Patent ID: 8081968

Claim:
A system for providing individual ground-based Access Network IP addresses to a plurality of passenger wireless devices which are located onboard an aircraft when said aircraft is in flight, comprising: an aircraft network , located in an aircraft, for generating radio frequency communication signals to wirelessly communicate, in a packet-switched mode, with a plurality of passenger wireless devices located in said aircraft; a ground-based Access Network , having a single IP address, for exchanging communication signals with at least one ground-based packet-switched communication network; an Air-To-Ground network for the bidirectional exchange of packet-switched radio frequency communications on a single physical communication link between said aircraft network and said ground-based Access Network when said aircraft is in flight; wherein said aircraft network comprises: an IP address assignment for assigning a unique IP address on said aircraft network for each of said passenger wireless devices on the aircraft, a data concentrator, located on said aircraft, for converting the subscriber packet data traffic received from said plurality of passenger wireless devices located in said aircraft to at least one packet-switched aggregate data stream; wherein said Air-To-Ground network comprises: an IP Tunnel for supporting the unique IP addresses of the passenger wireless devices on said aircraft network in said bidirectional packet-switched radio frequency communications between said aircraft network and said ground-based Access Network when said aircraft is in flight, comprising at least one of: a Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol for establishing a router-to-router Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection between the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) located in the ground-based Access Network and the Air-To-Ground modem located in the aircraft, a Layer 3 Tunneling Protocol for terminating the IP Tunnel just before the Air-To-Ground Modem on the aircraft and just after the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) on the ground, and an aircraft-based NAT, located onboard the aircraft, for mapping the passenger wireless device IP address to an IP address and an ethereal source port that is unique for the particular passenger wireless device; and a data concentrator for converting the subscriber traffic and signaling channels received from said corresponding ground-based communications network to at least one aggregate data stream for transmission to said aircraft network via said IP Tunnel when said aircraft is in flight.