Coordinating backhaul links between ground stations and airborne backhaul network

摘要

A method for matching a ground station to an aerial vehicle for establishment of a backhaul link to an airborne network involves: (i) determining location information for a ground station that is configured to provide a backhaul link to an airborne mesh network, (ii) determining flight data for one or more of the aerial vehicles in the airborne mesh network, (iii) based at least in part on the combination of (a) the location information for the ground station and (b) the flight data for the one or more of the aerial vehicles, selecting a flight with which the ground station should establish a backhaul link to the airborne network, and (iv) generating a link-assignment message that comprises instructions for the ground station to establish a backhaul link between the ground station and an aerial vehicle carrying out the selected flight.

主权项

1. A backhaul link assignment system comprising:
a first communication interface operable to receive flight data for a plurality of aerial vehicles in an airborne network; and a control system that is configured to:
access a ground-station database that comprises data entries for a plurality of ground stations, wherein each ground station is configured to provide a backhaul link to the airborne network, and wherein the data entry for each ground station comprises location information for the ground station;
for at least one of the ground stations, carry out a matching process to select an aerial vehicle for the ground station, wherein the matching process comprises use of both (a) the location information for the given ground station and (b) at least some of the flight data for the plurality of aerial vehicles as a basis to select a flight with which the given ground station should establish a backhaul link to the airborne network; andgenerate a link-assignment message that comprises instructions to the at least one ground station to establish a backhaul link to the airborne network via an aerial vehicle carrying out the selected flight.