Real-time communication between satellites and mobile devices

Abstract

Systems and methods for communicating with one or more satellites to acquire information related to a region on a map that is displayed on a mobile device. A mobile device includes: a communication device for directly communicating data with a satellite; a display for displaying a graphic user interface (GUI) that shows an image of a map; one or more processors; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes steps to be performed comprising: responsive to a touch on the GUI, sending a request signal for information related to a region on the map directly to the satellite via the communication device; receiving the information related to the region on the map directly from a satellite; and displaying the information on the display.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A mobile device for communicating with one or more satellites via a ground station, comprising:
 a communication device for communicating data with a ground station;   a display for displaying a graphic user interface (GUI) that shows an image of a map;   one or more processors; and   a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes steps to be performed comprising:
 responsive to a touch on the GUI, sending a request signal for a real-time satellite image of a region on the map to the ground station via the communication device; 
 receiving the real-time satellite image from the ground station; and 
 displaying the real-time satellite image on the display. 
   
     
     
         2 . A mobile device as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the request signal includes information of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the mobile device, GPS coordinates of the region on the map, and an identification (ID) of a user of the mobile device. 
     
     
         3 . A mobile device as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises one or more sequences of instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, causes steps to be performed comprising:
 displaying a GUI component that allows a user to set a ground resolution of the real-time satellite image,   wherein the request signal includes information of the ground resolution.   
     
     
         4 . A mobile device for communicating with one or more satellites via a ground station, comprising:
 a communication device for communicating data with a ground station;   a display for displaying a graphic user interface (GUI) that shows an image of a map;   one or more processors; and   a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes steps to be performed comprising:
 displaying a GUI component that allows a user to set a time window during which a satellite image of a region on the map is to be acquired by one or more satellites; 
 responsive to a touch on the GUI, sending a request signal for the satellite image to the ground station via the communication device, wherein the satellite image is to be taken during the time window; 
 receiving the satellite image from a ground station; and 
 displaying the satellite image on the display, 
   
     
     
         5 . A mobile device as recited in  claim 4 , wherein the request signal includes information of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the mobile device, GPS coordinates of the region on the map, an identification (ID) of a user of the mobile device and information of the time window. 
     
     
         6 . A mobile device as recited in  claim 4 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises one or more sequences of instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, causes steps to be performed comprising:
 displaying an other GUI component that allows the user to set a ground resolution of a satellite image,   wherein the request signal includes information of the ground resolution.