Patents Assigned to Smartsky Networks LLC
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Patent number: 12272251Abstract: An advisory module may include processing circuitry configured to receive data indicative of internal factors and external factors related to route optimization of a combined route of a subject. The combined route may include an air segment and a ground segment, and at least some of the external factors may include dynamic parameters that are changeable while the air segment or ground segment is being transited by the subject to a ground objective. The processing circuitry may be further configured to generate a guidance option to deliver the subject to the ground objective based on integration of the internal factors and the external factors to optimize a route to the ground objective, and provide a graphical representation of the guidance option along with comparative data or context information associated with the route.Type: GrantFiled: November 3, 2020Date of Patent: April 8, 2025Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventor: Bruce Holmes
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Patent number: 12267755Abstract: A system for providing services to remote airports includes a backbone network, an antenna assembly and a remote services module. The backbone network operates using first assigned RF spectrum and is configured to provide backhaul services and network control to operably couple one or more base stations of the backbone network to the Internet. The antenna assembly is disposed at a remote airport to define an airport cell and is configured to communicate wirelessly with an aircraft located in the airport cell via second assigned RF spectrum. The antenna assembly is operably coupled to the backbone network for backhaul to the Internet or an intranet. The remote services module is accessible by the aircraft both in flight and on the ground within the airport cell via the antenna assembly. The remote services module includes processing circuitry configuring the remote services module to provide the aircraft with access to obtain airside or landside services associated with the remote airport.Type: GrantFiled: July 9, 2020Date of Patent: April 1, 2025Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventors: Bruce J. Holmes, Elbert Stanford Eskridge, Jr., James Evans Ladd, Jr.
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Patent number: 12231918Abstract: Aspects described herein relate to a network for providing air-to-ground wireless communication in various cells. The network includes a first base station array, each base station of which includes a respective first antenna array defining a directional radiation pattern that is oriented in a first direction, wherein each base station of the first base station array is disposed spaced apart from another base station of the first base station array along the first direction by a first distance. The network also includes a similar second base station array where the second base station array extends substantially parallel to the first base station array and is spaced apart from the first base station array by a second distance to form continuous and at least partially overlapping cell coverage areas between respective base stations of the first and second base station arrays.Type: GrantFiled: December 4, 2023Date of Patent: February 18, 2025Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventor: Douglas Hyslop
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Patent number: 12223843Abstract: An aviation advisory module may include processing circuitry configured to receive data indicative of internal factors and external factors related to route optimization of an aircraft. At least some of the external factors may include dynamic parameters that are changeable while the aircraft is in-flight. The processing circuitry may also be configured to generate a guidance output associated with a route of the aircraft based on integration of the internal factors and the external factors to optimize the route for a user-selected cost parameter, and provide a graphical representation of the guidance output along with comparative data or context information associated with the user-selected cost parameter.Type: GrantFiled: August 26, 2020Date of Patent: February 11, 2025Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventor: Bruce J. Holmes
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Patent number: 12218740Abstract: An air-to-ground communications system includes at least one base station to be positioned on the ground and including a ground-based transceiver, a phased array antenna coupled to the ground-based transceiver, and a beamforming network coupled to the ground-based transceiver. The ground-based transceiver is configured to provide data traffic and control information to an aircraft. The beamforming network is configured to simultaneously generate at least one narrow antenna beam for the data traffic and at least one wide beam for the control information.Type: GrantFiled: December 15, 2021Date of Patent: February 4, 2025Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventors: Christopher D. Moffatt, Kevin Carl Gustke
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Patent number: 12200061Abstract: An information manager may include processing circuitry configured to receive dynamic aircraft information associated with operation of an in-flight aircraft, receive a message from a communication device on the in-flight aircraft for transmission to a ground based content server via a wireless communication network capable of communicating with in-flight assets, and generate an aviation cookie for communication to the content server along with the message. The aviation cookie may be generated based on the dynamic aircraft information and may enable the content server to generate content based at least in part on the dynamic aircraft information.Type: GrantFiled: July 10, 2023Date of Patent: January 14, 2025Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventors: Ryan M. Stone, Blane E. Rockafellow, Elbert Stanford Eskridge, Jr.
