The present disclosure describes the system and methods for providing broadband internet access to homes and enterprises using a network of drones/UAVs. The drone communication system is composed of an antenna sub-system, a radio sub-system and a data switching sub-system. Drones form and point beams toward ground terminals in different areas in a space division multiple access scheme. Ground terminals are composed of an antenna sub-system and a radio sub-system. Ground terminals search for the drone from which they receive the strongest signals. Drone and ground terminals comprise of methods and systems to calibrate receive and transmit antenna elements. Drone radio sub-system keeps track of the drone's position and orientation changes and adjust drone's antenna beam accordingly to point to the same location on the ground as the drone moves. Depending on the changes in drone's position and orientation, the drone radio sub-system may switch the antenna aperture and/or the antenna fixture that is used to form a beam toward a specific ground terminal. Drones communicate with the terminals using a space and time division multiple access scheme.

The present disclosure describes the system and methods for providing broadband internet access to homes and enterprises using a network of aerial platforms such as drones/UAVs/balloons. The drone communication system is composed of an antenna sub-system, a radio sub-system and a data switching sub-system. Drones form and point beams toward ground terminals in different areas in a space division multiple access scheme. Ground terminals are composed of an antenna sub-system and a radio sub-system. Ground terminals search for the drone from which they receive the strongest signals. Drone and ground terminals comprise of methods and systems to calibrate receive and transmit antenna elements. Drone radio sub-system keeps track of the drone's position and orientation changes and adjust drone's antenna beam accordingly to point to the same location on the ground as the drone moves. Depending on the changes in drone's position and orientation, the drone radio sub-system may switch the antenna aperture and/or the antenna fixture that is used to form a beam toward a specific ground terminal. Drones communicate with the terminals using a space and time division multiple access scheme.

A network management systems (NMS) and methods for automating aircraft wideband streaming L band providing dedicated high data rate communication links from an aircraft fitted with an approved L-band terminal and antenna over a satellite communication network, such as the Inmarsat Swift Broadband network. The systems and methods allow for modifying the L-band terminal wiring to inject a dedicated single channel per carrier (SCPC) signal from an external modem to achieve return data rates in the range of several Mbps over a dedicated leased satellite bandwidth.

A system is provided for coordinating inter-satellite handoff in a telecommunications system that includes first and second communication satellites and a communications apparatus. The communications apparatus is configured to generate commands for transmission to the first communication satellite and the second communication satellite to steer respectively first and second spot beams to track and communicate with a user terminal during respective time intervals. The communication interface is also configured to determine a trajectory of the user terminal and a predicted handoff point on the trajectory for handoff between the satellites in which the second spot beam is automatically steered to the handoff point or a point proximate thereto no sooner than the user terminal is within the second spot beam when steered to the predicted handoff point.

In one implementation, a receiver has a module to calculate the cross-correlation between a portion of a digital representation of a received signal and a reference signal. The receiver also has a module to generate an estimate of a portion of a message potentially included in the digital representation of the received signal and a screening module to determine the likelihood that the received signal includes a message. For a received signal that is determined likely to include a message, the receiver includes a carrier refinement module to shift the frequency of carrier pulses in the digital representation of the received signal toward a desired frequency and to align the phase of carrier pulses in the digital representation of the received signal with a desired phase and a coherent matched filter to recover the message from the digital representation of the received signal.

A system having a platform upon which several phased antenna arrays are mounted and which can communicate with satellites. The system includes a switch that can connect any of the phased array antennas to any of available modems. The system further includes a router that can connect any of the modems to any available computing devices. Based on parameters such as data rates, signal strength, and account information, one or more communication paths are selected for a computing device requesting to communicate with a satellite. Each communication path is established by operating the switch to connect a selected antenna to a selected modem, and operating the router to transfer data between the computing device and the selected modem.

A technique for providing users with in-flight connectivity includes a method for operating a communications system on an aircraft comprising allocating to a communications session between equipment on the aircraft and other equipment, a first bandwidth allocation of a selected communications system selected from the group consisting of a satellite communications system and an air-to-ground communications system. The allocating is based on a latency tolerance of the communications session and a prioritization level of the communications session. The method includes communicating signals of the communications session using the first bandwidth allocation of the selected communications system.

In one embodiment, an antenna system is described. The antenna system includes a primary antenna on an aircraft. The primary antenna is mechanically steerable and has an asymmetric antenna beam pattern with a narrow beamwidth axis and a wide beamwidth axis at boresight. The antenna system also includes a secondary antenna on the aircraft, the secondary antenna including an array of antenna elements. The antenna system also includes an antenna selection system to control communication of a signal between the aircraft and a target satellite via the primary antenna and the secondary antenna. The antenna selection system switches communication of the signal from the primary antenna to the secondary antenna when an amount of interference with an adjacent satellite reaches a threshold due to the wide beamwidth axis of the asymmetric antenna beam pattern.

Systems and methods for providing in-flight wireless data access in a cabin of an aircraft. An aircraft communications system by which some data from an airborne network may transfer to an external network through a plurality of data links. The communications system can include a first data connection through which data is allowed to transfer between a first data link or a second data link of the plurality of data links. A connection detector determines an availability of the second data link. A connection manager is configured to prioritize a data transfer using the second data link when the connection detector determines that the second data link is available such that at least some data that would otherwise be transferred through the first data link is rerouted to be transferred through the second data link.

A method, carried out by a processing device(s), is used for assisting in placing beams to cover a plurality of locations on Earth. The method comprises: grouping the plurality of locations into cliques by applying a clique problem resolution technique to an undirected graph whose vertices correspond to the plurality of locations and wherein two vertices of the undirected graph are connected by an edge if they correspond to two locations that are regarded as coverable by a single beam; assigning a beam to each of at least some of the cliques; and outputting parameters usable to control at least one beam source to form the assigned beams. The invention also relates to a system, computer program products, and a method and system for simulating a beam placement.