Interference mitigation across multiple constellations in a satellite communication system
A satellite communication system which provides interference mitigation across multiple constellations. The satellite communication system provides interference mitigation when an in-line event occurs where a main lobe of a satellite of the first constellation and a main lobe of a user terminal communicating with the satellite of the second satellite constellation intersect sufficiently to cause significant interference on a common frequency band of the satellite and the user terminal.
1 . A satellite communication system comprising:
a first satellite constellation with a plurality of satellites including a first satellite;
a second satellite constellation including a second satellite;
a user terminal;
a network management server that detects and anticipates an in-line event to provide interference mitigation when a lobe of the first satellite and a lobe of the user terminal communicating with the second satellite intersect sufficiently to cause interference more than a threshold amount on a common frequency band of a link of the first satellite;
when the interference is between a main lobe of the first satellite and a main lobe of the user terminal communicating with the second satellite, the interference mitigation includes resource consolidation that switches traffic to another band on the link; and
when the interference comprises sidelobe degradation between a sidelobe of the first satellite and a side lobe of the user terminal, the interference mitigation includes adaptive beam nulling that suppresses beam response in a sidelobe in a direction of the in-line event;
wherein the network management server detects and anticipates the in-line event from a relative position of the first satellite, the second satellite and the user terminal using data from a gateway position database that contains gateway positions and a satellite ephemeris database that contains a satellite ephemeris of the first satellite and a satellite ephemeris of the second satellite.
2 . The satellite communication system of claim 1 , wherein the resource consolidation switches Ka band traffic to a V or Q band when resources on the V or Q band are available.
3 . The satellite communication system of claim 1 , wherein mitigation of the interference comprises resource diversion that switches traffic to an alternate link.
4 . The satellite communication system of claim 3 , wherein the resource diversion switches traffic to the alternate link by routing the traffic to a nearby gateway through an inter-satellite link.
5 . The satellite communication system of claim 1 , wherein the adaptive beam nulling comprises adjusting beamforming coefficients to create a null or suppressed sidelobes.
6 . A method of communicating on a multi-satellite communication system comprising:
providing a first satellite constellation with a plurality of satellites including a first satellite;
providing a second satellite constellation with a second satellite;
obtaining data to determine an in-line event including a relative position of the first satellite, the second satellite and a user terminal from a gateway position database that contains gateway positions and from a satellite ephemeris database that contains a satellite ephemeris of the first satellite and a satellite ephemeris of the second satellite;
detecting and anticipating when an in-line event will occur to provide interference mitigation when a lobe of the first satellite and a lobe of a user terminal communicating with the second satellite intersect sufficiently to cause interference more than a threshold amount on a common frequency band of a link of the first satellite;
when the interference is between a main lobe of the first satellite and a main lobe of the user terminal communicating with the second satellite, the interference mitigation includes resource consolidation that switches traffic to another band on the link; and
when the interference comprises sidelobe degradation between a sidelobe of the first satellite and a side lobe of the user terminal, the interference mitigation includes adaptive beam nulling that suppresses beam response in a sidelobe in a direction of the in-line event; and
mitigating interference when the in-line event occurs.
7 . The method of communicating on a multi-satellite communication system of claim 6 , wherein the switching traffic comprises switching Ka band traffic to a V or Q band when resources on the V or Q band are available.
8 . The method communicating on a multi-satellite communication system of claim 6 , wherein mitigating interference comprises switching traffic to an alternate link.
9 . The method communicating on a multi-satellite communication system of claim 8 , wherein switching traffic to the alternate link comprises routing the traffic to a nearby gateway through an inter-satellite link.
10 . The method communicating on a multi-satellite communication system of claim 6 , wherein the adaptive beam nulling comprises adjusting beamforming coefficients to create a null or suppressed sidelobes.
11 . A satellite communication system comprising:
a first satellite constellation with a plurality of satellites including a first satellite;
a second satellite constellation with a second satellite;
a network management server that detects and anticipates an in-line event to provide interference mitigation when a lobe of the first satellite and a lobe of a user terminal communicating with the second satellite intersect sufficiently to cause interference more than a threshold amount on a common frequency band of a link of the first satellite;
when the interference is between a main lobe of the first satellite and a main lobe of the user terminal communicating with the second satellite, the interference mitigation includes resource consolidation that switches Ka band traffic to a V or Q band when resources on the V or Q band are available and mitigation of the interference comprises resource diversion that switches traffic to an alternate link when resources on the V or Q band are not available;
when the interference comprises sidelobe degradation between a sidelobe of the first satellite and a side lobe of the user terminal, the interference mitigation comprises adaptive beam nulling that suppresses beam response in a sidelobe in a direction of the in-line event;
wherein:
the network management server mitigates interference when the in-line event occurs the network management server detects and anticipates the in-line event is from a relative position of the first satellite, the second satellite and a user terminal using data from a gateway position database that contains gateway positions and a satellite ephemeris database that contains a satellite ephemeris of the first satellite and a satellite ephemeris of the second satellite.
12 . The satellite communication system of claim 11 , wherein the resource diversion switches traffic to the alternate link by routing the traffic to a nearby gateway through an inter-satellite link.
13 . The satellite communication system of claim 11 , wherein the adaptive beam nulling comprises adjusting beamforming coefficients to create a null or suppressed sidelobes.