Patent Publication Number: US-2021185406-A1

Title: Satellite communication system and satellite communication method

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention generally relates to a satellite communication system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a satellite communication system for providing video content data. The present invention also relates to a satellite communication method. 
     Background Information 
     Recently, smart TVs have become popular in the market. Generally, smart TVs can play internet-based streaming videos, including 4K TV (ultra HD) streaming videos, using smart TV software applications (“apps”). On the other hand, smart TVs also need dedicated or third-party streaming video receivers to use some streaming video applications. The dedicated streaming video receiver is externally plugged into a smart TV to receive the streaming video content, and is linked to a broadband internet device to provide the streaming video content to the smart TV. 
     SUMMARY 
     Currently, there is no satellite-based internet service that can support 4K TV due to the video download speed limit of the satellite communication network. Specifically, when smart TVs display real time video streams via the satellite communication network, normal internet access speed can be reduced due to the satellite bandwidth required for the video streams. In addition, even more satellite bandwidth is needed when there are repeat video accesses from many users. In this case, a satellite gateway needs to repeatedly send a large volume of video streams to individual users via the satellite communication network, which requires a significant satellite data transmission and slows down normal internet data transfer speed due to the traffic load. 
     Furthermore, when a user wants to use a streaming video application that requires a dedicated streaming video receiver, the user needs to prepare a dedicated streaming video receiver independently associated with each smart TV. Specifically, if a user wants to enjoy video contents on a plurality of smart TVs using the streaming video application, then the user need to purchase a plurality of dedicated streaming video receivers—generally as many as the number of smart TVs. 
     In view of the state of the known technology, one aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a satellite communication system that includes a satellite gateway and a plurality of satellite communication terminals. The satellite gateway includes a satellite communication module that is configured to transmit video content data automatically based on a predetermined condition via a satellite communication network. The satellite communication terminals are disposed at a plurality of remote locations, respectively. The satellite communication terminals each includes a satellite communication module that is configured to receive the video content data from the satellite gateway via the satellite communication network, a memory that is configured to pre-store the video content data prior to a first video content request of the video content data via a local communication network, and a local communication module that is configured to provide the video content data from the memory in response to the first video content request of the video content data via the local communication network. 
     Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a satellite communication method that includes receiving video content data transmitted automatically based on a predetermined condition via a satellite communication network by a satellite communication terminal disposed at a remote location, pre-storing the video content data in a memory of the satellite communication terminal prior to a first video content request of the video content data via a local communication network, and providing the video content data from the memory in response to the first video content request of the video content data via the local communication network. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Referring now to the attached drawings which form a part of this original disclosure: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an example of a satellite communication system according to one embodiment, illustrating a satellite gateway and satellite communication terminals linked via a satellite communication network; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates further details of the satellite communication system shown in  FIG. 1 , illustrating the satellite communication terminal and a plurality of smart TVs linked via a local communication network; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates further details of the satellite communication system, illustrating detailed configurations of the smart TVs shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a timing chart of overall processes of a satellite communication method performed by the satellite communication system; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a flowchart of processes for the satellite communication method shown in  FIG. 4 , illustrating operations of the satellite communication terminal of the satellite communication system; and 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a flowchart of processes for the satellite communication method shown in  FIG. 4 , illustrating operations of the smart TV of the satellite communication system. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Selected embodiments will now be explained with reference to the drawings. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that the following descriptions of the embodiments are provided for illustration only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 6 , a satellite communication system  10  according to one embodiment will be discussed in detail. With this satellite communication system  10 , a user can select and download desired video content through a satellite communication network, and pre-store the desired video content at a satellite-based internet terminal (e.g., a communication terminal  24 ) at a user location. The user can also enjoy streaming the pre-stored video contents with high resolutions, such as 4K resolution, using stream video applications installed on a plurality of smart TVs (e.g., a plurality of smart TVs  40 ) at the user location. 
