System and method for gateway RF diversity using a configurable spot beam satellite

1. A system for gateway RF diversity using a configurable spot beam satellite comprising:

a satellite;

a first gateway connected to a first VSAT population through the satellite by a first gateway spot beam and a first user spot beam set comprising at least one user spot beam;

a second gateway connected to a second VSAT population through the satellite by a second gateway spot beam and a second user spot beam set comprising at least one user spot beam:

a diversity gateway located outside of the first gateway spot beam for the first gateway; and

a diversity control function;

wherein the diversity control function is configured to command the satellite to connect the first user spot beam set for the first gateway to a diversity gateway spot beam when the first gateway experiences service interruption, and

wherein the diversity control function is further configured to determine diversity priority metrics for the first gateway spot beam and a second gateway spot beam and command the satellite to connect at least one user spot beam set for the gateway whose corresponding gateway spot beam has the higher diversity priority metric to the diversity gateway spot beam when the first gateway and the second gateway both experience service interruptions.

2. The system of claim 1 ,

wherein the diversity control function is further configured to command the satellite to connect the first user spot beam set to the diversity gateway spot beam when the first gateway experiences service interruption and the second gateway does not experience a service interruption, and connect the second user spot beam set to the diversity gateway spot beam when the second gateway experiences service interruption and the first gateway does not experience service interruption.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the satellite is a configurable bent pipe spot beam satellite.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the satellite is a configurable regenerative spot beam satellite.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising a telemetry, tracking and control station.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein service interruption is caused by at least one of rain fade, a natural disaster, a loss of required power, cooling, access, terrestrial connectivity, or management connectivity facilities, an act of terrorism, a conflict, disruptive preventative maintenance and personnel action.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a telemetry, tracking and control station, wherein the diversity control function commands the satellite through the telemetry, tracking, and control station.

8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

an additional gateway within the first gateway spot beam.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the diversity control function is automated and the connecting of the first user spot beam to the diversity gateway spot beam is performed according to an automated procedure.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the diversity control function determines diversity priority metrics based on at least one of:

gateway signal metrics comprising at least one of:

current uplink power control metrics comprising at least one of uplink power level, difference from normal operating point, remaining margin and direction and rate of change,

current downlink power metrics comprising at least one of average burst power, difference from normal operating averages, average margin, and direction and rate of change,

current adaptive coding and modulation metrics comprising at least one of average and distribution of current user terminal modulation/code points, difference from normal operating averages, average margin, direction and rate of change,

and

current traffic metrics comprising at least one of average throughput, retransmission rate, difference from expected levels, direction and rate of change,

historical factors comprising at least one of duration of an ongoing fade at a gateway site, typical fade duration for a gateway site, application of hysteresis to smooth out transient signal metric effects during onset, progression and end of a storm,

policy factors comprising at least one of number of users affected, average traffic level affected, gateway or user priorities in event of different service level agreements, and national restrictions on traffic landing,

weather metrics comprising at least one of weather radar data, remotely monitored rainfall measurement stations, or manually initiated weather observations,

and

a priori operator controls comprising at least one of direction to prioritize one set of user spot beams over another, and directions to force or restrict spot beam connectivity switching to support other redundancy or maintenance requirements.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising two or more diversity gateways, each within a gateway spot beam able to be connected by the satellite to any of two or more user spot beam sets or to any spot beam set within a designated group of user spot beam sets.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein any of the gateways may serve as the diversity gateway, wherein the satellite is configured to connect any gateway spot beam to any user spot beam set or any of a number of user spot beam sets, and wherein the diversity control function is configured to monitor, prioritize and command diversity assignments for the gateways.

13. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a common L 3 site connected via backhaul link to the first gateway and the diversity gateway, wherein the common L 3 site is configured to provide common Internet connectivity for the first gateway and the diversity gateway and allow VSAT connectivity to be switched between the gateways for RF diversity, while preserving established Internet routing for static IP subnet addresses associated with the VSATs.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the first gateway and the diversity gateway are connected both to the Internet and to the common L 3 site and wherein traffic for VSATs with dynamic subnet addresses is exchanged directly between the Internet and gateway, and traffic for VSATs with static subnet addresses is exchanged by way of the common L 3 site.

15. A method for gateway RF diversity using a configurable spot beam satellite comprising:

detecting service interruption at a first gateway;

determining that a diversity gateway is available;

commanding a satellite to connect a first user spot beam set for the first gateway to a diversity gateway spot beam for the diversity gateway;

determining a diversity priority metric for a first gateway spot beam for the first gateway and for a second gateway spot beam for a second gateway; and

commanding the satellite to connect at least one user spot beam set for the gateway whose corresponding gateway spot beam has the higher diversity priority metric to the diversity gateway spot beam when the first gateway and the second gateway both experience service interruptions.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein commanding a satellite comprises:

transmitting instructions to a telemetry, tracking and control station to be implemented by configuring the satellite.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the determining and commanding are automated.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

providing service to a VSAT population that had been served by the first gateway with the diversity gateway after commanding the satellite to connect the first user spot beam to the diversity gateway spot beam.

19. A method for gateway RF diversity using a configurable spot beam satellite comprising:

detecting service interruption at a first gateway;

detecting service interruption at a second gateway;

determining that a diversity gateway is available;

determining a diversity priority metric for a first gateway spot beam for the first gateway and for a second gateway spot beam for the second gateway; and

commanding a satellite to connect a first user spot beam set for the first gateway to a diversity gateway spot beam for the diversity gateway if the diversity priority metric for the first gateway spot beam is higher than the diversity priority metric for the second gateway spot beam or

commanding the satellite to connect the second user spot beam set for the second gateway to the diversity gateway spot beam for the diversity gateway if the diversity priority metric for the first gateway spot beam is not higher than the diversity priority metric for the second gateway spot beam.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein determining the diversity priority metric for the first gateway spot beam and the second gateway spot beam is based on at least one of gateway metrics, historical factors, policy factors, weather metrics, operator controls, and weather metrics.

21. The method of claim 19 , where commanding the satellite further comprises transmitting instructions to a telemetry, tracking and control station.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein service interruption is caused by at least one of rain fade, a natural disaster, a loss of required power, cooling, access, terrestrial connectivity, or management connectivity facilities, an act of terrorism, a conflict, disruptive preventative maintenance and personnel action.

23. A system for gateway RF diversity using a configurable spot beam satellite comprising:

a satellite;

a first gateway connected to a first VSAT population through the satellite by a first gateway spot beam and a first user spot beam set comprising at least one user spot beam;

a diversity gateway located outside of the first gateway spot beam for the first gateway;

a diversity control function; and

a common L 3 site connected via backhaul link to the first gateway and the diversity gateway,

wherein the diversity control function is configured to command the satellite to connect the first user spot beam set for the first gateway to a diversity gateway spot beam when the first gateway experiences service interruption,

wherein the common L 3 site is configured to provide common Internet connectivity for the first gateway and the diversity gateway and allow VSAT connectivity to be switched between the gateways for RF diversity, while preserving established Internet routing for static IP subnet addresses associated with the VSATs,

wherein the first gateway and the diversity gateway are connected both to the Internet and to the common L 3 site and wherein traffic for VSATs with dynamic subnet addresses is exchanged directly between the Internet and gateway, and traffic for VSATs with static subnet addresses is exchanged by way of the common L 3 site.