Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Spidercloud Wireless, Inc.

Corning Optical Communications LLC

Darshan Purohit

Peter J Worters

Yashodhan A Dandekar

Chen Chen

Phillip E Barber

Pavel Chikulaev

David Sacks

Vladimir Skuratovich

Andrei Pushkin

Sergii Ziuzin

Systems, methods, and non-transitory media are provided for low latency handovers. An example method can include receiving, by a user terminal associated with a cell served by a satellite, a schedule of communications between the user terminal and one or more satellites, wherein the one or more satellites comprises the satellite and a different satellite, and wherein the schedule of communications is obtained by the user terminal from the satellite; requesting, based on the schedule, a handover from a beam of the satellite to a different beam of one of the satellite or the different satellite; performing the handover from the beam of the satellite to the different beam of the one of the satellite or the different satellite; and after the handover, transmitting, by the user terminal, one or more packets via the different beam of the one of the satellite or the different satellite.

Low latency schedule-driven handovers

In an embodiment, a user terminal includes a communication module (CM) configured to generate an initial network entry request; an antenna assembly configured to find, in response to the initial network entry request, a satellite based on a search of a sky. The search of the sky includes sequentially changing a beam pointing direction of the antenna assembly. The satellite is assigned to downlink to a geographic cell associated with the user terminal. The user terminal includes a media access control (MAC) layer component configured to generate an uplink radio frame including a random access channel (RACH) request associated with the initial network entry request at a particular portion of the uplink radio frame for the satellite.

Initial network entry to a communications system

Systems, methods, and non-transitory media are provided for low latency handovers. An example method can include receiving, by a satellite, a schedule of communications between the satellite and one or more gateways; requesting, based on the schedule, a handover from a link between the satellite and a gateway to a different link between the satellite and the gateway or a different gateway; prior to a completion of the handover, processing packets bicasted over the link between the satellite and the gateway and the different link between the satellite and the gateway or the different gateway; performing the handover from the link between the satellite and the gateway to the different link between the satellite and the gateway or the different gateway; and after the handover, transmitting, by the satellite, one or more packets via the different link between the satellite and the gateway or the different gateway.

In an embodiment, a user terminal includes a connection manager component configured to generate an initial network entry request; an antenna assembly communicatively coupled to the connection manager and configured, in response to the initial network entry request, to find a satellite based on a search of a sky, wherein the satellite comprises a satellite assigned to downlink to a geographic cell associated with the user terminal; and a media access control (MAC) layer component communicatively coupled to the connection manager, the MAC layer component configured to generate an uplink radio frame including a random access channel (RACH) request associated with the initial network entry request at a particular portion of the uplink radio frame for the satellite, wherein the particular portion is selected by the MAC layer component from among a plurality of portions of the uplink radio frame.

Systems, methods, and non-transitory media are provided for low latency handovers. An example method can include receiving, by a user terminal associated with a cell served by a satellite, a schedule of communications between the user terminal and one or more satellites; requesting, based on the schedule, a handover from a beam of the satellite to a different beam of one of the satellite or a different satellite; processing packets transmitted over the beam of the satellite and/or the different beam of the one of the satellite or the different satellite; performing the handover from the beam of the satellite to the different beam of the one of the satellite or the different satellite; and after the handover, transmitting, by the user terminal, one or more packets via the different beam of the one of the satellite or the different satellite.

A method for upgrading an access controller that controls and coordinates a plurality of radio nodes (RNs) each associated with a cell in a cluster of cells belonging to a radio access network includes initializing a new access controller. The new access controller is to replace a current access controller currently controlling and coordinating the plurality of RNs cell in the cluster. A most lightly loaded one of the plurality of RNs is identified. All UEs currently attached to the identified RN is caused to be handed off to a neighboring cell in the cluster. After all the UEs have been handed-off from the identified RN, the identified RN is rebooted so that it is being controlled and coordinated by the new access controller. The steps of causing the UEs to be handed-off and rebooting the identified RN are repeated for a second one of the plurality of RNs.

Hitless software upgrade for a virtualized gateway coordinating multiple small cell radio access networks

Systems and methods are provided for resolving Primary Scrambling Code (PSC) ambiguity. A radio link having the same PSC as that reported by user equipment (UE) may be created on some or all internal cells which are chosen based on radio frequency (RF) proximity to a serving cell of the UE or one or more iterations of a PSC resolution set selection process. If the UE is reporting the PSC of one of these cells, the UE and a Node Bs will be able to successfully complete a synchronization procedure to add one of the radio links to the UE's active set, while any remaining created radio links can be deleted. After a certain number of successful radio link additions, the combination of the PSC and active set may be considered to be resolved, therefore, negating a need to resolve the PSC in subsequent soft handover requests.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Darshan Purohit