     Specifically,  FIG. 1  illustrates an example of the satellite communication system  10  according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the satellite communication system  10  includes a terrestrially mounted gateway  12  (e.g., a satellite gateway), a radio frequency terminal (RFT)  16  and a plurality of communication terminals  24  (e.g., a plurality of satellite communication terminals). The satellite communication system  10  forms a satellite communication network SN in which the gateway  12  and the communication terminals  24  communicate with each other through an orbiting satellite  14 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the gateway  12  includes a transceiver  18  (e.g., a satellite communication module), an electronic controller  20 , a memory  22 , and other types of equipment (not shown) such as amplifiers and so on as understood in the art on which enable communication between the gateway  12  and the communication terminals  24  via the satellite  14 . The memory  22  can be, for example, an internal memory in the gateway  12 , or other type of memory devices such as flash memory or hard drives with external high-speed interface such as a USB bus or an SATA bus, or remote memories such as cloud storage and so on. These other types of memory can be present at the gateway  12  or accessible at a location apart from the gateway  12  via a network connection such as an Ethernet connection, a Wi-Fi connection or any other suitable type of connection as understood in the art. 
     As understood in the art, the controller  20  preferably includes a microcomputer with a control program that controls the gateway  12  as discussed herein. The controller  20  can also include other conventional components such as an input interface circuit, an output interface circuit, and storage devices such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) device and a RAM (Random Access Memory) device. The RAM and ROM store processing results and control programs that are run by the controller  20 . The controller  20  is operatively coupled to the components of the gateway  12  as appropriate, in a conventional manner. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that the precise structure and algorithms for the controller  20  can be any combination of hardware and software that will carry out the functions of the present invention. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the gateway  12  is connected to the RFT  16 . The RFT  16  includes an antenna dish that are mounted on an antenna frame and interconnected to a feed-horn. The feed-horn includes low noise amplifiers and down-converters for amplification and down conversion of the received signal, respectively. The feed-horn directs the transmitted power towards an antenna dish or collects the received power from the antenna dish. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the RFT  16  is located at an RF site that is collocated with the gateway  12 . Specifically, the RFT  16  is collocated with the gateway  12 , and is connected to the gateway  12  through an optical fiber cable or any other suitable type of link as understood in the art. 
     The gateway  12 , the satellite  14  and the communication terminals  24  typically communicate with each other over a radio frequency link, such as a Ku-band link, a Ka-band link or any other suitable type of link as understood in the art, which can generally be referred to as a space link. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the RFT  16  can establish a first space link LA between the satellite  14  and the RFT  16 , while the communication terminals  24  can each establish a second space link LB between the satellite  14  and the communication terminal  24 . With this configuration, the satellite communication network SN formed by the first space link LA and the second space links LB is established between the gateway  12  and the communication terminals  24  through the satellite  14 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the gateway  12  can be configured as a network management center or network operating center which, among other things, operates to communicate with remote sites, such as web content providers  26 , via the Internet  28 , cloud storage, or other terrestrial data networks as understood in the art. With this configuration, the satellite communication system  10  can provide access to the Internet  28  to the users of the communication terminals  24 . 
     The satellite  14  can be any suitable communications satellite for connecting the gateway  12  to the communication terminals  24 . The satellite  14  can use small spot beams to optimize capacity and availability for user terminal and gateway access, with uplink and downlink frequencies reused between spot beams in a pattern to maximize capacity and coverage while minimizing cofrequency interference. The satellite  14  provides a gateway coverage by a gateway spot beam. Also, the satellite  14  provides user terminal coverage by a plurality of user spot beams UB. In the illustrated embodiment, the communication terminals  24  are grouped into a plurality of terminal populations that are covered by the user spot beams UB, respectively. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the communication terminals  24  are each configured as a VSAT. The communication terminals  24  are disposed at remote locations relative to the gateway  12 , respectively. The communication terminals  24  are each typically installed within a house, building or other facility or area. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the communication terminals  24  each typically include an antenna dish  30 , a transceiver  32  (e.g., a satellite communication module), an electronic controller  34 , a memory  36 , a local network module  38  (e.g., a local communication module), and other types of equipment (not shown) such as amplifiers, waveguides and so on as understood in the art on which enable communication between the communication terminal  24  and the gateway  12  via the satellite  14 . The transceiver  32  can include, for example, an integrated satellite modem and any other suitable equipment which enables the transceiver  32  to communicate with the satellite  14  as understood in the art. 
