Patent ID: 11881928
Assignee: THALES
Field: Telecommunications (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. A method of space communication implemented by a multibeam space telecommunications system,
the multibeam space telecommunications system comprising:
a multibeam space relay taken from among a satellite and a high-altitude platform station (HAPS) platform; and
a ground station, serving as interconnection gateway between a fixed terrestrial infrastructure and the space relay;
an access module for accessing a space network formed by the space relay and the ground station, said access module being embedded on board the space relay when the space relay is regenerative or embedded in the ground station when the space relay is transparent or distributed between the space relay and the ground station,
at least one user terminal,
the method of space communication comprising the following steps:
in a first step, the at least one user terminal emits at a given instant T on a random uplink UL data channel and in a predetermined span of frequencies to the access module one or more bursts of data predominantly of useful traffic, including an identifier and, when the at least one user terminal is able to determine its geo-location or to aid its geo-location, explicit or implicit information regarding the geographical location of said at least one user terminal; and then
in a second step, the access module receives and decodes the one or more burst or bursts of data emitted by the at least one user terminal, associates with the at least one user terminal a logical beam on the basis of a location information of the at least one user terminal provided in the first step when the at least one user terminal is able to determine its geo-location or to aid its geo-location, or derived from a received signal carrying the one or more burst or bursts of data emitted when the at least one user terminal is not able to determine or to aid its geo-location, the associated logical beam wherein the at least one user terminal lies at the given instant T being a different predetermined fixed geographical area of a set of geographical areas, the set of geographical areas or set of logical beams forming a tiling of a geographical coverage of the multibeam space telecommunications system, and associates in real time with the logical beam a plurality of one or more physical emission beams of the space relay which at the given instant T overlap the entirety of said logical beam; and then
in a third step, the access module dispatches to the at least one user terminal, through a broadcasting beacon whose carrier frequency the at least one user terminal already knows, an identifier of a downlink DL data channel carrier allocated to the at least one user terminal, to an associated logical beam and to the plurality of the one or more physical emission beam or beams of the space relay which at the given instant T overlap the entirety of and are associated with the logical beam of the terminal, so as to allow the at least one user terminal to receive and decode useful and control data which are intended for it.