Granted Patent B2

US 10,615,866 · App. 16/189,651 · Granted Apr 7, 2020

Inventors: Ilya Ziskind (Sterling, VA); David Nance (Sterling, VA); Santanu Dutta (Vienna, VA)

Assignee: ATC TECHNOLOGIES, LLC

H04B7/2041G01S19/41G01S19/43H04B7/0617H04B7/18513H04B7/18526

Abstract

Claims (102)

1. A system for delivering localized content, the system comprising:

a modulator configured to

receive a plurality of localized content,

generate N localized content delivery platform frames from the plurality of localized content, and

generate intermediate frequency (IF) carriers that are modulated with the N localized content delivery platform frames;

a beam former configured to process the IF carriers to enable beamforming in a satellite service band;

earth equipment configured to

frequency translate the IF carriers that are processed into feederlink signals in a feederlink band, and

transmit the feederlink signals; and

a spotbeam satellite configured to

receive the feederlink signals,

generate a multicast transmission by frequency translating the feederlink signals to the satellite service band, and

transmit the multicast transmission to form N spotbeams, N being an integer greater than zero,

wherein each spotbeam of the N spotbeams includes one of the N localized content platform delivery frames that is specific to a geographic area covered by the respective spotbeam.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of GNSS satellites;

a plurality of high precision location (HPL) reference stations configured to

receive GNSS signals from the plurality of GNSS satellites,

generate signal outputs including observables, and

output the signal outputs to a network;

a corrections processor configured to

receive the signal outputs via the network,

determine a set of correction vectors, and

output the set of correction vectors as the localized content;

a GNSS rover including memory, an electronic processor communicatively coupled to the memory, and a satellite communication device,

wherein the memory includes a table of grid point identifiers and corresponding geographical coordinates, and

wherein the electronic processor is configured to

receive the GNSS signals from the plurality of GNSS satellites via the satellite communication device,

receive the multicast transmission in one or more of the N spotbeams via the satellite communication device,

determine a location of the GNSS rover based on the GNSS signals,

extract one or more correction vectors from the multicast transmission based on the location of the GNSS rover,

correct the GNSS signals with the one or more correction vectors that are extracted, and

determine a second location of the GNSS rover based on the GNSS signals that are corrected.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein, to extract the one or more correction vectors from the multicast transmission based on the location of the GNSS rover, the electronic processor is further configured to

identify geographical coordinates of a grid point identifier that is closest to the location of the GNSS rover from the table, and

extract a correction vector message associated with the grid point identifier from the multicast transmission.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein, to extract the one or more correction vectors from the multicast transmission based on the location of the GNSS rover, the electronic processor is further configured to

identify two or more geographical coordinates of two or more grid point identifiers that are closest to the location of the GNSS rover from the table,

extract each correction vector message associated with the two or more grid point identifiers from the multicast transmission, and

generate a combined correction vector message by combining the each correction vector message associated with the two or more grid point identifiers that are extracted.

5. The system of claim 2 , wherein the corresponding geographical coordinates are geographical coordinates of the plurality of HPL reference stations.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the multicast transmission includes a data frame including a multicast address section, a number of grid points section, a plurality of grid point identifier sections, and a plurality of correction vector message sections.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the multicast address section includes a common multicast IP address across all N spotbeams.

8. A method for delivering localized content, the method comprising:

receiving, with a modulator, a plurality of localized content;

generating, with the modulator, N localized content delivery platform frames from the plurality of localized content;

generating, with the modulator, intermediate frequency (IF) carriers modulated with the N localized content delivery platform frames;

processing, with a beam former, the IF carriers to enable beamforming in a satellite service band;

frequency translating, with earth equipment, the IF carriers that are processed into feederlink signals in a feederlink band;

transmitting, with the earth equipment, the feederlink signals;

receiving, with a spotbeam satellite, the feederlink signals;

generating, with the spotbeam satellite, a multicast transmission by frequency translating the feederlink signals to the satellite service band; and

transmitting, with the spotbeam satellite, the multicast transmission to form N spotbeams, N being an integer greater than zero,

wherein each spotbeam of the N spotbeams includes one of the N localized content platform delivery frames that is specific to a geographic area covered by the respective spotbeam.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving, with a plurality of high precision location (HPL) reference stations, GNSS signals from a plurality of GNSS satellites;

