Granted Patent B2

US 7,634,234 · App. 11/295,383 · Granted Dec 15, 2009

Abstract

Claims (84)

1. A method of predicting uplink interference potential to a mobile satellite system (MSS) generated by ancillary terrestrial components (ATCs) of an ancillary terrestrial network (ATN) and/or ATC radioterminals that are configured to terrestrially use/reuse satellite frequencies, the method comprising:

measuring power transmitted by and/or received at one or more radioterminals communicating with at least one terrestrial network and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network communicating with the one or more radioterminals using terrestrial frequencies that are at least partially outside a range of the satellite frequencies, wherein the power is measured at a plurality of spaced apart locations over a geographic area that is at least partially within a radio horizon of the MSS relative to the one or more radioterminals and/or the at least one terrestrial network; and

predicting uplink interference potential to the MSS generated by terrestrial use/reuse of satellite frequencies by the ATN and/or radioterminals communicating therewith responsive to the measured power.

2. The method of claim 1 , where the terrestrial frequencies used by the one or more radioterminals and/or by the at least one terrestrial network are substantially different from the satellite frequencies.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the terrestrial frequencies are at least partially within a band of frequencies allocated to a cellular/PCS wireless network.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using the predicted uplink interference potential to define a maximum output power that can be transmitted by the ATC radioterminals and/or the ATCs responsive to the predicted uplink interference potential.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using the predicted uplink interference potential when determining placement of ATC antennas in a geographic area responsive to the predicted uplink interference potential.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising limiting a number of the ATC antennas deployed in the geographic area responsive to the predicted uplink interference potential.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using the predicted uplink interference potential to define a geographic area of communications coverage for the ATN.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using the predicted uplink interference potential to define in the ATN a maximum number of ATC radioterminals that can simultaneously communicate with the ATCs.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

increasing the maximum number of ATC radioterminals that can simultaneously communicate with the ATCs when the predicted uplink interference potential is less than a threshold value; and

decreasing the maximum number of ATC radioterminals that can simultaneously communicate with the ATCs when the predicted uplink interference potential is greater than a threshold value.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring power transmitted by and/or received at the one or more radioterminals and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network comprises measuring a power level transmitted from the one or more radioterminals.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring power transmitted by and/or received at the one or more radioterminals and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network comprises measuring a power level received by the at least one terrestrial network from the one or more radioterminals and/or a power level received by the one or more radioterminals from the at least one terrestrial network.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring power transmitted by and/or received at the one or more radioterminals and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network comprises measuring a power level transmitted from the at least one terrestrial network.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring power transmitted by and/or received at the one or more radioterminals comprises:

sampling a power level transmitted by and/or received at the one or more radioterminals and/or at the at least one terrestrial network over time; and

averaging the samples to generate the measured power.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein predicting uplink interference potential to the MSS is further responsive to a maximum number of ATC radioterminals that can simultaneously communicate with the ATCs of the ATN.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring power transmitted by and/or received at the one or more radioterminals comprises measuring power at a plurality of locations in the geographic area that provide substantially different distances between the one or more radioterminals and the at least one terrestrial network.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring power transmitted by and/or received at the one or more radioterminals comprises measuring power at a plurality of locations in the geographic area that experience substantially different amounts of blockage of signals communicated between the one or more radioterminals and the at least one terrestrial network.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein predicting uplink interference potential to the MSS comprises adjusting influence of separate ones of the power measurements to the prediction of uplink interference potential based on a maximum number of ATC radioterminals that can simultaneously communicate with the ATN from the locations of the one or more radioterminals associated with the separate ones of the power measurements.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring power transmitted by and/or received at the one or more radioterminals and/or at the at least one terrestrial network comprises measuring power during differing levels of communications traffic between the one or more radioterminals and the at least one terrestrial network.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: updating the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS using a transmitted and/or received power measurement from at least one ATC radioterminal and/or the ATN that terrestrially uses/reuses satellite frequencies that are used and/or authorized for use by the MSS.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein updating the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS comprises measuring an indication of the power received at the ATN from the at least one ATC radioterminal and/or transmitted by the at least one ATC radioterminal using/reusing satellite frequencies.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein updating the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS comprises measuring an indication of the power transmitted from the ATN in communications with the at least one ATC radioterminal using satellite frequencies.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein updating the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS is further responsive to a maximum number of ATC radioterminals that can simultaneously communicate with the ATCs of the ATN.

