IP Library Granted Patent US 12,500,660
Granted Patent B2
US 12,500,660 · App. 17/985,141 · Granted Dec 16, 2025

Control device, system, computer-readable storage medium, and control method

Inventor: Ryoji Hirai (Chiba, JP)
Assignee: SoftBank Corp.
H04B7/18504H04W72/04B64U50/31B64U2101/20B64U2201/20
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,500,660
App. No.
17/985,141
Granted
Dec 16, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

There is provided a control device that is configured to control an aircraft which has a battery, and a base station unit for providing a wireless communication service to a user terminal in a communication area formed by using power of the battery to radiate a beam on a ground, and which is configured to use the power of the battery to fly, the control device including: a battery capacity acquisition unit configured to acquire a battery capacity of the battery; and a communication control unit configured to control an amount of communication resources which is allocated to the user terminal by the base station unit based on the battery capacity.

Claims (44)

1 . A control device that is configured to control an aircraft which has a battery, and a base station unit for providing a wireless communication service to a user terminal in a communication area formed by using power of the battery to radiate a beam on a ground, and which is configured to use the power of the battery to fly, the control device comprising:

a battery capacity acquisition unit configured to acquire a battery capacity of the battery; and

a communication control unit configured to control an amount of communication resources which is allocated to the user terminal by the base station unit based on the battery capacity, wherein

the communication control unit is further configured to limit allocation of the communication resources in accordance with the battery capacity becoming lower than a first limitation threshold value, then stops the limiting the allocation of the communication resources in accordance with the battery capacity, which had been lower than the first limitation threshold value, becoming higher than a first recovery threshold value which is higher than the first limitation threshold value, and

the communication control unit is further configured to limit power from the battery to the base station unit in accordance with the battery capacity becoming lower than a second limitation threshold which is lower than the first limitation threshold value, then stops the limiting the power from the battery to the base station in accordance with the battery capacity, which had been lower than the second limitation threshold value, becoming higher than a second recovery threshold value which is higher than the second limitation threshold value.

2 . The control device according to claim 1 ,

the aircraft having a power generation unit, and

the battery being charged with power generated by the power generation unit.

3 . The control device according to claim 2 , wherein

the communication control unit is configured to lower, in accordance with the battery capacity becoming lower than the first limitation threshold value, an upper limit of the communication resource which is allocated to the user terminal in comparison with a case where the battery capacity is higher than the first limitation threshold value.

4 . The control device according to claim 2 , wherein

the communication control unit is configured to start limiting the allocation of the communication resource, and then increase, in a stepwise manner, the limitation of the allocation of the communication resource in accordance with a decrease of the battery capacity.

5 . The control device according to claim 3 , wherein

the communication control unit is configured to start limiting the allocation of the communication resource, and then increase, in a stepwise manner, the limitation of the allocation of the communication resource in accordance with a decrease of the battery capacity.

6 . The control device according to claim 2 , wherein

the communication control unit is configured to limit the allocation of the communication resource and reduce a maximum number of users capable of connecting to the base station unit.

7 . The control device according to claim 3 , wherein

the communication control unit is configured to limit the allocation of the communication resource and reduce a maximum number of users capable of connecting to the base station unit.

8 . The control device according to claim 2 , wherein

the communication control unit is configured to acquire power-related information which relates to the power of the battery, and adjust the first limitation threshold value and the first recovery threshold value based on the power-related information.

9 . The control device according to claim 2 , wherein

the communication control unit is configured to stop the power supply from the battery to the base station unit in accordance with the battery capacity becoming lower than the second limitation threshold value which is lower than the first limitation threshold value.

10 . The control device according to claim 2 , wherein

the communication control unit is configured to stop limiting the power supply from the battery to the base station unit, in accordance with the battery capacity, which has been lower than the second limitation threshold value, becoming higher than a second recovery threshold value which is higher than the second limitation threshold value.

11 . The control device according to claim 9 , wherein

the communication control unit is configured to stop limiting the power supply from the battery to the base station unit, in accordance with the battery capacity, which has been lower than the second limitation threshold value, becoming higher than a second recovery threshold value which is higher than the second limitation threshold value.

12 . The control device according to claim 10 , wherein

the communication control unit is configured to acquire power-related information which relates to the power of the battery, and adjust the second limitation threshold value and the second recovery threshold value based on the power-related information.

13 . A system comprising:

the control device according to claim 1 ; and

the aircraft on which the control device is mounted.

14 . A system comprising:

the control device according to claim 2 ; and

the aircraft on which the control device is mounted.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a program for causing a control device to perform operations, the control device being configured to control an aircraft which has a battery, and a base station unit for providing a wireless communication service to a user terminal in a communication area formed by using power of the battery to radiate a beam on a ground, and which is configured to use the power of the battery to fly, the operations comprising:

acquiring a battery capacity of the battery;

controlling a communication by controlling an amount of communication resources which is allocated to the user terminal by the base station unit based on the battery capacity;

limiting allocation of the communication resources in accordance with the battery capacity becoming lower than a first limitation threshold value, then stopping the limiting the allocation of the communication resources in accordance with the battery capacity, which had been lower than the first limitation threshold value, becoming higher than a first recovery threshold value which is higher than the first limitation threshold value, and

limiting power from the battery to the base station unit in accordance with the battery capacity becoming lower than a second limitation threshold which is lower than the first limitation threshold value, then stopping the limiting the power from the battery to the base station in accordance with the battery capacity, which had been lower than the second limitation threshold value, becoming higher than a second recovery threshold value which is higher than the second limitation threshold value.

16 . A control method that is executed by a control device configured to control an aircraft which has a battery, and a base station unit for providing a wireless communication service to a user terminal in a communication area formed by using power of the battery to radiate a beam on a ground, and which is configured to use the power of the battery to fly, the control method comprising:

acquiring a battery capacity of the battery;

controlling a communication by controlling an amount of communication resources which is allocated to the user terminal by the base station unit based on the battery capacity;

limiting allocation of the communication resources in accordance with the battery capacity becoming lower than a first limitation threshold value, then stopping the limiting the allocation of the communication resources in accordance with the battery capacity, which had been lower than the first limitation threshold value, becoming higher than a first recovery threshold value which is higher than the first limitation threshold value, and

limiting power from the battery to the base station unit in accordance with the battery capacity becoming lower than a second limitation threshold which is lower than the first limitation threshold value, then stopping the limiting the power from the battery to the base station in accordance with the battery capacity, which had been lower than the second limitation threshold value, becoming higher than a second recovery threshold value which is higher than the second limitation threshold value.

Assignments (2)
MERGER Recorded Dec 18, 2023
From: HAPSMOBILE INC.
To: SOFTBANK CORP.
Reel/Frame 066048/0600 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 13, 2022
From: HIRAI, RYOJI
To: HAPSMOBILE INC.
Reel/Frame 061747/0354 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2020-093391 · May 28, 2020 · national
Continuity (2)
Continuation PCTJP2021013152 · Mar 26, 2021
Related Publication 20230075260A1 · Mar 9, 2023
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