Patent ID: 11888569
Assignee: INTELSAT US LLC
Field: Telecommunications (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 14:
15. A communication system comprising:
an aerial platform having a plurality of first antennas;
a ground station having a plurality of second antennas in line-of-sight (LoS) multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) communication with the plurality of first antennas on the aerial platform;
a service platform comprising a plurality of third antennas in LoS MIMO communication with the plurality of first antennas on the aerial platform, a number of the third antennas being greater than a number of the first antennas and a number of the second antennas being greater than the number of the first antennas;
a first controller communicatively coupled to the plurality of second antennas and configured to select a subset of the second antennas for a feeder link with the aerial platform, and to communicate a plurality of data streams with the aerial platform via the subset of the second antennas that is selected; and
a second controller communicatively coupled to the plurality of third antennas and configured to select a subset of the third antennas for a service link with the aerial platform, and to communicate the plurality of data streams with the aerial platform via the subset of the third antennas that is selected,
wherein the first controller selects the subset of the second antennas such that the second antennas of the subset have spacings therebetween based on at least two of information related to an aerial platform orientation relative to the second antennas, information related to a spacing of the first antennas, information related to a slant range, and information related to a first frequency of operation, and
wherein the second controller selects the subset of the third antennas such that the third antennas of the subset have spacings therebetween based on at least two of information related to an aerial platform orientation relative to the third antennas, information related to a spacing of the first antennas, information related to a slant range, and information related to a second frequency of operation.