A satellite communication system includes a satellite configured to provide a first plurality of spot beams adapted for communication with subscriber terminals using time domain beam hopping and a second plurality of spot beams adapted for communication with gateways. The satellite includes a spectrum routing network that is configured to time multiplex spot beams of the second plurality of spot beams with spot beams of the first plurality of spot beams so that a spot beam that is implementing beam hopping for communication to subscriber terminals communicates with different feeder beams (and, therefore, different gateways) at different times during a hopping period.

A satellite communication system comprises a satellite configured to provide a plurality of spot beams adapted for communication using time domain beam hopping to switch throughput among spot beams of the plurality of spot beams. The plurality of spot beams includes a first spot beam that illuminates and communicates with a first gateway and a first set of subscriber terminals. The satellite is configured to implement a beam hopping plan that during a hopping period provides throughput to the first spot beam for an aggregated time duration based on bandwidth assignments to the first gateway and the first set of subscriber terminals.

The present application relates to a method and an apparatus for a group ephemeris data provision. One embodiment of the subject application provides a method performed by a User Equipment (UE), which includes: receiving a signal indicating a first satellite group ID of a first satellite group; and comparing the first satellite group ID with a second satellite group ID of a second satellite group in a second satellite group ID set which is previously stored in the UE, wherein the first satellite group ID is associated with group ephemeris data and each satellite group ID of the second satellite group ID is associated with group ephemeris data.

A satellite receiver with a switchable array of antenna elements for receiving wireless signals from at least a satellite is described. The antenna elements may be dynamically selected based at least in part on a location and motion of the satellite receiver, and a location and a motion of at least the satellite that provides wireless signals. Moreover, the antenna elements may also be dynamically selected based at least in part on utilization and/or availability of a terrestrial wireless communication network that communicates with the satellite receiver. The satellite receiver may predict availability of communication with at least the satellite. Furthermore, the array of antenna elements may provide improved power efficiency, pointing accuracy and/or isotropic gain relative to an array of antenna elements without switched antenna elements, such as for carrier frequencies in the V or the W band of frequencies.

Various arrangements are presented for using an estimated timing advance for user equipment communications. A location of an instance of user equipment may be determined. An estimated distance between the user equipment and a communication satellite may be determined using the determined location of the user equipment and an estimated satellite location. An estimated timing offset using the calculated estimated distance may be determined. An uplink data frame may be transmitted by the user equipment to the satellite such that a timing of transmission of the uplink data frame is based on the calculated estimated timing offset.

A method for estimating a location of a terminal device of a non-terrestrial cellular data communication network is disclosed. The non-terrestrial cellular data communication network includes at least one airborne or spaceborne base station moving along a flight trajectory. The terminal device and a location service node store information describing the flight trajectory of the at least one airborne or spaceborne base station. The method further includes: at the at least one airborne or spaceborne base station, transmitting a reference timing signal; at the terminal device, accumulating over time the respective arrival times of the reference timing signal received from at least three different positions taken by the at least one airborne or spaceborne base station; and at the terminal device, computing, from said arrival times, at least two arrival time differences with respect to one reference arrival time.

Described herein are systems, methods, media, and devices for generating a satellite program for contacting satellites. In some embodiments, data including one or more targets for accessing a satellite constellation is obtained. Based on the data, a set of representations may be generated and candidate satellite constellation access programs may be determined based on the set of representations. For each program, a first score may be computed for each target to obtain a first set of scores, and a second score may be computed for each first score of the first set of scores to obtain a second set of scores. A satellite constellation access program may be selected from the candidate satellite access programs based on the second set of second scores.

A positioning method in a satellite network, a communication apparatus, a computer-readable storage medium, a program, and a program product are provided. The method includes: a terminal device receives a first broadcast signal block of a first satellite; obtains a measurement value of the first broadcast signal block; obtains positioning assistance information, from the first satellite, indicating a frequency and a polarization direction of the second satellite, where a frequency and/or a polarization direction of the first satellite are/is different from the frequency and the polarization direction of the second satellite; receives a second broadcast signal block of the second satellite based on the positioning assistance information; obtains a measurement value of the second broadcast signal block; and obtains location information of the terminal device based on the measurement value of the first broadcast signal block and the measurement value of the second broadcast signal block.

Hierarchical network operation and resource control system and method for a mega satellite constellation, belonging to the field of spatial information technology, are provided. The hierarchical network operation and resource control system includes a service layer, a global organization layer, a local coordination layer and a resource layer. The service layer is used as an input to drive operation of whole system. The global organization layer is to realize “operation, measurement and control” integrated control and decision of whole network. The local coordination layer is to realize local management decision and management slice generation. The resource layer is to provide physical resource and physical device and realize resource virtualization. By deploying local coordination layer controllers on GSO or MEO satellites, the deployment of local coordination layer controllers is not limited by inability of deploying ground stations globally and therefore the control of large-scale LEO satellite constellation can be achieved.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a satellite communication system includes a satellite constellation including a plurality of satellites in non-geosynchronous orbit (non-GEO), wherein at least some of the plurality of satellites travel in a first orbital path at a first inclination, and an end point terminal having an earth-based geographic location, the end point terminal having an antenna system defining a field of regard for communicating with the satellite constellation, wherein the field of regard is a limited field of regard, wherein the field of regard is tilted from a non-tilted position to a tilted position, and wherein the tilt angle of the tilted position is a function of the latitude of the geographic location.