generating, with the plurality of HPL reference stations, signal outputs including observables;

outputting, with the plurality of HPL reference stations, the signal outputs to a network;

receiving, with a corrections processor, the signal outputs via the network;

determining, with the corrections processor, a set of correction vectors to correct errors in the signal outputs;

outputting, with the corrections processor, the set of correction vectors as the localized content;

receiving, with a GNSS rover, the GNSS signals from the plurality of GNSS satellites via a satellite communication device;

receiving, with the GNSS rover, the multicast transmission in one or more of the N spotbeams via the satellite communication device;

determining, with the GNSS rover, a location of the GNSS rover based on the GNSS signals;

extracting, with the GNSS rover, one or more correction vectors from the multicast transmission based on the location of the GNSS rover;

correcting, with the GNSS rover, the GNSS signals with the one or more correction vectors that are extracted; and

determining, with the GNSS rover, a second location of the GNSS rover based on the GNSS signals that are corrected.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein extracting the one or more correction vectors from the multicast transmission based on the location of the GNSS rover further includes

identifying geographical coordinates of a grid point identifier that is closest to the location of the GNSS rover from a look-up table stored in a memory of the GNSS rover; and

extracting a correction vector message associated with the grid point identifier from the multicast transmission.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein extracting the one or more correction vectors from the multicast transmission based on the location of the GNSS rover further includes

identifying two or more geographical coordinates of two or more grid point identifiers that are closest to the location of the GNSS rover from a look-up table stored in a memory of the GNSS rover;

extracting each correction vector message associated with the two or more grid point identifiers from the multicast transmission; and

generating a combined correction vector message by combining the each correction vector message associated with the two or more grid point identifiers that are extracted.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the multicast transmission includes a data frame including a multicast address section, a number of grid points section, a plurality of grid point identifier sections, and a plurality of correction vector message sections.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the multicast address section includes a common multicast IP address across all N spotbeams.

14. A rover comprising:

a satellite communication device,

a memory, and

an electronic processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the electronic processor is configured to

receive a multicast transmission in one or more of N spotbeams via the satellite communication device, N being an integer greater than zero, and

extract localized content from the multicast transmission,

wherein the localized content is specific to one or more geographic areas covered by the one or more of the N spotbeams.

15. The rover of claim 14 , wherein the memory includes a table of grid point identifiers and corresponding geographical coordinates, and wherein the electronic processor is further configured to

receive GNSS signals from a plurality of GNSS satellites via the satellite communication device,

determine a location of the rover based on the GNSS signals,

extract one or more correction vectors from the localized content based on the location of the rover,

correct the GNSS signals with the one or more correction vectors that are extracted, and

determine a second location of the rover based on the GNSS signals that are corrected.

16. The rover of claim 15 , wherein, to extract the one or more correction vectors from the localized content based on the location of the rover, the electronic processor is further configured to

identify geographical coordinates of a grid point identifier that is closest to the location of the rover from the table, and

extract a correction vector message associated with the grid point identifier from the localized content.

17. The rover of claim 15 , wherein, to extract the one or more correction vectors from the localized content based on the location of the rover, the electronic processor is further configured to

identify two or more geographical coordinates of two or more grid point identifiers that are closest to the location of the rover from the table,

extract each correction vector message associated with the two or more grid point identifiers from the localized content, and

generate a combined correction vector message by combining the each correction vector message associated with the two or more grid point identifiers that are extracted.

18. The rover of claim 17 , wherein the corresponding geographical coordinates are geographical coordinates of a plurality of high precision location (HPL) reference stations.

19. The rover of claim 14 , wherein the localized content is a data frame including a multicast address section, a number of grid points section, a plurality of grid point identifier sections, and a plurality of correction vector message sections.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by an electronic processor, cause the electronic processor to perform a set of operations, the set of operations comprising:

controlling a satellite communication device to receive a multicast transmission in one or more of N spotbeams, N being an integer greater than zero, and

extracting localized content from the multicast transmission,

wherein the localized content is specific to one or more geographic areas covered by the one or more of the N spotbeams.

Assignments (13)