Patent ID: 7447501

Claim:
A satellite radiotelephone system comprising: a space-based component that is configured to receive wireless communications from a plurality of first radiotelephones in a satellite footprint over a satellite radiotelephone frequency band; an ancillary terrestrial network that is configured to receive/transmit wireless communications from/to a plurality of second radiotelephones in the satellite footprint over the satellite radiotelephone frequency band, the space-based component also receiving the wireless communications from the second radiotelephones and/or the ancillary terrestrial network in the satellite footprint over the satellite radiotelephone frequency band as interference along with the wireless communications that are received from the first radiotelephones in the satellite footprint over the satellite radiotelephone frequency band; and an interference reducer that is responsive to the space-based component and to the ancillary terrestrial network, and that is configured to reduce the interference in the wireless communications that are received by the space-based component from the first radiotelephones in the satellite footprint over the satellite radiotelephone frequency band, using the wireless communications that are received by the ancillary terrestrial network from selected ones of the second radiotelephones in the satellite footprint over the satellite radiotelephone frequency band and/or the wireless communications that are transmitted by the ancillary terrestrial network to at least some of the second radiotelephones, wherein the second radiotelephones are closer to the ancillary terrestrial network than to the space-based component such that the wireless communications from the second radiotelephones are received by the ancillary terrestrial network prior to reception by the space based component, and wherein the interference reducer is configured to generate at least one delayed replica of the wireless communications from the selected ones of the second radiotelephones that are received by the ancillary terrestrial network and/or at least one delayed replica of the wireless communications that are transmitted by the ancillary terrestrial network to at least some of the second radiotelephones and to subtract the delayed replica(s) of the wireless communications from the wireless communications that are received from the space-based component.