     The controller  34  preferably an electronic controller that includes a microcomputer with a control program that controls the communication terminal  24  as discussed herein. The controller  34  can also include other conventional components such as an input interface circuit, an output interface circuit, and storage devices such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) device and a RAM (Random Access Memory) device. The RAM and ROM store processing results and control programs that are run by the controller  34 . The controller  34  is operatively coupled to the components of the communication terminal  24  as appropriate, in a conventional manner. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that the precise structure and algorithms for the controller  34  can be any combination of hardware and software that will carry out the functions of the present invention. 
     The memory  36  can be, for example, an internal memory in the communication terminal  24 , or other type of memory devices such as a flash memory or hard drives with external high speed interface such as a USB bus or an SATA bus, or remote memories such as cloud storage and so on. These other types of memory can be present at the communication terminal  24  or accessible at a location apart from the communication terminal  24  via a network connection such as an Ethernet connection, a Wi-Fi connection or any other suitable type of connection as understood in the art. 
     The local network module  38  includes a wireless and/or wired network interface controller that connects the communication terminal  24  to external communication devices that are typically disposed within the same house, building or other facility or area as the communication terminal  24 . That is, the communication terminal  24  can connect to the external communication devices via a wireless signal or directly by a wire. In the illustrated embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , such external communication devices include, for example, a plurality of (three in  FIG. 2 ) smart TVs (e.g., display devices). In the illustrated embodiment, the smart TVs  40  are disposed at different locations or rooms, such as a family room, a bedroom, a basement, and the like, within the same house, building or other facility or area as the communication terminal  24 . Thus, in the illustrated embodiment, the plurality of smart TVs  40  are provided for each of the communication terminals  24 . In the illustrated embodiment, the communication terminal  24  can wirelessly communicate with the smart TVs  40  directly or via a mesh node or access point  42 . 
     Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the communication terminal  24  can establish local communication links LC between the communication terminal  24  and the smart TVs  40  directly or via the mesh node  42  to independently communicate with the smart TVs  40 . When the communication terminal  24  is connected to the smart TVs  40  wirelessly, the local communication links LC can be established using Wi-Fi or any other suitable wireless communications. When using Wi-Fi, the local network module  38  can operate using the 802.11 standard using several distinct radio frequency ranges for use in Wi-Fi communications. Of course, alternatively or additionally, the communication terminal  24  can be connected to the smart TVs  40  with a wire. In this case, the local communication links LC can be established using Ethernet or any other suitable wired communications. With this configuration, in the illustrated embodiment, a local communication network LN formed by the local communication links LC is established between the communication terminal  24  and the smart TVs  40 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the communication terminal  24  can further be connected to a user device or terminal RD, such as a smart phone, a tablet, a desktop or laptop computer, as understood in the art, wirelessly or by wire. In the illustrated embodiment, the user device RD, such as a smart phone, can be in wireless communication with the communication terminal  24 . In this case, the user device RD can also establish the local communication link LC between the communication terminal  24  and the user device RD directly or via a mesh node. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the smart TVs  40  are each a network connectable television set with interactive features which allow users to stream video contents, browse the Internet and so forth. Specifically, in the smart TVs  40 , a software application A10 (“HughesNet application”) is preloaded in advance or installed on demand via an app store or marketplace. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the application A10 of the smart TVs  40  includes a stream video application that allows users to find and stream video content (e.g., video content data) that is provided from the content provider  26  through the Internet  28 , the satellite communication network SN and the local communication network LN in a manner similar to the software applications dedicated to video on demand services, such as Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and the like. Furthermore, in the illustrated embodiment, the application A10 of the smart TVs  40  also allows users to find and stream video content that is pre-stored in the memory  36  of the communication terminal  24  and provided from the communication terminal  24  through the local communication network LN, as discussed later. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the smart TVs  40  each typically include an electronic controller  44 , a memory  46 , a local network module  48  (e.g., a local communication module), a display or display panel  50 , a speaker  52 , and so on. 
