Cellular Core Network and Radio Access Network Infrastructure and Management in Space

1 . A cellular network management system, wherein a user equipment (UE) mobile device authenticates to a cellular network using a ground-based home subscriber server and the cellular network management system limits access to the cellular network for unauthenticated user devices, and wherein the UE communicates through the cellular network via a plurality of orbital base stations, the cellular network management system comprising:

authentication logic, stored on a first orbital base station, for authenticating UE devices to the cellular network using a protocol that appears to the UE to be a terrestrial network authentication protocol;

a cache for storing UE device prior authorizations, wherein at least a portion of the cache is stored on a second orbital base station; and

transmission logic for transferring the UE device prior authorizations from the first orbital base station to the second orbital base station.

2 . The cellular network management system of claim 1 , wherein the first orbital base station has a first satellite overpass time relative to the UE and wherein the second orbital base station has a second satellite overpass time relative to the UE, the cellular network management system further comprising logic, on the first orbital base station, for bypassing the ground-based home subscriber server for a first authentication and, for a second authentication, not bypassing the ground-based home subscriber server, wherein the cellular network management system selects the first authentication if a second satellite overpass time is less than a particular time period and selects the second authentication if the second satellite overpass time is more than the particular time period.

3 . The cellular network management system of claim 1 , further comprising logic, on the first orbital base station, for bypassing the ground-based home subscriber server for a first authentication and, for a second authentication, not bypassing the ground-based home subscriber server, wherein the cellular network management system selects the first authentication if the second orbital base station has a cached authentication for the UE and selects the second authentication if the second orbital base station does not have a cached authentication for the UE.

4 . The cellular network management system of claim 1 , further comprising further comprising first logic for determining that the UE would be within range of the first orbital base station at a future time, second logic on the first orbital base station for authenticating the UE to the cellular network prior to the future time and in advance of an attempt by the UE to use the cellular network, and third logic on the first orbital base station for transmitting a representation of an indication of a completed authentication to the second orbital base station upon authenticating the UE to the cellular network in advance.

5 . The cellular network management system of claim 4 , further comprising logic for determining that the UE would be within range of the first orbital base station at the future time comprising computing orbital parameters for the first orbital base station based, at least in part, on an Earth gravitational model, an Earth atmospheric density model, and/or a magnetic field model.

6 . The cellular network management system of claim 1 , further comprising further comprising logic for signaling to the UE of an impending handover of a connection to a tunneling link from the first orbital base station to the second orbital base station using signals consistent with a terrestrial network handover protocol.

7 . The cellular network management system of claim 1 , further comprising logic for:

determining, prior to initiating a connection with the UE, an authentication of the UE to the ground-based home subscriber server;

using the first orbital base station to authenticate the UE to the ground-based home subscriber server to obtain an authentication vector;

storing the authentication vector of a successful authentication of the UE into an on-orbit cache;

authenticating the UE to the ground-based home subscriber server using communications between the first orbital base station and the UE; and

forwarding the authentication results from the first orbital base station to the second orbital base station.

8 . The cellular network management system of claim 7 , further comprising logic for using the first orbital base station to authenticate the UE to the ground-based home subscriber server to obtain the authentication vector appears to the ground-based home subscriber server as the UE attempting to access the cellular network.

9 . The cellular network management system of claim 1 , further comprising further comprising logic for:

operating the ground-based home subscriber server on the first orbital base station;

storing UE keys on the first orbital base station; and

upon authenticating the UE to the cellular network, performing the authentication with the UE without requiring communication with a ground-based authentication.

10 . A method of managing cellular network connections between a user equipment (UE) mobile device and a plurality of orbital base stations in a cellular network, the method comprising:

authenticating the UE to the cellular network using a protocol that appears to the UE to be a terrestrial network authentication protocol, wherein authenticating uses a first orbital base station of the plurality of orbital base stations, wherein the first orbital base station has a first satellite overpass time relative to the UE;

storing, at the first orbital base station, an indication of a completed authentication of the UE;

transmitting, from the first orbital base station to a second orbital base station, a representation of the indication of the completed authentication;

upon communications between the UE and the second orbital base station using the terrestrial network authentication protocol, initiating an authentication between the UE and the second orbital base station, wherein the second orbital base station has a second satellite overpass time relative to the UE; and

bypassing authentication using a ground-based home subscriber server by using, at the second orbital base station, the representation of the indication of the completed authentication to authenticate the UE for use of the cellular network.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein, for a first authentication, the ground-based home subscriber server is bypassed and, for a second authentication, the ground-based home subscriber server is not bypassed, the method further comprising selecting the first authentication if the second satellite overpass time is less than a particular time period and selecting the second authentication if the second satellite overpass time is more than the particular time period.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein, for a first authentication, the ground-based home subscriber server is bypassed and, for a second authentication, the ground-based home subscriber server is not bypassed, the method further comprising selecting the first authentication if the second orbital base station has a cached authentication for the UE and selecting the second authentication if the second orbital base station does not have a cached authentication for the UE.

13 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

determining that the UE would be within range of the first orbital base station at a future time;

using the first orbital base station, prior to the future time and in advance of an attempt by the UE to use the cellular network, authenticating the UE to the cellular network; and

upon authenticating the UE to the cellular network in advance, effecting a transmission of the representation of the indication of the completed authentication to the second orbital base station.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein determining that the UE would be within range of the first orbital base station at the future time comprises computing orbital parameters for the first orbital base station based, at least in part, on an Earth gravitational model, an Earth atmospheric density model, and/or a magnetic field model.

15 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising signaling to the UE of an impending handover of a connection to a tunneling link from the first orbital base station to the second orbital base station using signals consistent with a terrestrial network handover protocol.

16 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

determining, prior to initiating a connection with the UE, an authentication of the UE to the ground-based home subscriber server;

using the first orbital base station to authenticate the UE to the ground-based home subscriber server to obtain an authentication vector;

storing the authentication vector of a successful authentication of the UE into an on-orbit cache;

authenticating the UE to the ground-based home subscriber server using communications between the first orbital base station and the UE; and

forwarding the authentication results from the first orbital base station to the second orbital base station.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein using the first orbital base station to authenticate the UE to the ground-based home subscriber server to obtain the authentication vector appears to the ground-based home subscriber server as the UE attempting to access the cellular network.

18 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

operating the ground-based home subscriber server on the first orbital base station;

storing UE keys on the first orbital base station; and

upon authenticating the UE to the cellular network, performing the authentication with the UE without requiring communication with a ground-based authentication.