System and method for forecasting availability of network services during flight

1. A connectivity forecast system to provide users aboard aircraft with status of network services, the connectivity forecast system communicating with one or more service providers, comprising:

a non-transitory storage medium to store executable instructions; and

one or more processors to execute the executable instructions that cause the one or more processors to perform operations to provide the status of the network services, the operations comprising:

retrieving a flight plan to generate a flight path, wherein the flight path includes one or more waypoints;

retrieving one or more service coverage data from the service providers, wherein the one or more service coverage data is transmitted from the service providers and the service coverage data includes a plurality of sub-coverage data;

selecting sub-coverage data that cover regions in which the flight path is formed which indicate regions of unavailability of services;

coupling the flight path with the service coverage data, including the selected sub-coverage data, to generate an integrated flight path that indicates service available and unavailable portions of the flight path; and

displaying the integrated flight path.

2. The connectivity forecast system of claim 1 wherein the operations further comprise updating the one or more service coverage data from the service providers during flight.

3. The connectivity forecast system of claim 1 wherein the coupling the flight path comprises interpolating the waypoints to generate intervening waypoints between waypoints.

4. The connectivity forecast system of claim 1 wherein the coupling the flight path comprises:

selecting sub-coverage data that cover regions in which the flight path is formed;

determining sub-coverage data, among the selected sub-coverage data, which indicate unavailability of the network services; and

determining portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable.

5. The connectivity forecast system of claim 4 wherein the determining portions of the flight path comprises finding one or more waypoints that are not covered by any of sub-coverage data indicating network service availability.

6. The connectivity forecast system of claim 1 further comprising a display device, wherein the displaying the integrated flight path comprises displaying the integrated flight path on the display device.

7. The connectivity forecast system of claim 1 wherein the connectivity forecast system communicates with global positioning system (GPS) to identify a current location of the aircraft during flight.

8. The connectivity forecast system of claim 7 wherein the current location of the aircraft is shown on the displayed integrated flight path.

9. The connectivity forecast system of claim 1 wherein the connectivity forecast system communicates with a flight operator to retrieve the flight plan.

10. The connectivity forecast system of claim 1 wherein the operations further comprise:

checking changes of the one or more service coverage data periodically or upon receiving information from the service providers during flight;

checking changes of the flight plan during flight;

updating the one or more service coverage data and the flight plan based on the changes during flight; and

updating the integrated flight path based on the updated one or more service coverage data and flight plan.

11. A method for providing users aboard aircraft with status of network services, comprising:

retrieving a flight plan to generate a flight path, wherein the flight path includes one or more waypoints;

transmitting one or more service coverage data from service providers, wherein the service coverage data includes a plurality of sub-coverage data;

storing the service coverage data in database or one or more memories;

selecting sub-coverage data that cover regions in which the flight path is formed which indicate regions of unavailability of services;

coupling the flight path with the service coverage data, including the selected sub-coverage data, to generate an integrated flight path that indicates service available and unavailable portions of the flight path; and

displaying the integrated flight path.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising updating the one or more service coverage data from the service providers during flight.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the coupling the flight path comprises interpolating the waypoints to generate intervening waypoints between waypoints.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the coupling the flight path comprises:

selecting sub-coverage data that cover regions in which the flight path is formed;

determining sub-coverage data, among the selected sub-coverage data, which indicate unavailability of the network services; and

determining portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable.

15. The connectivity forecast system of claim 14 wherein the determining portions of the flight path comprises finding one or more waypoints that are not covered by any of sub-coverage data indicating network service availability.

16. The method of claim 11 further comprising transmitting information including a current location of the aircraft from global positioning system (GPS) during flight.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the displaying the integrated flight path displays the current location of the aircraft on the displayed integrated flight path.

18. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

checking changes of the one or more service coverage data periodically or upon receiving information from the service providers during flight;

checking changes of the flight plan during flight;

updating the one or more service coverage data and the flight plan based on the changes during flight; and

updating the integrated flight path based on the updated one or more service coverage data and flight plan.