     The controller  44  preferably includes a microcomputer with a control program that controls the smart TV  40  as discussed herein. The controller  44  can also include other conventional components such as an input interface circuit, an output interface circuit, and storage devices such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) device and a RAM (Random Access Memory) device. The RAM and ROM store processing results and control programs that are run by the controller  44 . The controller  44  is operatively coupled to the components of the smart TV  40  as appropriate, in a conventional manner. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that the precise structure and algorithms for the controller  44  can be any combination of hardware and software that will carry out the functions of the present invention. 
     The memory  46  can be, for example, an internal memory in the smart TV  40 , or other type of memory devices such as a flash memory or hard drives with external high speed interface such as a USB bus or an SATA bus, or remote memories such as cloud storage and so on. These other types of memory can be present at the smart TV  40  or accessible at a location apart from the smart TV  40  via a network connection such as an Ethernet connection, a Wi-Fi connection or any other suitable type of connection as understood in the art. In the illustrated embodiment, the application A10 (“HughesNet application”) is preloaded in advance or installed on demand via an app store or marketplace. 
     The local network module  48  includes a wireless and/or wired network interface controller that connects the smart TV  40  to the communication terminal  24 . In the illustrated embodiment, the local network module  48  can establish the local communication link LC relative to the local network module  38  of the communication terminal  24  wirelessly (e.g., Wi-Fi) or by wire (e.g., Ethernet). In the illustrated embodiment, the local network module  48  wirelessly connects to the communication terminal  24  directly or via the mesh node  42 , for example. 
     The display  50  includes a flat panel display, such as a liquid crystal display, a light-emitting diode display, a plasma display, a quantum dot display, and the like. The display  50  displays images of the video contents that are played back by the application A10. The speaker  50  also outputs sound of the video contents that are played back by the application A10. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 4-6 , operations of the satellite communication system  10  for pre-storing the video contents on the communication terminal  24  and streaming the pre-stored video contents on the smart TVs  40  will be discussed.  FIG. 4  illustrates a timing chart of overall processes for the operations performed by the satellite communication system  10 ,  FIG. 5  illustrates a flowchart of processes for the operations performed by the communication terminal  24 , and  FIG. 6  illustrates a flowchart of processes for the operations performed by the smart TVs  40 . 
     First, when the power of the smart TVs  40  is turned on, then the smart TVs  40  establish the local communication links LC to communicate with the communication terminal  24 , respectively (step S 10 ). Also, when the power of the user device RD is turned on, or the user device RD come within a predetermined range of the communication terminal  24 , then the user device RD establishes the local communication links LC to communicate with the communication terminal  24  (step S 12 ). Then, a user sets up pre-store or real time stream video selection (or a user input for requesting video content) on the communication terminal  24 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the user can set up the pre-store or real time stream video selection using the user device RD. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the user of the user device RD accesses a software application A12 (see  FIG. 2 ) stored in a memory of the user device RD to set up the pre-store or real time stream video selection using a GUI or menu screen displayed on the user device RD. In the illustrated embodiment, the software application A12 can also support an audio control interface function using commercially available artificial intelligent (AI) tools (e.g., Google&#39;s Dialogflow). Thus, the user of the user device RD can also access the software application A12 to set up the pre-store or real time stream video selection using the audio control interface function. Alternatively or additionally, in the illustrated embodiment, the user can also set up the pre-store or real time stream video selection using other devices, such as remotes of the smart TVs  40 . In this case, the user can access the software application A10 stored in the memory  46  of one of the smart TVs  40  using a remote of the one of the smart TVs  40  to set up the pre-store or real time stream video selection using a GUI or menu screen displayed on the display  50  of the one of the smart TVs  40 . 
     Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, when a user wants to watch video content, the user operates the user device RD or the remote of one of the smart TVs  40  to select the video content using a GUI or menu screen displayed on the user device RD using the software application A12 or the display  50  of the one of the smart TVs  40  using the software application A10, and send the pre-store or real time stream video selection of the video content to the one of the smart TVs  40 . Specifically, the software applications A10 and A12 can provide a menu screen including a list of available or accessible video contents or channels by accessing the communication terminal  24  via the local communication network LN. This list of the available video contents can include not only pre-stored video contents that have been pre-stored in the memory  36  of the satellite communication terminal  24 , but also video contents that can be streamed from the content provider  26  in real time. Generally, a smart TV by default can connect to an IP address of a satellite communication terminal directly, but cannot access a memory of the satellite communication terminal without settings of both the smart TV and the satellite communication terminal. On the other hand, with the application software A10 or A12, the smart TVs  40  or the user device RD can access the memory  36  of the satellite communication terminal  24  via the local communication network LN, and stream video contents via the internet stream process. Optionally, the user can also access the software application A12 of the user device RD to send the pre-store or real time stream video selection of the video content to the one of the smart TVs  40  via a wireless connection with the one of the smart TVs  40  (step S 14 ). 
     In response to receiving the pre-store or real time stream video selection of the video content via the local communication network LN, the controller  44  of the one of the smart TVs  40  generates a content request (e.g., a first video content request) of the video content (step S 16 ), and controls the local network module  48  to transmit the content request of the video content to the communication terminal  24  via the local communication network LN (step S 18 ). 
     In response to receiving the content request of the video content via the local communication network LN (step S 19 ), the communication terminal  24  provides the video content to the one of the smart TVs  40  via the local communication network LN (step S 20 ). 
     Specifically, referring to  FIG. 5 , in response to receiving the content request of the video content via the local communication network LN, the controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  determines whether the video content that has been requested is pre-stored in the memory  36  of the communication terminal  24  (step S 22 ). When the video content that has been requested is pre-stored in the memory  36  of the communication terminal  24  (“YES” in step S 22 ), the controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  controls the local network module  38  to provide or stream the video content that has been pre-stored in the memory  36  to the one of the smart TVs  40  via the local communication network LN (step S 24 ). Specifically, in this case, the local network module  38  of the communication terminal  24  provides the video content from the memory  36  to the one of the smart TVs  40  without accessing the satellite communication network SN in response to the content request of the video content via the local communication network LN. Also, in this case, with the communication terminal  24 , the memory  36  pre-stores the video content prior to receiving the content request of the video content from the one of the smart TVs  40 , and the local network module  38  provides the video content from the memory  36  in response to receiving the content request of the video content from the one of the smart TVs  40 . As a result, the user can stream the video content that has been pre-stored in the memory  36  on the one of the smart TVs  40 . 
     On the other hand, when the video content that has been requested is not pre-stored in the memory  36  of the communication terminal  24  (“NO” in step S 22 ), the controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  controls the transceiver  32  to transmit the content request (e.g., a second video content request) of the video content to the content provider  26  through the satellite communication network SN and the Internet  28  (step S 26 ). In response, the content provider  26  transmits the video content indicated by the content request back to the communication terminal  24  via the Internet  28  and the satellite communication network SN, and the transceiver  32  of the communication terminal  24  receives the video content (step S 28 ). In response to receiving the video content, the controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  controls the local network module  38  to transmit the video content to the one of the smart TVs  40  through the local communication network LN (step S 30 ). As a result, the user can stream the video content in real time on the one of the smart TVs  40 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , in response to the communication terminal  24  providing the video content to the one of the smart TVs  40  via the local communication network LN (step S 20 ), the local network module  48  of the one of the smart TVs  40  receives the video content from the communication terminal  24  via the local communication network LN (step S 32 ), and the controller  44  of the one of the smart TVs  40  plays back the received video content, and outputs video and sound of the received video content from the display  50  and the speaker  52  of the one of the smart TVs  40 , respectively (step S 34 ). In the illustrated embodiment, these processes are independently performed by the smart TVs  40  whose users request the video content. Also, the smart TVs  40  can independently and simultaneously receive the desired video content from the communication terminal  24  via the local communication network LN. In other words, the communication terminal  24  can independently and simultaneously multicast the desired video content to the smart TVs  40 , respectively, in response to content requests from the smart TVs  40 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, as mentioned above, the communication terminals  24  can pre-store video contents that have been broadcasted by the gateway  12  via the satellite communication network SN. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the gateway  12  can automatically find popular video contents using an artificial intelligent (AI) function and feedback from the communication terminals  24 , and broadcast the popular video contents via the satellite communication network SN. Referring further to  FIGS. 4-6 , these processes will be described in detail. 