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Patent number: 12155453Abstract: A network analytics control module may include processing circuitry configured to receive three dimensional location information and corresponding signal quality information for a particular asset in an air-to-ground (ATG) network, make a service quality inference for the particular asset based at least in part on the received information, and provide an instruction for a network control activity based on the service quality inference.Type: GrantFiled: August 14, 2023Date of Patent: November 26, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventors: David Claassen, Douglas Hyslop
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Patent number: 12101168Abstract: A network for providing high speed data communications may include multiple terrestrial transmission stations that are located within overlapping communications range and a mobile receiver station. The terrestrial transmission stations provide a continuous and uninterrupted high speed data communications link with the mobile receiver station employing a wireless radio access network protocol.Type: GrantFiled: March 19, 2024Date of Patent: September 24, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventor: Donald Alcorn
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Patent number: 12028803Abstract: An aggregation router for an aircraft may include processing circuitry. The processing circuitry may be configured to receive a first channel from a first airborne radio, and receive a second channel from a second airborne radio. The first and second channels may be WAN connections to wireless communication network resources on the ground. The processing circuitry may be further configured to aggregate the first and second channels for service to LAN connections on the aircraft, which LAN connections may include one or more short range wireless communication access points.Type: GrantFiled: November 16, 2020Date of Patent: July 2, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventor: Wayne E. Olson
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Patent number: 12009881Abstract: An air to ground (ATG) communication system testing platform may be configured to operably couple a base station to an aircraft base radio in a lab environment. The testing platform may include a position simulator and a channel simulator. The position simulator may be configured to generate simulated aircraft position information and communicate the simulated aircraft position information to an aircraft base radio and a base band unit of the base station. The channel simulator may operably couple a remote radio head of the base station to the aircraft base radio, and may be configured to emulate channel conditions with respect to transmission of signaling generated by the remote radio head for communication to the aircraft base radio based on the emulated channel conditions.Type: GrantFiled: April 30, 2021Date of Patent: June 11, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventors: Praveen Palreddy, Mohammed Elabd, Richard Canning, David Claassen
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Patent number: 11996627Abstract: An antenna assembly includes a plurality of active antenna elements disposed in a first linear array along a reference line and equidistant from each adjacent antenna element by a first linear distance, and a plurality of passive antenna elements disposed in a second linear array extending parallel to the reference line such that each passive antenna element is a second linear distance away from a corresponding one of the active antenna elements. The antenna assembly includes or is operably coupled to a phase control module configured to apply selected phase fronts to selected ones of the antenna elements to generate constructive and destructive interference patterns to define a directive beam in a desired direction in a range between about 0 and 180 degrees relative to the reference line.Type: GrantFiled: November 22, 2019Date of Patent: May 28, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventors: Gerard James Hayes, Koichiro Takamizawa, James O. Legvold, Elbert Stanford Eskridge, Jr., Mike Barts, John Swartz
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Patent number: 11990971Abstract: A system may include an access network comprising at least two base stations configured to communicate with a wireless communication device via dynamically steerable or formable beams, a resource manager disposed at a location accessible via the access network or at the wireless communication device, and an experience tester configured to determine a qualitative assessment of capabilities of the access network relative to different categories of services or applications for the wireless communication device via a first beam formed or selected to serve the communication device. The resource manager may be configured to initiate a handover based on both location-based criteria and user experience based criteria. The user experience based criteria may be associated with the qualitative assessment.Type: GrantFiled: April 23, 2020Date of Patent: May 21, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventor: Ryan Stone, Jr.