23. The method of claim 19 , wherein updating the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS comprises measuring the transmitted and/or received power from the at least one ATC radioterminal and/or one or more of the ATCs during differing levels of communications traffic between the at least one ATC radioterminal and the one or more ATCs.

24. The method of claim 19 , further comprising controlling the maximum number of ATC radioterminals that can simultaneously communicate with the ATCs of the ATN responsive to the updated prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS.

25. The method of claim 19 , further comprising controlling selection of a range of satellite frequencies that are terrestrial used/reused for communications between the ATC radioterminals and the ATCs responsive to the updated prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS.

26. The method of claim 19 , further comprising controlling maximum output power from ATC radioterminals and/or the ATCs responsive to the updated prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS.

27. A method of predicting uplink interference potential to a mobile satellite system (MSS) generated by ancillary terrestrial components (ATCs) of an ancillary terrestrial network (ATN) and/or ATC radioterminals that are configured to terrestrially use/reuse satellite frequencies, the method comprising:

measuring power transmitted by and/or received at one or more radioterminals communicating with at least one terrestrial network and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network communicating with the one or more radioterminals using terrestrial frequencies that are at least partially outside a range of the satellite frequencies;

predicting uplink interference potential to the MSS generated by terrestrial use/reuse of satellite frequencies by the ATN and/or radioterminals communicating therewith responsive to the measured power; and

using the predicted uplink interference potential to influence decisions by the ATC radioterminals and/or the ATN of when to carry out handoff of ATC radioterminals between at least one of the ATCs and a space-based component.

28. The method of claim 27 , further comprising:

comparing a number of ATC radioterminals that need to simultaneously communicate in an area to a threshold handoff value to determine whether to handoff ATC radioterminals from at least one of the ATCs to a space-based component;

increasing the threshold handoff value when the predicted uplink interference potential is less than a threshold interference value; and

decreasing the threshold handoff value when the predicted uplink interference potential is greater than a threshold interference value.

29. A method of predicting uplink interference potential to a mobile satellite system (MSS) generated by ancillary terrestrial components (ATCs) of an ancillary terrestrial network (ATN) and/or ATC radioterminals that are configured to terrestrially use/reuse satellite frequencies, the method comprising:

measuring power transmitted by and/or received at one or more radioterminals communicating with at least one terrestrial network and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network communicating with the one or more radioterminals using terrestrial frequencies that are at least partially outside a range of the satellite frequencies;

predicting uplink interference potential to the MSS generated by terrestrial use/reuse of satellite frequencies by the ATN and/or radioterminals communicating therewith responsive to the measured power; and

using the predicted uplink interference potential to influence selection among differing coding techniques and/or communications modes used by the ATC radioterminals and/or the ATCs for communication therebetween.

30. A method of predicting uplink interference potential to a mobile satellite system (MSS) generated by ancillary terrestrial components (ATCs) of an ancillary terrestrial network (ATN) and/or ATC radioterminals that are configured to terrestrially use/reuse satellite frequencies, the method comprising:

measuring power transmitted by and/or received at one or more radioterminals communicating with at least one terrestrial network and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network communicating with the one or more radioterminals using terrestrial frequencies that are at least partially outside a range of the satellite frequencies;

predicting uplink interference potential to the MSS generated by terrestrial use/reuse of satellite frequencies by the ATN and/or radioterminals communicating therewith responsive to the measured power;

using the predicted uplink interference potential to influence selection of a range of satellite frequencies that are terrestrially used/reused for communications between the ATC radioterminals and the ATN;

increasing a measure of the range of satellite frequencies that are terrestrially used/reused for communications between the ATC radioterminals and the ATN when the predicted uplink interference potential is less than a threshold value; and

decreasing the measure of the range of satellite frequencies that are terrestrially used/reused for communications between the ATC radioterminals and the ATN when the predicted uplink interference potential is greater than a threshold value.

