US 12,081,311 B1
Communication scheduler
Shahram Talakoub, San Jose, CA (US); and Sebastian B. Seeber, San Francisco, CA (US)
Assigned to Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed by Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed on Sep. 23, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/483,665.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/223,826, filed on Jul. 20, 2021.
Int. Cl. H04B 7/185 (2006.01); H04W 4/029 (2018.01); H04W 72/23 (2023.01); H04W 72/566 (2023.01); H04W 84/06 (2009.01)
CPC H04B 7/18513 (2013.01) [H04W 4/029 (2018.02); H04W 72/23 (2023.01); H04W 72/569 (2023.01); H04W 84/06 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of operating one or more processors in a satellite communications network to schedule forward link data transmissions to a set of user equipment devices via a constellation of communications satellites, the method comprising:
receiving forward link traffic requests for the set of user equipment devices;
receiving satellite information that identifies thermal constraints of the communications satellites in the constellation;
generating forward link traffic grants for the set of user equipment devices based on the forward link traffic requests and the thermal constraints identified by the satellite information; and
controlling one or more gateways to transmit forward link signals to the set of user equipment devices via the constellation of communications satellites based on the forward link traffic grants.