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Patent number: 11968026Abstract: A network for providing high speed data communications may include multiple terrestrial transmission stations that are located within overlapping communications range and a mobile receiver station. The terrestrial transmission stations provide a continuous and uninterrupted high speed data communications link with the mobile receiver station employing a wireless radio access network protocol.Type: GrantFiled: October 30, 2023Date of Patent: April 23, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventor: Donald Alcorn
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Patent number: 11955018Abstract: Disclosed are algorithms and agent-based structures for a system and technique for analyzing and managing the airspace. The technique includes managing bulk properties of large numbers of heterogeneous multidimensional aircraft trajectories in an airspace, for the purpose of maintaining or increasing system safety, and to identify possible phase transition structures to predict when an airspace will approach the limits of its capacity. The paths of the multidimensional aircraft trajectories are continuously recalculated in the presence of changing conditions (traffic, exclusionary airspace, weather, for example) while optimizing performance measures and performing trajectory conflict detection and resolution. Such trajectories are represented as extended objects endowed with pseudo-potential, maintaining objectives for time, acceleration limits, and fuel-efficient paths by bending just enough to accommodate separation.Type: GrantFiled: April 20, 2020Date of Patent: April 9, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventors: Bruce K. Sawhill, James W. Herriot, Bruce J. Holmes
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Patent number: 11930373Abstract: A spectral mapping module may include processing circuitry configured to receive spectral activity information from one or more assets that have flown through an area. The spectral activity information may be associated with location information indicating a respective location at which each portion of the spectral activity information was obtained. The processing circuitry may be further configured to associate the spectral activity information with respective volumetric elements that are each associated with respective portions of the area, determine spectral activity indicators for each of the respective volumetric elements that has spectral activity information associated therewith, and generate display data including the spectral activity indicators.Type: GrantFiled: January 7, 2022Date of Patent: March 12, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventors: Paul Sameit, Koichiro Takamizawa
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Patent number: 11923955Abstract: A unified radio system for providing wireless communication to a communication device on an aircraft regardless of aircraft altitude may include a terrestrial network including a plurality of terrestrial base stations configured to communicate primarily in a ground communication layer below a first altitude, an ATG network including a plurality of ATG base stations configured to communicate primarily in an ATG communication layer above a second altitude, an air-to-air mesh network for data relays through connected aircraft, and an aircraft with an onboard antenna assembly and a unified radio. The unified radio may be configured to monitor network parameters of the terrestrial network and the ATG network and switch between a currently serving network and a non-serving network based on the network parameters.Type: GrantFiled: April 23, 2020Date of Patent: March 5, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventors: Elbert Stanford Eskridge, Jr., Bruce J. Holmes, Gerard James Hayes, James Evans Ladd, Jr.
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Patent number: 11899118Abstract: A global positioning system (GPS) receiver may include an antenna configured to receive GPS signals from GPS satellites, a radio frequency (RF) front end configured to pre-process signals received by the antenna, a demodulator/converter configured to perform demodulation and analog-to-digital conversion of output signals received from the RF front end, a clock configured to provide a consistent clock signal, and a digital signal processor configured to receive the clock signal and make time and code measurements associated with determining a location of the GPS receiver based on the signals received by the antenna. The GPS receiver may be configured to eliminate reflected or indirect signals from the time and code measurements.Type: GrantFiled: July 8, 2022Date of Patent: February 13, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventors: Gerard James Hayes, Koichiro Takamizawa, Douglas Hyslop
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Patent number: 11893566Abstract: An aerospace commerce exchange system may include a network, a plurality of clients operably coupled to the network, and an aerospace commerce exchange platform operably coupled to the network to provide exchange services to the clients. At least one of the clients may be operably coupled to the aerospace commerce exchange platform via an air-to-ground wireless communication link or satellite link (or other links with which an aircraft may be associated) to provide or receive data associated with at least one of the exchange services.Type: GrantFiled: December 9, 2020Date of Patent: February 6, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventors: Ryan Mitchell Stone, Blane Edward Rockafellow, Bryan S. Trainum, Charles Jason Rinker
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Patent number: 11889371Abstract: A method for performing seamless relocation of a mobile terminal in a wireless network includes selecting a first serving gateway (SGW) among a plurality of SGWs and a first packet data network gateway (PGW) among a plurality of PGWs, wherein the first SGW connects to the first PGW to setup the first S5 session, establishing a first communication channel between the terminal and the first PGW and assigning an internet protocol (IP) address to the terminal, selecting a second SGW among the plurality of SGWs when the terminal is about to move out of an area being served by the first SGW, connecting the second SGW to the second PGW to setup a new S5 session when a second PGW among the plurality of PGWs is closer to the second SGW than the first PGW or connecting the second SGW to the first PGW to modify the first S5 session when no PGW is closer to the second SGW than the first PGW, establishing a second communication channel between the terminal and the second SGW using the IP address allocated to the terminal,Type: GrantFiled: March 1, 2022Date of Patent: January 30, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventors: David Aaron Claassen, Lei Wang
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Patent number: 11882627Abstract: A context awareness engine may include processing circuitry configured to receive a context update request from a content provider for an originator of a content request from a source internet protocol (IP) address associated with a dynamic context, determine updated context information for the originator based on the source IP address, and provide the updated context information to the content provider to enable the content provider to provide a response to the content request including requested content or additional content that is based on the updated context information.Type: GrantFiled: June 9, 2022Date of Patent: January 23, 2024Assignee: SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLCInventors: Richard Pilock, Blane Rockafellow, Bryan S. Trainum, Brian Rudloff, Michael Spencer Toedtli, Thomas Dale Gahagen