31. A method of predicting uplink interference potential to a mobile satellite system (MSS) generated by ancillary terrestrial components (ATCs) of an ancillary terrestrial network (ATN) and/or ATC radioterminals that are configured to terrestrially use/reuse satellite frequencies, the method comprising:

measuring power transmitted by and/or received at one or more radioterminals communicating with at least one terrestrial network and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network communicating with the one or more radioterminals using terrestrial frequencies that are at least partially outside a range of the satellite frequencies, including by measuring power while the one or more radioterminals and the at least one terrestrial network are using differing coding and/or communications modes over time in their communications; and

predicting uplink interference potential to the MSS generated by terrestrial use/reuse of satellite frequencies by the ATN and/or radioterminals communicating therewith responsive to the measured power.

32. The method of claim 31 , wherein measuring power while the one or more radioterminals and the at least one terrestrial network are using differing coding and/or communications modes over time comprises measuring power while the one or more radioterminals and the at least one terrestrial network are selectively using different ones of a plurality of different vocoders to encode and decode voice communications and/or different circuit-switched and/or packet-switched data modes.

33. A method of predicting uplink interference potential to a mobile satellite system (MSS) generated by ancillary terrestrial components (ATCs) of an ancillary terrestrial network (ATN) and/or ATC radioterminals that are configured to terrestrially use/reuse satellite frequencies, the method comprising:

measuring power transmitted by and/or received at one or more radioterminals communicating with at least one terrestrial network and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network communicating with the one or more radioterminals using terrestrial frequencies that are at least partially outside a range of the satellite frequencies;

predicting uplink interference potential to the MSS generated by terrestrial use/reuse of satellite frequencies by the ATN and/or radioterminals communicating therewith responsive to the measured power, the predicting including estimating an effect of difference(s) in frequency between the terrestrial frequencies and the range of the satellite frequencies on dissipation of power transmitted by the ATC radioterminals and the ATN, and using the estimated difference(s) in the dissipation of power in the prediction of the uplink interference potential to the MSS.

34. A method of predicting uplink interference potential to a mobile satellite system (MSS) generated by ancillary terrestrial components (ATCs) of an ancillary terrestrial network (ATN) and/or ATC radioterminals that are configured to terrestrially use/reuse satellite frequencies, the method comprising:

measuring power transmitted by and/or received at one or more radioterminals communicating with at least one terrestrial network and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network communicating with the one or more radioterminals using terrestrial frequencies that are at least partially outside a range of the satellite frequencies;

predicting uplink interference potential to the MSS generated by terrestrial use/reuse of satellite frequencies by the ATN and/or radioterminals communicating therewith responsive to the measured power; and

updating the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS using a transmitted and/or received power measurement from at least one ATC radioterminal and/or the ATN that terrestrially uses/reuses satellite frequencies that are used and/or authorized for use by the MSS, the updating including measuring the transmitted and/or received power from the at least one ATC radioterminal and/or one or more of the ATCs while the at least one ATC radioterminal and/or the one or more of the ATCs is/are using differing coding and/or modes of communications with the one or more ATCs.

35. A method of predicting uplink interference potential to a mobile satellite system (MSS) generated by ancillary terrestrial components (ATCs) of an ancillary terrestrial network (ATN) and/or ATC radioterminals that are configured to terrestrially use/reuse satellite frequencies, the method comprising:

measuring power transmitted by and/or received at one or more radioterminals communicating with at least one terrestrial network and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network communicating with the one or more radioterminals using terrestrial frequencies that are at least partially outside a range of the satellite frequencies;

predicting uplink interference potential to the MSS generated by terrestrial use/reuse of satellite frequencies by the ATN and/or radioterminals communicating therewith responsive to the measured power; and

updating the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS using a transmitted and/or received power measurement from at least one ATC radioterminal and/or the ATN that terrestrially uses/reuses satellite frequencies that are used and/or authorized for use by the MSS, including by measuring the transmitted and/or received power from the at least one ATC radioterminal and/or the one or more of the ATCs while the at least one ATC radioterminal and/or the one or more of the ATCs is/are selectively using different ones of a plurality of different vocoders to encode and decode voice communications and/or different circuit-switched and/or packet-switched data modes.