     As mentioned above, in the illustrated embodiment, the gateway  12  can receive content requests of video contents that are transmitted from the communication terminals  24  (step S 26  in  FIG. 5 , for example). The controller  20  of the gateway  12  continuously stores the content requests in a database stored in the memory  22  of the gateway  12  to analyze the content requests using the AI function. Specifically, the controller  20  of the gateway  12  analyzes the content requests to determine a popularity condition related to video contents, for example. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the term “popularity condition” generally refers to an indication of the popularity of specific video content, the popularity of series of video contents, the popularity of channels or genres of video contents, for example. For instance, the term “popularity condition” can refer to a number of content requests for specific video contents, for series of video contents, or for channels or genres of video contents. In the illustrated embodiment, the popularity condition is stored in the database stored in the memory  22  in association with each user, and is continuously and periodically updated. 
     Furthermore, in the illustrated embodiment, the user can set up a pre-storing setting (e.g., a user input or setting) for pre-storing video contents. Specifically, the user can access the software application A12 of the user device RD to set up the pre-storing setting. More specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the user can access the software application A12 to select and set up specific video contents, series of video contents, channels or genres of video contents for pre-storing, for example. In response to this user input, the software application A12 sends the pre-storing setting indicative of specific video contents, series of video contents, channels or genres of video contents for pre-storing, for example, to the communication terminal  24  via the local communication network LN (step S 40 ). Of course, alternatively or additionally, the user can also set up the pre-storing setting by accessing the software application A10 using a remote of one of the smart TVs  40 , and the software application A10 can send the pre-storing setting to the communication terminal  24  via the local communication network LN. 
     In response to receiving the pre-storing setting via the local communication network LN, the controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  stores the pre-storing setting in the memory  36  (step S 42 ). In the illustrated embodiment, the controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  can also control the transceiver  32  to transmit the pre-storing setting with user information of the communication terminal  24  to the gateway  12  via the satellite communication network SN (step S 44 ). These processes are independently performed by each of the communication terminals  24 . 
     In response, the gateway  12  receives the pre-storing setting via the satellite communication network SN. The controller  20  of the gateway  12  continuously stores the pre-storing setting in the database stored in the memory  22  to analyze the pre-storing setting using the AI function. Specifically, the controller  20  of the gateway  12  analyzes the pre-storing setting to determine or update the popularity condition of video contents, for example. 
     As mentioned above, in the illustrated embodiment, the gateway  12  can be managed by the AI function to analyze the content requests from the communication terminals  24 , as well as broadcast popular video contents that have been chosen based on the popularity condition to users of the communication terminals  24  who have chosen or set up the same or similar video contents for pre-storing to avoid repetitive data transmissions to multiple users. 
     Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the controller  20  of the gateway automatically finds popular video contents with the AI analysis (step S 46 ). In particular, the controller  20  of the gateway  12  automatically finds popular video contents based on the popularity condition from among available video contents that is available from the content provider  26  via the Internet  28 . More specifically, the controller  20  of the gateway  12  automatically searches available video contents that meet with the popularity condition as the popular video contents. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the controller  20  of the gateway  12  searches, based on the popularity condition, available video contents which have been requested more than a predetermined number of times, whose series have been requested more than a predetermined number of times, or whose channels or genres have been requested more than a predetermined number of times, and determines the available video contents as the popular video contents. In the illustrated embodiment, in addition to this AI analysis, the controller  20  of the gateway  12  can also find the popular video contents based on feedbacks of video contents from the communication terminals  24 . 
     Then, the gateway  12  broadcasts the popular video contents to the communication terminals  24  via the satellite communication network SN (step S 48 ). In the illustrated embodiment, the gateway  12  broadcasts the popular video contents using a conditional access system (CAS), which allows the users of the communication terminals  24  who have chosen or set up the same or similar video contents for pre-storing to receive and pre-store the popular video contents. 
     In particular, in the illustrated embodiment, in response to finding the popular video contents, the controller  20  of the gateway  12  obtains the popular video contents from the content provider  26  via the Internet  28 , and stores the popular video contents in the memory  22 . The controller  20  also analyzes the user information included in the pre-storing setting, scrambles or encrypts the popular video contents by using the user information or a master key associated with the user information, and controls the transceiver  18  to transmit or broadcast the encrypted video contents via the satellite communication network SN when a prescheduled delivery time of the video contents has reached. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment, the gateway  12  can wait until there are many users who have chosen or set up the same or similar video contents for pre-storing for improving overall satellite efficiency by broadcasting the same video content to as many users as possible at the same time. 
     The transceiver  32  of the communication terminal  24  receives the encrypted video contents from the gateway  12  via the satellite communication network SN (step S 50 ). In other words, the transceiver  32  receives the encrypted video contents from the gateway  12  via the satellite communication network SN in response or after transmitting the pre-storing setting to the gateway  12  via the satellite communication network SN. When the communication terminal  24  receives the encrypted video contents via the satellite communication network SN, the controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  decrypts the encrypted video contents with the user information or the master key, and pre-stores the video contents in the memory  36  of the communication terminal  24  (step S 52 ). These processes are also independently performed by each of the communication terminals  24  whose users set up the pre-store or real time stream video selection of the same or similar video contents. Thus, the transceivers  32  of the communication terminals  24  can simultaneously receive the video contents from the gateway  12  via the satellite communication network SN. Also, the memories  36  of the communication terminals  24  can pre-store the same video contents that have been simultaneously received from the gateway  12  via the satellite communication network SN. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the memory  36  of the communication terminal  24  sequentially records (pre-stores) video contents that have been broadcasted from the gateway  12 . Since the memory space of the memory  36  is limited, the controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  manages the memory space of the memory  36  periodically or when needed. Specifically, to prevent the memory  36  from becoming full of the pre-stored video contents, the controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  determines video contents to be deleted using machine learning function analysis to open up the memory space for newly pre-stored video contents. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  analyzes the pre-storing setting stored in the memory  36  using machine learning function analysis, for example, to determine the user&#39;s current interests or preferences of video contents. For example, the controller  34  gives priority to the pre-storing setting, such as specific video contents, specific series of video contents, channels and genres of video contents, using the machine learning function analysis. Then, the controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  automatically deletes video contents having lower priorities from the memory  36  such that the memory  36  only keeps video contents in which the user currently has interests (e.g., video contents having higher priorities). The controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  can update periodically (e.g., every day) or when needed (e.g., when the memory  36  becomes full). 
     Optionally, when video content is newly pre-stored in the memory  36  of the communication terminal  24 , the controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  can notify the user that new video content has been pre-stored in the communication terminal  24  (step S 54 ). Specifically, the controller  34  of the communication terminal  24  can control the local network module  38  to send the notification to the user device RD or the smart TVs  40  via the local communication network LN. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the gateway  12  can simultaneously broadcast the same video content to the communication terminals  24 . Thus, along with improving normal internet access speed and satellite-based stream video quality, the satellite data traffic and the customer data usage can be reduced by avoiding repeatedly and independently sending the same video content to each of the communication terminals  24 , and thus overall satellite efficiency and satellite service quality can also be improved. 
