Position-based access to satellite networks for satellite terminals
The described features generally relate to receiving one or more positioning signals at a satellite terminal during installation of the satellite terminal at a customer premises, and providing position-based access to a satellite communications system based on a satellite terminal installation position determined from the received positioning signals. The determined installation position of the satellite terminal may then be employed for various network access techniques, such as providing access to the satellite communications system, providing position-based content, or restricting content via the satellite communications system based on the determined installation position. In some examples the determined installation position of the satellite terminal may be used to approximate a propagation delay between the satellite terminal and various devices of the satellite communications system, such as a serving satellite and/or a serving gateway, to improve device synchronization and radio frequency spectrum resource utilization.
1. A method for use in a satellite communications system, comprising:
receiving a plurality of positioning signals for a satellite terminal during installation of the satellite terminal at a customer premises;
determining, at the satellite terminal, a first installation position of the satellite terminal based on the plurality of positioning signals;
identifying a distance between the determined first installation position and a predetermined installation position for the satellite terminal;
determining whether the satellite terminal has rights to access the satellite communications system at the customer premises based at least in part on a comparison of the identified distance to a distance threshold;
receiving information associated with a contention slot of a target satellite; and
in response to determining the satellite terminal has rights to access the satellite communications system, permitting communications between the satellite terminal and the target satellite of the satellite communications system, wherein permitting communications between the satellite terminal and the target satellite comprises determining a transmission timing based at least in part on the received information and a signal timing offset.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of positioning signals are received from a plurality of positioning satellites.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of positioning satellites are included in a global navigation satellite system constellation.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
initiating a terminal setup procedure based at least in part on the comparison indicating that the identified distance exceeds the distance threshold.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the satellite terminal has rights to access the satellite communications system comprises:
identifying a geographic region of the satellite terminal based at least in part on the determined first installation position of the satellite terminal; and
determining whether the satellite terminal has rights to access the satellite communications system based at least in part on the identified geographic region and the comparison of the identified distance to the distance threshold.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
restricting access to content based at least in part on the comparison indicating that the identified distance exceeds the distance threshold.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving position-specific content at the satellite terminal based at least in part on the determined first installation position of the satellite terminal.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein permitting communications between the satellite terminal and the target satellite comprises:
determining the signal timing offset based at least in part on the determined first installation position of the satellite terminal.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the signal timing offset comprises:
estimating a distance between the satellite terminal and the target satellite, the estimating based at least in part on the determined first installation position of the satellite terminal; and
determining the signal timing offset based at least in part on the estimated distance.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the signal timing offset comprises:
determining, at the satellite terminal, a position of the target satellite; and
determining the signal timing offset based at least in part on the determined first installation position of the target satellite.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining the position of the target satellite comprises:
determining the position of the target satellite based at least in part on one or more of a value stored at the satellite terminal, or a signal received from the target satellite, or a combination thereof.
12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
transmitting, based at least in part on the determined transmission timing, a network entry signal to the target satellite.
13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving a subsequent positioning signal at the satellite terminal; and
adjusting the signal timing offset based at least in part on the subsequent positioning signal.
14. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving an adjustment signal from the target satellite; and
adjusting the signal timing offset based at least in part on the received adjustment signal.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined installation position comprises an initial installation position for the satellite terminal.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined installation position comprises an approved installation position for the satellite terminal.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communications between the satellite terminal and the target satellite of the satellite communications system are permitted based at least in part on the comparison indicating that the identified distance is less than or equal to the distance threshold.
18. A satellite terminal, comprising:
a positioning signal receiver;
a communication signal transceiver;
a processor;
memory in electronic communication with the processor; and
instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the satellite terminal to:
receive a plurality of positioning signals at the positioning signal receiver during installation of the satellite terminal at a customer premises;
determine a first installation position of the satellite terminal based on the plurality of positioning signals;
identify a distance between the determined first installation position and a predetermined installation position for the satellite terminal;
determine whether the satellite terminal has rights to access a satellite communications system at the customer premises based at least in part on a comparison of the identified distance to a distance threshold;
receive information associated with a contention slot of a target satellite; and
permit communications between the satellite terminal and the target satellite of the satellite communications system, wherein permitting communications between the satellite terminal and the target satellite comprises determining a transmission timing based at least in part on the received information and a signal timing offset.
19. The satellite terminal of claim 18 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the satellite terminal to:
receive the plurality of positioning signals from a plurality of positioning satellites.
20. The satellite terminal of claim 18 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the satellite terminal to:
initiate a terminal setup procedure based at least in part on the comparison indicating that the identified distance exceeds the distance threshold.
21. The satellite terminal of claim 18 , wherein the instructions that cause the satellite terminal to permit communications between the satellite terminal and the target satellite of the satellite communications system comprise instructions to:
determine the signal timing offset based at least in part on the determined first installation position.
22. The satellite terminal of claim 18 , wherein the predetermined installation position comprises an initial installation position for the satellite terminal.
23. The satellite terminal of claim 18 , wherein the predetermined installation position comprises an approved installation position for the satellite terminal.
24. The satellite terminal of claim 18 , wherein the communications between the satellite terminal and the target satellite of the satellite communications system are permitted based at least in part on the comparison indicating that the identified distance is less than or equal to the distance threshold.