36. A method of predicting uplink interference potential to a mobile satellite system (MSS) generated by ancillary terrestrial components (ATCs) of an ancillary terrestrial network (ATN) and/or ATC radioterminals that are configured to terrestrially use/reuse satellite frequencies, the method comprising:

measuring power transmitted by and/or received at one or more radioterminals communicating with at least one terrestrial network and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network communicating with the one or more radioterminals using terrestrial frequencies that are at least partially outside a range of the satellite frequencies;

predicting uplink interference potential to the MSS generated by terrestrial use/reuse of satellite frequencies by the ATN and/or radioterminals communicating therewith responsive to the measured power;

updating the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS using a transmitted and/or received power measurement from at least one ATC radioterminal and/or the ATN that terrestrially uses/reuses satellite frequencies that are used and/or authorized for use by the MSS; and

controlling selection among a plurality of different coding techniques and/or communications modes used by the ATC radioterminals and/or the ATCs for communications therebetween responsive to the updated prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS.

37. An ancillary terrestrial network (ATN) comprising:

a plurality of ancillary terrestrial components (ATCs) that are configured to communicate with a plurality of ATC radiotelephones over satellite frequencies; and

an interference controller that is configured to control the ATCs and/or ATC radiotelephones that communicate with the ATCs responsive to a prediction of uplink interference potential to a mobile satellite system (MSS) based on measurements of power transmitted by and/or received at one or more radioterminals communicating with at least one terrestrial network and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network communicating with the one or more radioterminals using terrestrial frequencies that are at least partially outside a range of the satellite frequencies, wherein the prediction of uplink interference potential is based on the measurements when the one or more radioterminals are at a plurality of spaced apart locations over a geographic area that is at least partially within a radio horizon of the MSS relative to the one or more radioterminals and/or the at least one terrestrial network.

38. The ATN of claim 37 , wherein the interference controller is further configured to update the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS responsive to measurements of power transmitted by the ATCs and/or power transmitted by ATC radiotelephones communicating with the ATCs using/reusing satellite frequencies.

39. The ATN of claim 37 , wherein the interference controller is further configured to control a maximum number of ATC radioterminals that can simultaneously communicate with the ATCs responsive to the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS.

40. The ATN of claim 37 , wherein the interference controller is further configured to control selection of a range of satellite frequencies that are terrestrially used/reused for communications between ATC radioterminals and the ATCs responsive to the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS.

41. The ATN of claim 37 , wherein the interference controller is further configured to control maximum output power from the ATCs and/or ATC radioterminals communicating with the ATCs responsive to the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS.

42. An ancillary terrestrial network (ATN) comprising:

a plurality of ancillary terrestrial components (ATCs) that are configured to communicate with a plurality of ATC radiotelephones over satellite frequencies; and

an interference controller that is configured to control the ATCs and/or ATC radiotelephones that communicate with the ATCs responsive to a prediction of uplink interference potential to a mobile satellite system (MSS) based on measurements of power transmitted by and/or received at one or more radioterminals communicating with at least one terrestrial network and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network communicating with the one or more radioterminals using terrestrial frequencies that are at least partially outside a range of the satellite frequencies, and configured to control selection among a plurality of different coding techniques and/or communications modes used by the ATCs and/or ATC radioterminals that communicate therewith responsive to the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS.

43. An ancillary terrestrial network (ATN) comprising:

a plurality of ancillary terrestrial components (ATCs) that are configured to communicate with a plurality of ATC radiotelephones over satellite frequencies; and

an interference controller that is configured to control the ATCs and/or ATC radiotelephones that communicate with the ATCs responsive to a prediction of uplink interference potential to a mobile satellite system (MSS) based on measurements of power transmitted by and/or received at one or more radioterminals communicating with at least one terrestrial network and/or transmitted by and/or received at the at least one terrestrial network communicating with the one or more radioterminals using terrestrial frequencies that are at least partially outside a range of the satellite frequencies, and configured to control selection among a plurality of different coding techniques and/or communications modes used by ATC radioterminals and/or the ATCs for communication therebetween responsive to the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS.

44. The ATN of claim 43 , wherein the interference controller is further configured to control selection among a plurality of different vocoders to encode and decode voice communications between ATC radioterminals and the ATCs and/or different circuit-switched and/or packet-switched data modes responsive to the prediction of uplink interference potential to the MSS.

Assignments (18)