Satellite communications system for providing global, high quality movement of very large data files

1. A system for transmitting large data files of at least an aggregated 100 gigabytes from a source terminal to a geographically distant destination terminal in substantially non-real-time, the system comprising:

at least one satellite in a non-geostationary orbit, wherein the satellite is configured to store and forward data files and includes:

a wireless transceiver,

mass data storage, and

at least one processor coupled among the wireless transceiver and the mass data storage; and

at least first and second terrestrial or sea-based stations,

wherein the first station has at least a wireless transmitter and is configured to:

receive a large data file from the source terminal, wherein the large data file represents an aggregate of least 100 gigabytes,

process the large data file for transmission by at least encoding the large data file with block coding and forward error correction, and

transmit the large data file to the satellite at a predetermined time, wherein the large data file includes an electronic address for the destination terminal;

wherein the second station has at least a wireless receiver and is configured to:

receive the large data file from the satellite and

transfer the large data file to the destination terminal based in part on the electronic address for the destination terminal;

wherein the satellite stores the large data file for more than several minutes before transmitting it to the second station;

wherein at least the first station or satellite are further configured to monitor a signal quality from a beacon channel for an indication that a wireless channel with the satellite is of acceptable quality before the large data file is transmitted over the wireless channel, or configured to monitor the signal quality from the beacon channel and suspend transmissions, adjusting power or adjusting a bandwidth for communications over the wireless channel based on the monitored signal quality; and

wherein the first and second stations further each include transceivers for communicating over a low bandwidth communication channel, wherein the low bandwidth communication channel is of a much lower bandwidth than the wireless channel, and wherein the second station is further configured to

detect blocks of data in the received large data file that contain uncorrectable errors and

request the first station to retransmit, over the low bandwidth communication channel, any data blocks from the large data file that contain errors, whereby the system provides a bit error rate (BER) on an order of at least 10 −15 .

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising multiple satellites in low earth orbit, wherein the wireless channel is approximately in the Ka band to provide very high bandwidth, wherein each of the multiple satellites operate independent of each other, and

wherein at least the first station is configured to monitor a quality of the wireless channel and adjust the encoding of the large data file in response thereto;

wherein the low bandwidth channel is an alternate link between the first and second stations; and

wherein the second station requests at least the satellite to retransmit the large data file if the second station detects significant loss of data blocks in the large data file.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the first station is on a vessel or vehicle, and wherein the satellite and the first station are configured to:

employ closed loop tracking between the satellite and the first station, via the beacon channel, to control pointing of at least the satellite or the first station.

4. In a communications system employing at least one satellite in a non-geostationary orbit configured to store large data files from a source terminal, and forward the data files to a geographically distant destination terminal, a method for controlling wireless telecommunications in the system comprising:

monitoring a beacon channel between the satellite and at least the source or destination terminals, wherein the beacon channel provides an indication of a quality of at least one high bandwidth wireless channel between the satellite and the source or destination terminals;

determining a quality of the high bandwidth wireless channel based on the monitoring of the beacon channel; and

postponing transmission of all or portions of a large data file over the high bandwidth wireless channel if the determined channel quality is unacceptable, or adjusting a bandwidth for communications over the high bandwidth wireless channel based on the determined channel quality,

wherein the satellite receives and stores a large data file while transiting near the source terminal,

wherein the satellite transmits the large data file at least two minutes later while transiting near the geographically distant destination terminal, and

wherein the large data file is at least an aggregated 10 gigabytes.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

instructing the satellite to not transmit the large data file when a transmit path from the satellite intersects a vector that potentially could interfere with transmissions.

6. The method of claim 4 , further employing the beacon channel to control power of transmissions from the satellite.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

splitting the large data file into smaller files to optimize transmission of the file.

8. The method of claim 4 , further employing the beacon channel to control pointing of the satellite with respect to either the source or destination terminal.

9. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

where the determined channel quality is unacceptable, transmitting dummy fill data.

10. The method of claim 4 , wherein the large data file is stored within a redundant array of independent disks (RAID).

11. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

identifying corrupted data blocks in the transmission;

transmitting a message from the destination terminal indicating the corrupted data blocks; and

retransmitting new data blocks to the destination terminal.

12. A system for transmitting large data files from a source terminal to a geographically distant destination terminal in substantially non-real-time, the system including at least one satellite in a non-geostationary orbit, wherein the satellite is configured to store and forward data files and wherein the satellite includes:

a wireless transceiver;

mass data storage; and

at least one processor coupled among the wireless transceiver and the mass data storage, wherein the satellite is further configured to—

receive a large data file transmitted to the satellite, at a predetermined time, by a wireless transmitter at a first terrestrial or sea-based station, wherein the large data file—

was received at the first terrestrial or sea-based station from the source terminal,

represents an aggregate of least 100 gigabytes,

was processed for transmission by at least encoding the large data file with block coding and forward error correction, and

includes an electronic address for a destination terminal,

transmit the large data file to a wireless receiver at a second terrestrial or sea-based station, wherein the large data file is subsequently transferred from the second terrestrial or sea-based station to the destination terminal based in part on the electronic address for the destination terminal, and

store the large data file for more than several minutes before transmitting it to the second terrestrial or sea-based station;

wherein at least the first terrestrial or sea-based station or the satellite monitor a signal quality from a beacon channel for an indication that a wireless channel with the satellite is of acceptable quality before the large data file is transmitted over the wireless channel, or monitor the signal quality from the beacon channel and suspend transmissions, adjusting power or adjusting a bandwidth for communications over the wireless channel based on the monitored signal quality; and

wherein the first terrestrial or sea-based station and the second terrestrial or sea-based station each communicate over a low bandwidth communication channel, wherein the low bandwidth communication channel is of a much lower bandwidth than the wireless channel, and wherein the second terrestrial or sea-based station—

detects blocks of data in the received large data file that contain uncorrectable errors and

requests the first terrestrial or sea-based station to retransmit, over the low bandwidth communication channel, any data blocks from the large data file that contain errors, whereby the system provides a bit error rate (BER) on an order of at least 10 −15 .

13. The system of claim 1 further comprising multiple satellites in low earth orbit, wherein the wireless channel is approximately in the Ka band to provide very high bandwidth, wherein each of the multiple satellites operate independent of each other, and

wherein at least the first terrestrial or sea-based station is configured to monitor a quality of the wireless channel and adjust the encoding of the large data file in response thereto;

wherein the low bandwidth channel is an alternate link between the first terrestrial or sea-based and the second terrestrial or sea-based stations; and

wherein the second terrestrial or sea-based station requests at least the satellite to retransmit the large data file if the second terrestrial or sea-based station detects significant loss of data blocks in the large data file.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the first terrestrial or sea-based station is on a vessel or vehicle, and wherein the satellite and the first terrestrial or sea-based station are configured to:

employ closed loop tracking between the satellite and the first terrestrial or sea-based station, via the beacon channel, to control pointing of at least the satellite or the first terrestrial or sea-based station.