Claims
- 1. A method for estimating a position of a terminal in a radiocommunication system using an array to illuminate areas with spot beams, comprising the steps of:measuring a received power associated with each of a plurality of said spot beams; determining relative powers associated with said received power by comparing said measured received powers with a reference power; and estimating said position of said terminal using said relative powers and a model of spot beam shape.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of measuring is performed at said terminal.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of measuring is performed at one of a base station and a satellite.
- 4. The method of claim 2, wherein said reference power is a power received by said terminal of a spot beam which illuminates a geographical region in which said terminal is currently located.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said steps of determining and estimating are performed in said terminal.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said steps of determining and estimating are performed in one of a base station and a satellite.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said model is an exponential model.
- 8. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of locating further comprises the step of:repeatedly evaluating the following equation: J(x)=(x−{circumflex over (x)}k|k−1)TPx,k|k−1−1(x−{circumflex over (x)}k|k−1)+(y−h(x))TRy−1(y−h(x).
- 9. A method for accessing a radiocommunication system comprising the steps of:measuring a received power associated with each of a plurality of said spot beams; determining relative powers associated with said received power by comparing said measured received powers with a reference power; locating said terminal using said relative powers and a model of spot beam shape; using said location of said terminal to determine a Doppler compensation; and accessing said radiocommunication system using said Doppler compensation.
- 10. The method of claim 9, wherein said step of measuring is performed at said terminal.
- 11. The method of claim 9, wherein said step of measuring is performed at one of a base station and a satellite.
- 12. The method of claim 9, wherein said reference power is a power received by said terminal of a spot beam which illuminates a geographical region in which said terminal is currently located.
- 13. The method of claim 9, wherein said model is an exponential model.
- 14. The method of claim 9, wherein said step of locating further comprises the step of:repeatedly evaluating the following equation: J(x)=(x−{circumflex over (x)}k|k−1)TPx,k|k−1−1(x−{circumflex over (x)}k|k−1)+(y−h(x))TRy−1(y−h(x)).
- 15. A method for handing over a connection in a system using an array to provide radiocommunication coverage to areas using spot beams, comprising the steps of:measuring a received power associated with each of a plurality of said spot beams; determining relative powers associated with said received power by comparing said measured, received powers with a reference power; locating said terminal's position using said relative powers and a model of spot beam shape; and handing over said connection from a first spot beam to a second spot beam based on said terminal's position.
- 16. The method of claim 15, wherein said reference power is a power received by said terminal of said first spot beam which illuminates a geographical region in which said terminal is currently located.
- 17. The method of claim 15, wherein said reference power is a power transmitted by said terminal of and received in a first spot beam of an array antenna which illuminates a geographical region in which said terminal is currently located when said array antenna is being used to transmit.
- 18. The method of claim 17, wherein said model is an exponential model.
- 19. The method of claim 15, wherein said step of locating further comprises the step of:repeatedly evaluating the following equation: J(x)=(x−{circumflex over (x)}k|k−1)TPx,k|k−1 (x−{circumflex over (x)}k|k−1)+(y−h(x))TRy−1(y−h(x)).
- 20. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of measuring further comprises the step of:measuring each received power simultaneously.
- 21. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of measuring further comprises the step of:measuring each received power in each of said plurality of spot beams on a different frequency.
- 22. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of measuring further comprises the step of:measuring each received power at different times and adjusting the measured power taking into account movement of a satellite including said array.
- 23. The method of claim 9, wherein said step of measuring further comprises the step of:measuring each received power simultaneously.
- 24. The method of claim 9, wherein said step of measuring further comprises the step of:measuring each received power in each of said plurality of spot beams on a different frequency.
- 25. The method of claim 10, wherein said step of measuring further comprises the step of:measuring each received power at different times and adjusting the measured power taking into account movement of a satellite including said array.
- 26. The method of claim 15, wherein said step of measuring further comprises the step of:measuring each received power simultaneously.
- 27. The method of claim 15, wherein said step of measuring further comprises the step of:measuring each received power in each of said plurality of spot beams on a different frequency.
- 28. The method of claim 16, wherein said step of measuring further comprises the step of:measuring each received power at different times and adjusting the measured power taking into account movement of a satellite including said array.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/179,958 entitled “Position Registration for Cellular Satellite Communication Systems”, filed on Jan. 11, 1994, now abandoned and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/179,953, entitled “A Cellular/Satellite Communications System with Improved Frequency Re-Use”, which application was also filed on Jan. 11, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,503. Both of the aforementioned disclosures are incorporated here by reference.
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Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
08/179958 |
Jan 1994 |
US |
Child |
08/597073 |
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US |
Parent |
08/179953 |
Jan 1994 |
US |
Child |
08/179958 |
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US |