Hybrid LEO/HAPS constellation for fixed broadband

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10958528-B2
Application number	US-201916717519-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 17, 2019
Priority date	Mar 9, 2018
Publication date	Mar 23, 2021
Grant date	Mar 23, 2021

Abstract

The disclosure provides for a system that includes a network controller configured to determine a network configuration of a network and cause the network to implement the network configuration. The network controller may be configured to determine that an overall link bandwidth for a particular geographic area is less than a set bandwidth amount based on link bandwidth information for possible links directly connected to the particular geographic area. Based on a difference between the overall link bandwidth and the set bandwidth amount, the network controller may be configured to determine additional links to connect to the particular geographic area in a given network configuration of the network. The network controller may then send instructions to the plurality of nodes of the network to cause the plurality of nodes to implement the given network configuration and transmit client data at the given point in time.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for implementing a network configuration in a network, the method comprising:
receiving, by one or more processors, link bandwidth information for possible routing paths in the network to or from nodes in a particular geographic area from one or more nodes of the network;
determining, by the one or more processors, one or more additional links to form in a given network configuration of the network based on a difference between an overall link bandwidth and a set bandwidth amount;
identifying, by the one or more processors, at least one node based on the determined one or more additional links; and sending, by the one or more processors, flight termination instructions to the at least one node of the network to cause the at least one node to terminate a flight of the at least one node.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the one or more processors, a landing location based on whether the at least one node can land and be retrieved, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the at least one node to land in the landing location.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the landing location enables the at least one node to provide network services within the particular geographic area.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising determining, by the one or more processors, a landing location within the particular geographic area, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the at least one node to land in the landing location.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the one or more processors, a landing location based on proximity to the particular geographic area, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the at least one node to land in the landing location.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying the at least one node is further based on one or more components in the at least one node that are usable in an additional node after landing.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the at least one node is a high-altitude platform, and the additional node is a ground station.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the additional node requires at least components for forming an additional link of the one more additional links.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one node includes a balloon.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting a second node of the network based on the determined one or more additional links; and
sending, by the one or more processors, flight termination instructions to the selected second node to cause the second node to terminate a flight of the second node.

11. A system comprising a network controller in communication with a plurality of nodes of a network, the network controller being configured to:
receive link bandwidth information for possible routing paths in the network to or from nodes in a particular geographic area from one or more nodes of the network;
determine one or more additional links to form in a given network configuration of the network based on a difference between an overall link bandwidth and a set bandwidth amount;
identify at least one node based on the determined one or more additional links; and
send flight termination instructions to the at least one node of the network to cause the at least one node to terminate a flight of the at least one node.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the network controller is further configured to determine a landing location based on whether the at least one node can land and be retrieved, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the at least one node to land in the landing location.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the landing location enables the at least one node to provide network services within the particular geographic area.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the network controller is further configured to determine a landing location within the particular geographic area, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the at least one node to land in the landing location.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the network controller is further configured to determine a landing location based on proximity to the particular geographic area, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the at least one node to land in the landing location.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the network controller is further configured to identify the at least one node further based on one or more components in the at least one node that are usable in an additional node after landing.

17. The system of claim 16 , further comprising the at least one node and wherein the at least one node is a high-altitude platform, and the additional node is a ground station.

18. The system of claim 16 , further comprising the at least one node and wherein the additional node requires at least components for forming an additional link of the one more additional links.

19. The system of claim 11 , further comprising the at least one node and wherein the at least one node includes a balloon.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the network controller is further configured to:
select a second node of the network based on the determined one or more additional links; and
send flight termination instructions to the selected second node to cause the second node to terminate a flight of the second node.

Assignees

• Loon Llc

Inventors

• Barritt Brian
• Filho Mauro Goncalves

Classifications

• H04L41/12 Primary

  Discovery or management of network topologies · CPC title

• H04L41/122

  of virtualised topologies, e.g. software-defined networks [SDN] or network function virtualisation [NFV] · CPC title

• H04L41/0896

  Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities (flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76) · CPC title

• H04B10/1129 Primary

  Arrangements for outdoor wireless networking of information · CPC title

• H04W40/38

  adapting due to varying relative distances between nodes · CPC title