to serve a plurality of airborne UEs;
determining that a UE is airborne based on the UE's speed exceeding a threshold, and in response to determining that the UE is airborne, serving the UE using the second antenna panel;
utilizing, by a controller, one or more interference mitigation measures to prevent the first set of wireless signals from interfering with the second set of wireless signals; and
wherein the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel are separated by a vertical distance.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the method is performed by a terrestrial-based system.
15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the first set of wireless signals uses a first frequency and the second set of wireless signals uses a second frequency, wherein the first frequency and the second frequency are different.
16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the second coverage area does not comprise the ground level.
17 . A non-transitory computer readable media having computer executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more computer processing components, cause the one or more computer processing components to perform a method of providing airborne wireless service to a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
communicating a first set of wireless signals from a first antenna system to a terrestrial cell of a terrestrial base station, wherein the first set of wireless signals using a first frequency and comprising a synchronization signal having a first public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier;
communicating a second set of wireless signals from a second antenna system to an airborne cell of the terrestrial base station, the second set of wireless signals using a second frequency, and comprising a synchronization signal having a second PLMN identifier, the first frequency being different from the second frequency, the first PLMN identifier being different from the second PLMN identifier, and the airborne cell and the terrestrial cell having main lobes with a non-zero, positive angular separation in a vertical plane;
determining that the UE is airborne based on the UE's speed exceeding a threshold;
in response to determining that the UE is airborne, serving the UE using the second antenna system; and
wherein the first antenna system and the second antenna system are separated by a vertical distance.