IP Library Granted Patent US 11,902,008
Granted Patent B2
US 11,902,008 · App. 18/349,959 · Granted Feb 13, 2024

Control device, program, system, and control method

Inventor: Eiji Nakazawa (Tokyo, JP)
Assignee: SoftBank Corp.
H04B7/18504H04W76/10
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,902,008
App. No.
18/349,959
Granted
Feb 13, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

Provided is a control device including: a flight vehicle position information acquisition unit which acquires service flight vehicle position information indicating positions of a plurality of service flight vehicles, each of which functions as a stratosphere platform and is mounted with a communication device which forms a wireless communication area by emitting a beam and provides a wireless communication service to a user terminal in the wireless communication area; an arrangement determination unit which determines arrangement of a relay flight vehicle which relays communication of one service flight vehicle among the plurality of service flight vehicles on a basis of a predetermined condition and the service flight vehicle position information; and a flight vehicle control unit which controls the relay flight vehicle to move according to the arrangement determined by the arrangement determination unit and establish wireless communication connection with the one service flight vehicle.

Claims (54)

1. A control device comprising:

a flight vehicle position information acquisition unit which acquires service flight vehicle position information indicating positions of a plurality of service flight vehicles, each of which functions as a stratosphere platform and is mounted with a communication device which forms a wireless communication area by emitting a beam and provides a wireless communication service to a user terminal in the wireless communication area;

an arrangement determination unit which determines arrangement of a relay flight vehicle which relays communication of one service flight vehicle among the plurality of service flight vehicles on a basis of a predetermined condition and the service flight vehicle position information;

a flight vehicle control unit which controls the relay flight vehicle to move according to the arrangement determined by the arrangement determination unit and establish wireless communication connection with the one service flight vehicle; and

a weather-related information reception unit which receives weather-related information on weather in the wireless communication area formed by each of the plurality of service flight vehicles, the weather-related information including rainfall information indicating a rainfall in the wireless communication area formed by each of the plurality of service flight vehicles.

2. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein

the arrangement determination unit determines the arrangement of the relay flight vehicle such that wireless communication connection is able to be established with both the one service flight vehicle and a gateway on ground, and

the flight vehicle control unit further controls the relay flight vehicle to relay communication between the one service flight vehicle and the gateway.

3. The control device according to claim 2 , wherein the arrangement determination unit determines the arrangement of the relay flight vehicle such that a distance between the relay flight vehicle and the gateway becomes shorter within a range where wireless communication connection is able to be established with both the one service flight vehicle and the gateway.

4. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein

the arrangement determination unit determines the arrangement of the relay flight vehicle such that wireless communication connection is able to be established with both the one service flight vehicle and another service flight vehicle among the plurality of service flight vehicles, and

the flight vehicle control unit further controls the relay flight vehicle to establish wireless communication connection with the another service flight vehicle and relay communication between the one service flight vehicle and the another service flight vehicle.

5. The control device according to claim 2 , wherein

the arrangement determination unit determines the arrangement of the relay flight vehicle such that wireless communication connection is able to be established with both the one service flight vehicle and another service flight vehicle among the plurality of service flight vehicles, and

the flight vehicle control unit further controls the relay flight vehicle to establish wireless communication connection with the another service flight vehicle and relay communication between the one service flight vehicle and the another service flight vehicle.

6. The control device according to claim 3 , wherein

the arrangement determination unit determines the arrangement of the relay flight vehicle such that wireless communication connection is able to be established with both the one service flight vehicle and another service flight vehicle among the plurality of service flight vehicles, and

the flight vehicle control unit further controls the relay flight vehicle to establish wireless communication connection with the another service flight vehicle and relay communication between the one service flight vehicle and the another service flight vehicle.

7. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein

the arrangement determination unit determines the arrangement of the relay flight vehicle such that wireless communication connection is able to be established with both the one service flight vehicle and another relay flight vehicle, and

the flight vehicle control unit further controls the relay flight vehicle to establish wireless communication connection with the another relay flight vehicle and relay communication between the one service flight vehicle and the another relay flight vehicle.

8. The control device according to claim 2 , wherein

the arrangement determination unit determines the arrangement of the relay flight vehicle such that wireless communication connection is able to be established with both the one service flight vehicle and another relay flight vehicle, and

the flight vehicle control unit further controls the relay flight vehicle to establish wireless communication connection with the another relay flight vehicle and relay communication between the one service flight vehicle and the another relay flight vehicle.

9. The control device according to claim 3 , wherein

the arrangement determination unit determines the arrangement of the relay flight vehicle such that wireless communication connection is able to be established with both the one service flight vehicle and another relay flight vehicle, and

the flight vehicle control unit further controls the relay flight vehicle to establish wireless communication connection with the another relay flight vehicle and relay communication between the one service flight vehicle and the another relay flight vehicle.

