US 12,244,398 B2
Satellite communication system, earth station device and line switching control method
Masaki Shima, Musashino (JP); Fumihiro Yamashita, Musashino (JP); Hiroki Shibayama, Musashino (JP); Kiyohiko Itokawa, Musashino (JP); Mitsuru Nishino, Musashino (JP); and Koichi Harada, Musashino (JP)
Assigned to NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION, Tokyo (JP)
Appl. No. 17/801,355
Filed by NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION, Tokyo (JP)
PCT Filed Feb. 26, 2020, PCT No. PCT/JP2020/007767
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 22, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/171424, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 2, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0072278 A1, Mar. 9, 2023
Int. Cl. H04B 7/185 (2006.01)
CPC H04B 7/18517 (2013.01) [H04B 7/18513 (2013.01)] 5 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A satellite communication system comprising:
a plurality of earth station apparatuses each comprising at least one processor; and
a control earth station apparatus comprising at least one processor,
the plurality of earth station apparatuses each accommodating a corresponding terminal apparatus of a plurality of terminal apparatuses each of which establishes a session by using one or more control messages being dedicated to perform communication, the control earth station apparatus performing at least one of transmitting or receiving one or more control signals on one or more controlling lines to a corresponding earth station apparatus of the plurality of earth station apparatuses via a relay satellite, and the satellite communication system performing circuit-switching of one or more communicating lines between the plurality of earth station apparatuses that are connected by single-hop connection to allow the plurality of the terminal apparatuses to perform communication with each other,
wherein a first earth station apparatus accommodating a first terminal apparatus on an outgoing side among the plurality of earth station apparatuses is configured to:
encapsulate, using the at least one processor, a first control message of the one or more control messages received from the first terminal apparatus in a first control signal of the one or more control signals to transfer the first control signal including the encapsulated first control message through a first controlling line of the one or more controlling lines to a second earth station apparatus accommodating a second terminal apparatus on an incoming side among the plurality of earth station apparatuses; and
perform, using the at least one processor, circuit-switching of the first communicating line between the first earth station apparatus and the second earth station apparatus in accordance with the first control message;
wherein the first earth station apparatus is configured to:
include a table in which a piece of information of the second earth station apparatus of the plurality of earth station apparatuses is associated with a first transmission frequency that is fixed and pre-assigned for the second earth station apparatus to perform communication on the first communicating line using the first transmission frequency;
extract, from the table and using the at least one processor, another piece of information of the second earth station apparatus of the plurality of earth station apparatuses accommodating the second terminal apparatus as a transmission destination of the first control message received from the first terminal apparatus that the first earth station apparatus accommodates;
acquire, from the table and using the at least one processor, the first transmission frequency for the first communicating line of the second earth station apparatus; and
change, using the at least one processor, a reception frequency for the first communicating line of the first earth station apparatus to be identical to the acquired first transmission frequency for the first communicating line of the second earth station apparatus to perform the circuit-switching of the first communicating line.