     Furthermore, in the illustrated embodiment, the communication terminals  24  can obtain the video content that has been broadcasted by the gateway  12  via the satellite communication network SN, and pre-store the video content in the memories  36  of the communication terminals  24 . Generally, satellite-based internet providers do not directly support smart TV stream video application, and have difficulty in supporting 4K TV stream videos due to the high-speed requirement for the 4K TV steam videos. However, in the illustrated embodiment, even if the bandwidth of the satellite communication network SN are not large enough for streaming the high-quality video contents in real time, the high-quality video contents can be downloaded in advance via the satellite communication network SN by scheduling the broadcast of the high-quality video contents from the gateway  12  on a time period in which the satellite data traffic is not busy or by downloading the high-quality video contents in background, for example. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment, the users of the satellite-based communication terminals  24  can enjoy the high-quality video contents having 4K or higher resolution, which are originally provided by the content provider  26  via the Internet  28  and the satellite communication network SN. 
     Also, in the illustrated embodiment, the software application A10 that runs on the smart TVs  40  can support video contents having 4K or higher resolution, and stream the video contents having 4K or higher resolution that have been pre-stored in the communication terminal  24 . Thus, the stream video quality played by multiple smart TVs  40  can be improved up to 4K or higher resolution. 
     Also, in the illustrated embodiment, the communication terminal  24  can directly support multiple smart TVs  40  without using an externally connected streaming video receiver for each smart TV  40 . Specifically, the video contents can be pre-stored in the communication terminal  24  and played on the multiple smart TVs  40  without the need for other dedicated streaming video receivers, such as Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Android boxes, and the like. In particular, in the illustrated embodiment, the video contents can be sent to the multiple smart TVs  40  directly from the communication terminal  24 . Thus, the communication terminal  24  can be used to stream to the multiple smart TVs  40  without using dedicated streaming video receivers that are plugged into the smart TVs  40 . Generally, when users want to watch streaming video contents on multiple smart TVs, then the users need to have a dedicated streaming receiver for each smart TV. Also, such dedicated streaming receivers typically do not support pre-storing of video contents that have received via the satellite communication network. On the other hand, in the illustrated embodiment, users can save money from not having to purchase separate streaming receivers. Also, in the illustrated embodiment, users can directly enjoy pre-stored video contents that have received via the satellite communication network SN on the multiple smart TVs  40 . 
     GENERAL INTERPRETATION OF TERMS 
     In understanding the scope of the present invention, the term “comprising” and its derivatives, as used herein, are intended to be open ended terms that specify the presence of the stated features, elements, components, groups, and/or steps, but do not exclude the presence of other unstated features, elements, components, groups, integers and/or steps. The foregoing also applies to words having similar meanings such as the terms, “including”, “having” and their derivatives. Also, the terms “part,” “section,” or “element” when used in the singular can have the dual meaning of a single part or a plurality of parts. 
     The term “detect” as used herein to describe an operation or function carried out by a component, a section, a device or the like includes a component, a section, a device or the like that does not require physical detection, but rather includes determining, measuring, modeling, predicting or computing or the like to carry out the operation or function. 
     The term “configured” as used herein to describe a component, section or part of a device includes hardware and/or software that is constructed and/or programmed to carry out the desired function. 
     While only selected embodiments have been chosen to illustrate the present invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, the size, shape, location or orientation of the various components can be changed as needed and/or desired. Components that are shown directly connected or contacting each other can have intermediate structures disposed between them. The functions of one element can be performed by two, and vice versa. The structures and functions of one embodiment can be adopted in another embodiment. It is not necessary for all advantages to be present in a particular embodiment at the same time. Every feature which is unique from the prior art, alone or in combination with other features, also should be considered a separate description of further inventions by the applicant, including the structural and/or functional concepts embodied by such features. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of the embodiments according to the present invention are provided for illustration only, and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.