DISTRIBUTED AIRBORNE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SERVICES

摘要

Embodiments of methods and apparatus for providing distributed airborne wireless communications are provided herein. In some embodiments, an airborne wireless service area includes: an airborne fleet, comprised of a plurality of aircraft, wherein the airborne fleet is configured to transmit a plurality of first beams at a first radio frequency (RF), wherein the plurality of first beams are characterized by corresponding first frequency band, channel, bandwidth, transmission format, uneven angular field intensity distribution, and boundaries, wherein neighboring first beams have an overlap region, and wherein at least one of the following characteristics is different between the neighboring first beams: frequency band, channel, or transmission format; and a plurality of first communication cells defined by respective boundaries of the plurality of first beams, wherein each of the first communication cells are characterized by their size, shape, and position.

主权项

1. An airborne wireless service area, comprising:
an airborne fleet, comprised of a plurality of aircraft, wherein the airborne fleet is configured to transmit a plurality of first beams at a first radio frequency (RF), wherein the plurality of first beams are characterized by corresponding first frequency band, channel, bandwidth, transmission format, uneven angular field intensity distribution, and boundaries, wherein neighboring first beams have an overlap region, and wherein at least one of the following characteristics is different between the neighboring first beams: frequency band, channel, or transmission format; a distributed communication payload subdivided into constituent parts, wherein the parts are distributed and positioned on respective ones of the plurality of aircraft, wherein the distributed communication payload comprises
a plurality of antennas to transmit the plurality of first beams and to transmit a reshaped plurality of first beams on command, andpayload control electronics to manage operation of the airborne wireless service area, wherein constituent parts of the payload control electronics that manage a function of the entire airborne wireless service area are distributed among at least two of the plurality of aircraft; and a plurality of first communication cells defined by respective boundaries of the plurality of first beams; wherein a size and shape of at least some of the first communication cells are altered by transmitting the reshaped plurality of first beams.