IP Library Granted Patent US 11,214,369
Granted Patent B2
US 11,214,369 · App. 17/206,102 · Granted Jan 4, 2022

System, control device, and module

Inventors: Tatsushi Tsutsui (Tokyo, JP); Koji Kusunoki (Tokyo, JP); Akihiro Baba (Tokyo, JP); Naoyoshi Hashimoto (Tokyo, JP); Osamu Kamimura (Tokyo, JP); Nobuyuki Uetsuki (Tokyo, JP); Hiroshi Otake (Tokyo, JP); Ayako Sato (Tokyo, JP); Chie Hirosawa (Tokyo, JP)
Assignee: HAPSMobile Inc.
B64C39/024B64C39/10H04B7/18513H04B7/18517H04B7/18523H04B7/18543H04W52/0274B64C2201/028B64C2201/066B64C2201/146B64D2211/00B64D2221/00H04B7/2041
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,214,369
App. No.
17/206,102
Granted
Jan 4, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

There is provided a system including: a control device mounted on an aircraft and configured to control the aircraft, the aircraft having a battery, and a wireless device configured to use power stored in the battery to provide a wireless communication service to a user terminal; and a module that is physically attachable to and detachable from the control device, in which the control device has a housing that includes a module attachment and detachment unit, and an electrical connection unit configured to electrically connect the module to the battery when the module is attached to the module attachment and detachment unit, and the module has, a power receiving unit configured to receive power from the battery, and a communication processing unit configured to use the power received by the power receiving unit to communicate with the wireless device.

Claims (115)

1. A system comprising:

a control device mounted on an aircraft and configured to control the aircraft, the aircraft having

a battery, and

a wireless device configured to use power stored in the battery to form a communication area on the ground, and provide a wireless communication service to a user terminal in the communication area; and

a module that is physically attachable to and detachable from the control device, wherein

the control device has

a housing that includes a module attachment and detachment unit to and from which the module is physically attachable and detachable,

an electrical connection unit configured to electrically connect the module to the battery when the module is attached to the module attachment and detachment unit,

a variation information storage unit configured to store variation information which indicates a variation of the battery level of the battery for each date and time, and

a power control unit configured to control an amount of power supplied from the battery to the module, wherein the power control unit is configured to control the amount of power supplied from the battery to the module based on the variation information, and

the module has

a housing that is physically attachable to and detachable from the module attachment and detachment unit,

a power receiving unit configured to electrically connect to the battery and receive power from the battery when the housing of the module is attached to the module attachment and detachment unit, and

a communication processing unit configured to use the power received by the power receiving unit to communicate with the wireless device.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein

the control device includes a battery level acquisition unit configured to acquire a battery level of the battery, and

the power control unit is configured to control the amount of power supplied from the battery to the module according to the battery level.

3. The system according to claim 2 ,

wherein the power control unit is configured to stop power supply from the battery to the module when the battery level is lower than a predetermined threshold.

4. The system according to claim 2 ,

wherein the power control unit is configured to decrease the amount of power supplied from the battery to the module as the battery level decreases.

5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein

the wireless device is configured to operate as a wireless base station in a mobile wireless communication system, and

the communication processing unit is configured to communicate with the wireless device as a user terminal in the mobile wireless communication system.

6. The system according to claim 5 , wherein

the wireless device has

a feeder link antenna configured to communicate with a ground station, and

a service link antenna configured to communicate with the user terminal, and

the communication processing unit is configured to communicate with the wireless device by receiving radio waves sent by the service link antenna.

7. The system according to claim 6 ,

wherein the communication processing unit is configured to communicate with the wireless device by receiving leaked radio waves sent by the service link antenna.

8. The system according to claim 6 , wherein

the module has a data storage unit configured to store data, and

the wireless device is configured to transmit, to the module, data received by the service link antenna from the user terminal, and cause the data to be stored in the data storage unit when it is not possible to execute the communication with the ground station by the feeder link antenna.

9. The system according to claim 8 ,

wherein the wireless device is configured to transmit, to the ground station, the data which has been caused to be stored in the data storage unit, when a state in which it is not possible to execute the communication with the ground station by the feeder link antenna changes into a state in which it is possible to execute the communication with the ground station by the feeder link antenna.

10. The system according to claim 5 ,

wherein the wireless device is configured to restrict the communication of the communication processing unit when the communication traffic in the wireless communication service provided to the user terminal is higher than a predetermined threshold.

11. The system according to claim 10 ,

wherein the wireless device is configured to restrict the communication of the communication processing unit by reducing a communication band allocated to the communication processing unit.

12. The system according to claim 10 ,

wherein the wireless device is configured to restrict the communication of the communication processing unit by prohibiting the communication performed by the communication processing unit.

13. A system comprising:

a control device mounted on an aircraft and configured to control the aircraft, the aircraft having

a battery, and

a wireless device configured to use power stored in the battery to form a communication area on the ground, and provide a wireless communication service to a user terminal in the communication area; and

a module that is physically attachable to and detachable from the control device, wherein

the control device has

a housing that includes a module attachment and detachment unit to and from which the module is physically attachable and detachable,

an electrical connection unit configured to electrically connect the module to the battery when the module is attached to the module attachment and detachment unit,

a traffic acquisition unit configured to acquire traffic information which indicates communication traffic in the wireless communication services provided to the user terminal by the wireless device, and

a power control unit configured to control an amount of power supplied from the battery to the module, wherein the power control unit is configured to control the amount of power supplied from the battery to the module according to the communication traffic, and

the module has

a housing that is physically attachable to and detachable from the module attachment and detachment unit,

a power receiving unit configured to electrically connect to the battery and receive power from the battery when the housing of the module is attached to the module attachment and detachment unit, and

a communication processing unit configured to use the power received by the power receiving unit to communicate with the wireless device.

