Directional beam mesh network for aircraft

Abstract

Techniques are provided herein for procedures for establishing an aircraft-to-aircraft mesh network during flight using high-bandwidth directional communication beams. A first aircraft may be able to utilize flight data about a second aircraft to reduce a computational cost of a beam discovery procedure used to establish directional communication beams in the aircraft-to-aircraft mesh network. For example, the first aircraft may receive flight data (e.g., position information, heading, altitude, etc.) using an air traffic control system. The first aircraft may determine one or more predicted locations of the second aircraft based on the flight data. The first aircraft may use the predicted locations to transmit directional discovery beams to only those locations where the second aircraft is likely to be. Upon receiving at least one of the directional discovery beams, the second aircraft and the first aircraft may establish a communication link of the aircraft-to-aircraft mesh network.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:
 a processor;   memory in electronic communication with the processor; and   instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive, at the apparatus, which is coupled with a first aircraft, flight data for a second aircraft from a terrestrial server or a satellite, wherein the flight data is received using a first communication link of a first wireless network; 
 determine, based at least in part on the flight data for the second aircraft, a transmission beam pattern indicating a plurality of beam directions that are arranged to detect the second aircraft and a quantity of times a beam is to be transmitted in each of the plurality of beam directions, wherein the quantity of times is more than one for at least one beam direction; 
 transmit, in each beam direction of the plurality of beam directions, a directional transmission beam the quantity of times indicated for that beam direction by the transmission beam pattern; and 
 establish a second communication link of a second wireless network directly between the first aircraft and the second aircraft in response to at least one of the transmitted directional transmission beams. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the second wireless network is a wireless mesh network, and wherein a first radio frequency spectrum band used in the first wireless network is different from a second radio frequency spectrum band used in the second wireless network. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 determine a plurality of predicted locations for the second aircraft based at least in part on the flight data of the second aircraft, wherein determining the transmission beam pattern is based at least in part determining the plurality of predicted locations.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 determine a current position and a current vector for the first aircraft, wherein determining the transmission beam pattern is based at least in part on the current position and the current vector of the first aircraft.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive environmental condition information associated with the second aircraft, wherein determining the transmission beam pattern is based at least in part on the environmental condition information.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the flight data includes position information for the second aircraft, vector information for the second aircraft, future flight path information for the second aircraft, or a combination thereof, and wherein determining the transmission beam pattern is based at least in part on the position information, the vector information, the future flight path information, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive data from a third aircraft using a third communication link, the third communication link being part of a wireless mesh network;   identify the second aircraft as an intended recipient of the data; and   transmit the data to the second aircraft using the second communication link based at least in part on identifying the second aircraft as the intended recipient of the data.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 transmit a message to the second aircraft indicating that the first aircraft is a node in a communication path of the second wireless network.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive routing information from the terrestrial server or the satellite using the first communication link of the first wireless network, the routing information indicating one or more communication paths using the second wireless network between the first aircraft and other aircraft that are outside of a coverage area of the first aircraft; and   transmit data to one of the other aircraft based at least in part on the routing information.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive updated flight data for the second aircraft from the second aircraft using the second communication link; and   initiate a beam refinement procedure based at least in part on the updated flight data received from the second aircraft.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive a directional transmission beam transmitted by the second aircraft using at least one directional reception beam pointed in at least one beam direction of a listening pattern having at least one beam direction, wherein establishing the second communication link directly between the first aircraft and the second aircraft is based at least in part on receiving the directional transmission beam from the second aircraft; and   determine the listening pattern based at least in part on the flight data for the second aircraft, wherein receiving the directional transmission beam from the second aircraft is based at least in part on the listening pattern.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 identify a plurality of communication resources of the second wireless network to use during a discovery procedure, wherein a first set of the plurality of communication resources are used to transmit directional transmission beams and a second set of the plurality of communication resources are used to listen for transmission beams, and wherein transmitting the directional transmission beams is done during the first set of the plurality of communication resources; and   receive an indication of the plurality of communication resources from the terrestrial server or the satellite using the first communication link, wherein identifying the plurality of communication resources is based at least in part on receiving the indication.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive a distress signal from the second aircraft using the second communication link; and   prioritize a receipt of critical flight information from the second aircraft above communications with other aircraft through the second wireless network based at least in part on receiving the distress signal.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive flight data for a plurality of aircrafts using the first communication link; and   select a subset of the plurality of aircrafts to attempt to communicate with using the second communication link based at least in part on a proximity of the first aircraft to each of the plurality of aircrafts.   
     
     
         15 . An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:
 a processor;   memory in electronic communication with the processor; and   instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive, at the apparatus, which is coupled with a first aircraft, flight data for a second aircraft from a terrestrial server or a satellite, wherein the flight data is received using a first communication link of a first wireless network; 
 determine, based at least in part on the flight data for the second aircraft, a reception beam pattern indicating a plurality of beam directions that are arranged to detect a transmission from the second aircraft and a quantity of times a reception beam is to be activated in each of the plurality of beam directions, wherein the quantity of times is more than one for at least one beam direction; 
 receive a directional transmission beam transmitted by the second aircraft using at least one directional reception beam of a plurality of directional reception beams, wherein each directional reception beam of the plurality of directional reception beams is activated in a beam direction of the plurality of beam directions the quantity of times indicated for that beam direction by the reception beam pattern, and wherein the directional transmission beam conveys information about a beam discovery procedure performed by the second aircraft to find the first aircraft; and 
 establish a second communication link of a second wireless network directly between the first aircraft and the second aircraft in response to receiving the directional transmission beam from the second aircraft. 
   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the second wireless network is a wireless mesh network, and wherein a first radio frequency spectrum band used in the first wireless network is different from a second radio frequency spectrum band used in the second wireless network. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 determine a beam characteristic of at least one directional reception beam of the plurality of directional reception beams based at least in part on the reception beam pattern.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 determine a plurality of predicted locations for the second aircraft based at least in part on the flight data of the second aircraft, wherein determining the reception beam pattern is based at least in part determining the plurality of predicted locations.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 determine a current position and a current vector for the first aircraft, wherein determining the reception beam pattern is based at least in part on the current position and the current vector of the first aircraft.   
     
     
         20 . An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:
 a processor;   memory in electronic communication with the processor; and   instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive air traffic information from a plurality of aircraft using a wireless network; 
 identify a first aircraft from the plurality of aircraft as a node to establish one or more second communication links of a second wireless network directly with at least one of the plurality of aircraft; 
 identify a second aircraft from the plurality of aircraft for the first aircraft to attempt to communicate with based at least in part on a position of the first aircraft and the second aircraft; 
 determine, based at least in part on air traffic information for the second aircraft, a transmission beam pattern for the first aircraft having at least one beam direction to be used for finding the second aircraft, wherein the quantity of times is more than one for at least one beam direction; and 
 transmit flight data of the second aircraft and an indication of the transmission beam pattern to the first aircraft using a first communication link of the wireless network.