10. The control device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a priority setting unit which sets a priority of the wireless communication area of each of the plurality of service flight vehicles wirelessly communicatively connected to the relay flight vehicle, wherein

the flight vehicle control unit further controls the relay flight vehicle to allocate a predetermined communication capacity to the plurality of service flight vehicles on a basis of the priority set by the priority setting unit.

11. The control device according to claim 2 , further comprising:

a priority setting unit which sets a priority of the wireless communication area of each of the plurality of service flight vehicles wirelessly communicatively connected to the relay flight vehicle, wherein

the flight vehicle control unit further controls the relay flight vehicle to allocate a predetermined communication capacity to the plurality of service flight vehicles on a basis of the priority set by the priority setting unit.

12. The control device according to claim 3 , further comprising:

a priority setting unit which sets a priority of the wireless communication area of each of the plurality of service flight vehicles wirelessly communicatively connected to the relay flight vehicle, wherein

the flight vehicle control unit further controls the relay flight vehicle to allocate a predetermined communication capacity to the plurality of service flight vehicles on a basis of the priority set by the priority setting unit.

13. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein

the arrangement determination unit determines arrangement of the relay flight vehicle which relays communication of the one service flight vehicle, of which the wireless communication area formed has the rainfall larger than a predetermined rainfall threshold, among the plurality of service flight vehicles on a basis of the rainfall information included in the weather-related information.

14. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the rainfall information is predicted rainfall information, and

the arrangement determination unit determines arrangement of the relay flight vehicle which relays communication of the one service flight vehicle, of which the wireless communication area formed has the predicted rainfall larger than a predetermined predicted rainfall threshold, among the plurality of service flight vehicles on a basis of the predicted rainfall information included in the weather-related information.

15. The control device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a communication speed-related information acquisition unit which acquires communication speed-related information on communication speeds of the plurality of service flight vehicles, wherein

the arrangement determination unit determines, on a basis of the communication speed-related information, arrangement of the relay flight vehicle which relays communication of the one service flight vehicle, which has a communication speed with the user terminal lower than a first communication speed threshold or a communication speed with a gateway on ground lower than a second communication speed threshold, among the plurality of service flight vehicles.

16. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the control device is mounted on the relay flight vehicle.

17. A non-transient computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to function as:

a flight vehicle position information acquisition unit which acquires service flight vehicle position information indicating positions of a plurality of service flight vehicles, each of which functions as a stratosphere platform and is mounted with a communication device which forms a wireless communication area by emitting a beam and provides a wireless communication service to a user terminal in the wireless communication area;

an arrangement determination unit which determines arrangement of a relay flight vehicle which relays communication of one service flight vehicle among the plurality of service flight vehicles on a basis of a predetermined condition and the service flight vehicle position information;

a flight vehicle control unit which controls the relay flight vehicle to move according to the arrangement determined by the arrangement determination unit and establish wireless communication connection with the one service flight vehicle; and

a weather-related information reception unit which receives weather-related information on weather in the wireless communication area formed by each of the plurality of service flight vehicles, the weather-related information including rainfall information indicating a rainfall in the wireless communication area formed by each of the plurality of service flight vehicles.

18. A control method which is executed by a computer, the control method comprising:

acquiring flight vehicle position information by acquiring service flight vehicle position information indicating positions of a plurality of service flight vehicles, each of which functions as a stratosphere platform and is mounted with a communication device which forms a wireless communication area by emitting a beam and provides a wireless communication service to a user terminal in the wireless communication area;

determining arrangement of a relay flight vehicle which relays communication of one service flight vehicle among the plurality of service flight vehicles on a basis of a predetermined condition and the service flight vehicle position information;

controlling a flight vehicle by controlling the relay flight vehicle to move according to the arrangement determined by the determining arrangement and establish wireless communication connection with the one service flight vehicle; and

receiving weather-related information on weather in the wireless communication area formed by each of the plurality of service flight vehicles, the weather-related information including rainfall information indicating a rainfall in the wireless communication area formed by each of the plurality of service flight vehicles.

Assignments (2)
MERGER Recorded Dec 18, 2023
From: HAPSMOBILE INC.
To: SOFTBANK CORP.
Reel/Frame 066048/0600 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 11, 2023
From: NAKAZAWA, EIJI
To: HAPSMOBILE INC.
Reel/Frame 064217/0910 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2021-006007 · Jan 18, 2021 · national
Continuity (2)
Continuation PCTJP2021048698 · Dec 27, 2021
Related Publication 20230353231A1 · Nov 2, 2023