14. The system according to claim 13 , wherein

the aircraft has a solar panel,

the battery is configured to store power generated by the solar panel,

the control device has a power generation amount acquisition unit configured to acquire a power generation amount of the power generated by the solar panel, and

the power control unit is configured to control the amount of power supplied from the battery to the module according to the power generation amount.

15. The system according to claim 13 , wherein

the aircraft has a solar panel,

the battery is configured to store the power generated by the solar panel,

the control device has a light reception amount acquisition unit configured to acquire a light reception amount of light received by the solar panel, and

the power control unit is configured to control the amount of power supplied from the battery to the module according to the light reception amount.

16. A system comprising:

a control device mounted on an aircraft and configured to control the aircraft, the aircraft having

a battery, and

a wireless device configured to use power stored in the battery to form a communication area on the ground, and provide a wireless communication service to a user terminal in the communication area; and

a module that is physically attachable to and detachable from the control device, wherein

the control device has

a housing that includes a module attachment and detachment unit to and from which the module is physically attachable and detachable, and

an electrical connection unit configured to electrically connect the module to the battery when the module is attached to the module attachment and detachment unit, and

the module has

a housing that is physically attachable to and detachable from the module attachment and detachment unit,

a power receiving unit configured to electrically connect to the battery and receive power from the battery when the housing of the module is attached to the module attachment and detachment unit, and

a communication processing unit configured to use the power received by the power receiving unit to communicate with the wireless device,

the wireless device is configured to operate as a wireless base station in a mobile wireless communication system, and

the communication processing unit is configured to communicate with the wireless device as a user terminal in the mobile wireless communication system.

17. A system comprising:

a control device mounted on an aircraft and configured to control the aircraft, the aircraft having

a battery, and

a wireless device configured to use power stored in the battery to form a communication area on the ground, and provide a wireless communication service to a user terminal in the communication area; and

a module that is physically attachable to and detachable from the control device, wherein

the control device has

a housing that includes a module attachment and detachment unit to and from which the module is physically attachable and detachable, and

an electrical connection unit configured to electrically connect the module to the battery when the module is attached to the module attachment and detachment unit,

the module has

a housing that is physically attachable to and detachable from the module attachment and detachment unit,

a power receiving unit configured to electrically connect to the battery and receive power from the battery when the housing of the module is attached to the module attachment and detachment unit, and

a communication processing unit configured to use the power received by the power receiving unit to communicate with the wireless device,

the wireless device is configured to operate as a wireless base station in a mobile wireless communication system, and

the communication processing unit is configured to communicate with the wireless device as an edge computer in the mobile wireless communication system.

18. A system comprising:

a control device mounted on an aircraft and configured to control the aircraft, the aircraft having

a battery, and

a wireless device configured to use power stored in the battery to form a communication area on the ground, and provide a wireless communication service to a user terminal in the communication area; and

a module that is physically attachable to and detachable from the control device, wherein

the control device has

a housing that includes a module attachment and detachment unit to and from which the module is physically attachable and detachable, and

an electrical connection unit configured to electrically connect the module to the battery when the module is attached to the module attachment and detachment unit,

the module has

a housing that is physically attachable to and detachable from the module attachment and detachment unit,

a power receiving unit configured to electrically connect to the battery and receive power from the battery when the housing of the module is attached to the module attachment and detachment unit, and

a communication processing unit configured to use the power received by the power receiving unit to communicate with the wireless device,

the wireless device has feeder link communication equipment and service link communication equipment, and

the service link communication equipment is attachable to and detachable from the wireless device.

19. A control device mounted on an aircraft and configured to control the aircraft, the aircraft having

a battery, and

a wireless device configured to use power stored in the battery to form a communication area on the ground, and provide a wireless communication service to a user terminal in the communication area, the control device comprising:

a housing that has a module attachment and detachment unit to and from which a module is physically attachable and detachable;

an electrical connection unit configured to electrically connect the module to the battery when the module is attached to the module attachment and detachment unit;

a traffic acquisition unit configured to acquire traffic information which indicates communication traffic in the wireless communication services provided to the user terminal by the wireless device; and

a power control unit configured to control an amount of power supplied from the battery to the module, wherein the power control unit is configured to control the amount of power supplied from the battery to the module according to the communication traffic.

Assignments (3)
MERGER Recorded Dec 18, 2023
From: HAPSMOBILE INC.
To: SOFTBANK CORP.
Reel/Frame 066048/0600 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 27, 2021
From: TSUTSUI, TATSUSHI; KUSUNOKI, KOJI; BABA, AKIHIRO; HASHIMOTO, NAOYOSHI; KAMIMURA, OSAMU; UETSUKI, NOBUYUKI; OOTAKE, HIROSHI; SATO, AYAKO; HIROSAWA, CHIE
To: HAPSMOBILE INC.
Reel/Frame 056046/0496 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 27, 2021
From: TSUTSUI, TATSUSHI; KUSUNOKI, KOJI; BABA, AKIHIRO; HASHIMOTO, NAOYOSHI; KAMIMURA, OSAMU; UETSUKI, NOBUYUKI; OOTAKE, HIROSHI; SATO, AYAKO; HIROSAWA, CHIE
To: HAPSMOBILE INC.
Reel/Frame 056047/0240 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP JP2018-177603 · Sep 21, 2018 · national
Continuity (2)
Continuation PCTJP2019029910 · Jul 30, 2019
Related Publication 20210253243A1 · Aug 19, 2021