Patent ID: 8340663

Claim:
A method of ground station signal handoff for an aircraft, the method comprising: receiving signal quality data and position data from each of a plurality of ground stations as a signal from each of the ground stations becomes detectable onboard the aircraft, while the aircraft is in communication with an active ground station; determining a position of the aircraft each time a signal quality from one of the ground stations reaches a predetermined threshold indicating that the signal quality is suitable for handoff; identifying a set of ground stations potentially suitable for handoff based on their signal quality data when an insufficient signal quality of the active ground station is detected; evaluating the set of potentially suitable ground stations based on their position and signal quality, and a trajectory or speed vector of the aircraft, to determine an optimal ground station for handoff, wherein evaluating the set of potentially suitable ground stations comprises: determining a signal radius for each of the potentially suitable ground stations based on their position and the position of the aircraft when the signal quality of each potentially suitable ground station reaches the predetermined threshold; determining an outermost point of the signal radius for each of the potentially suitable ground stations along the trajectory or speed vector of the aircraft where the ground station signal has sufficient quality for handoff; determining which outermost point of the signal radius for each of the potentially suitable ground stations is located farthest from a current position of the aircraft; and selecting the ground station for handoff that has the outermost point of the signal radius located farthest from the current position of the aircraft; and transmitting a handoff request to the optimal ground station.