Managing congestion in a satellite communications network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10524159-B2
Application number	US-201715698011-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 7, 2017
Priority date	Sep 7, 2017
Publication date	Dec 31, 2019
Grant date	Dec 31, 2019

Abstract

In one implementation, congestion in a satellite communications network is managed based on current resource usage information received for a primary satellite servicing a terminal that is requesting to initiate a communications session. The current resource usage information is received within a communications session setup procedure that identifies a type of the communications session being requested by the terminal. Resources for serving the communications session are determined based on the type of the communications session being requested by the terminal. Thereafter, a determination is made as to whether sufficient resources are available at the primary satellite for servicing the communications session. In response to determining that sufficient resources are not available at the primary satellite for servicing the communications session, a congestion mitigation strategy is determined for servicing the communications session and sent to the primary satellite for implementation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for managing congestion in a multi-satellite, satellite communications network comprising:
receiving current resource usage information for a primary satellite servicing a terminal, wherein the terminal is requesting to initiate a communications session over the satellite communications network via the primary satellite and wherein the current resource usage information for the primary satellite is received within a communications session setup procedure for establishing a communications session for the terminal over the satellite communications network, the communications session setup procedure identifying a type of the communications session being requested by the terminal;
determining resources for serving the communications session based on the type of the communications session being requested by the terminal;
accessing service subscription information associated with the terminal;
determining, based on the received current resource usage information for the primary satellite and the determined resources for servicing the type of the communications session being requested by the terminal, whether sufficient resources are available at the primary satellite for servicing the communications session being requested by the terminal;
in response to determining that sufficient resources are not available at the primary satellite for servicing the communications session being requested by the terminal, determining a congestion mitigation strategy for servicing the communications session being requested by the terminal based on the accessed service subscription information associated with the terminal; and
sending the congestion mitigation strategy to the primary satellite via the satellite communications network for implementation.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is performed at a terrestrial control center that manages communications sessions within the satellite communications network.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, within the communications session setup procedure, a request for a particular level of bandwidth for the communications session, wherein determining a mitigation strategy comprises determining to instruct the primary satellite to allocate less than the particular level of bandwidth for servicing the communications session.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining a congestion mitigation strategy for servicing the communications session being requested by the terminal includes identifying a neighboring satellite in the satellite communications network for servicing the communications session, the neighboring satellite having a service coverage area that includes a location of the terminal; and
sending the congestion mitigation strategy to the primary satellite via the satellite communications network for implementation further comprises also sending the congestion mitigation strategy to the neighboring satellite via the satellite communications network for implementation.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving current resource usage information for a plurality of neighboring satellites in the satellite communications network, each neighboring satellite having a service coverage area that includes a location of the terminal, wherein:
determining a congestion mitigation strategy for servicing the communications session being requested by the terminal includes identifying a particular one of the plurality of neighboring satellites to service the communications session based on the received current resource usage information for the plurality of neighboring satellites; and
sending the congestion mitigation strategy to the primary satellite via the satellite communications network for implementation further comprises also sending the congestion mitigation strategy to the particular one of the plurality of neighboring satellites for implementation.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a congestion mitigation strategy for servicing the communications session being requested by the terminal includes determining to instruct the primary satellite to deny the communications session requested by the terminal to preserve service quality for other communications sessions being serviced by the primary satellite.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a congestion mitigation strategy for servicing the communications session being requested by the terminal includes determining to instruct the primary satellite to hand off the communications session to a neighboring satellite for servicing.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the congestion mitigation strategy to the primary satellite via the satellite communications network for implementation includes sending the congestion mitigation strategy to the primary satellite via multiple other satellites within the satellite communications network, the other satellites within the satellite communications network being communicatively coupled to the primary satellite via wireless, inter-satellite, communications crosslinks.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
receiving current resource usage information for the primary satellite servicing the terminal includes receiving current resource usage information for a particular beam from among a plurality of beams of the primary satellite, wherein the primary satellite is servicing the terminal using the particular beam;
determining, based on the received current resource usage information for the primary satellite and the determined resources for servicing the type of the communications session being requested by the terminal, whether sufficient resources are available at the primary satellite for servicing the communications session being requested by the terminal includes determining whether sufficient resources are available at the primary satellite for servicing the communications session being requested by the terminal based on the received current resource usage information for the particular beam; and
determining a congestion mitigation strategy for servicing the communications session being requested by the terminal includes determining to instruct the primary satellite to service the communications session being requested by the terminal using a different beam from among the plurality of beams of the primary satellite.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
receiving current resource usage information for the primary satellite servicing the terminal includes receiving current resource usage information for a particular beam from among a plurality of beams of the primary satellite, wherein the primary satellite is servicing the terminal using the particular beam; and
determining that sufficient resources are not available at the primary satellite for servicing the communications session being requested by the terminal includes determining that sufficient resources are not available at the primary satellite for servicing the communications session being requested by the terminal based on the received current resource usage information for the particular beam.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
individual satellites within the multi-satellite, satellite communications network are communicatively coupled via wireless, inter-satellite, communications crosslinks;
receiving current resource usage information for the primary satellite servicing the terminal includes receiving current resource usage information for at least one wireless, inter-satellite, communications crosslink communicatively coupling the primary satellite to another satellite within the satellite communications network; and
determining whether sufficient resources are available at the primary satellite for servicing the

Assignees

• Iridium Satellite Llc

Inventors

• Xenakis George
• Patel Jayesh
• Pon Hermon

Classifications

• H04B7/18521 Primary

  Systems of inter linked satellites, i.e. inter satellite service (for optical links between satellites H04B10/118) · CPC title

• H04W28/0205

  at the air interface (dynamic wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12) · CPC title

• H04W28/20

  Negotiating bandwidth · CPC title

• H04W28/0289 Primary

  Congestion control (load shedding arrangements in network planning H04W16/08; performing reselection for handling the traffic H04W36/22; wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12) · CPC title

• H04W28/0247 Primary

  based on conditions of the access network or the infrastructure network (central resource management H04W28/16) · CPC title