Method and apparatus for improved non-geostationary communications

Abstract

The present disclosure presents a method and an apparatus for communications in a non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite network. For example, the method may include receiving data, at a relay node, from a first NGSO satellite of the NGSO satellite network, wherein the relay node is located at a boundary or a common beam area associated with the first satellite and a second satellite of the NGSO satellite network, and wherein the data is received at the relay node in response to identifying by the first NGSO satellite that an internet point of presence (IPP) is not available in at least one of a plurality of beams associated with the first NGSO satellite, and relaying the data from the relay node to a second NGSO satellite of the NGSO satellite network, wherein an IPP is available in at least one of a plurality of beams associated with the second NGSO satellite. As such, communications in a non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite network may be achieved.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for communications in a non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite network, comprising:
 receiving data from a NGSO satellite of a NGSO satellite network at a first ground terminal, wherein the first ground terminal is a designated ground terminal with a satellite communication link to the NGSO satellite; and   transmitting the data from the first ground terminal to one or more second ground terminals, wherein the data is transmitted from the first ground terminal to the one or more second ground terminals via terrestrial communication links.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first ground terminal and the one or more second ground terminals communicate via an ad-hoc, a star, or a mesh network. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a satellite antenna of the designated ground terminal is larger in size than a terrestrial antenna of the designated ground terminal. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more second ground terminals communicate with each other via terrestrial communication links. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 decoding the received data at the ground terminal using incremental redundancy (IR).   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the IR is adjusted based on an application type. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 using a frequency reuse factor of one or two.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data is received from the NGSO satellite of the NGSO satellite network at the first ground terminal via a relay node or an Internet point of presence (IPP). 
     
     
         9 . An apparatus for communications in a non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite network, comprising:
 means for receiving data from a NGSO satellite of a NGSO satellite network at a first ground terminal, wherein the first ground terminal is a designated ground terminal with a satellite communication link to the NGSO satellite; and   means for transmitting the data from the first ground terminal to one or more second ground terminals, wherein the data is transmitted from the first ground terminal to the one or more second ground terminals via terrestrial communication links.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 means for decoding the received data at the ground terminal using incremental redundancy (IR).   
     
     
         11 . An apparatus for communications in a non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite network, comprising:
 a memory; and   at least one processor coupled to the memory, and the at least one processor configured to:
 receive data from a NGSO satellite of a NGSO satellite network at a first ground terminal, wherein the first ground terminal is a designated ground terminal with a satellite communication link to the NGSO satellite; and 
 transmit the data from the first ground terminal to one or more second ground terminals, wherein the data is transmitted from the first ground terminal to the one or more second ground terminals via terrestrial communication links. 
   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the first ground terminal and the one or more second ground terminals communicate via an ad-hoc, a star, or a mesh network. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein a satellite antenna of the designated ground terminal is larger in size than a terrestrial antenna of the designated ground terminal. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more second ground terminals communicate with each other via terrestrial communication links. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 decode the received data at the ground terminal using incremental redundancy (IR).   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to adjust the IR based on an application type. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to a frequency reuse factor of one or two. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the data is received from the NGSO satellite of the NGSO satellite network at the first ground terminal via a relay node or an Internet point of presence (IPP). 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable code for communications in a non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite network, comprising:
 code for receiving data from a NGSO satellite of a NGSO satellite network at a first ground terminal, wherein the first ground terminal is a designated ground terminal with a satellite communication link to the NGSO satellite; and   code for transmitting the data from the first ground terminal to one or more second ground terminals, wherein the data is transmitted from the first ground terminal to the one or more second ground terminals via terrestrial communication links.   
     
     
         20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the one or more second ground terminals communicate with each other via terrestrial communication links.