{
  "patent_number": "US 8135338",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Satellites Handle Super Fast User Data Using Shared Antennas",
  "original_title": "Satellite system with enhanced payload capacity",
  "summary": "This patent describes a satellite system boosting data capacity by having satellites receive high-speed user data, relay it via crosslinks to other satellites, and then send it to ground stations, often using a single antenna for both user and ground connections.",
  "what_it_does": "The patent describes a method for a satellite system to handle a lot of data quickly. A first satellite receives data from a user at a high speed, specifically greater than 30 Mbps (Claim 1). This receiving antenna is special because it's also designed to work at the same frequency as the \"feeder link\" (the connection to a ground station) and can even complete a second feeder link itself (Claim 1). The data then travels from this first satellite to a second satellite using a \"crosslink\" (satellite-to-satellite connection), and finally, the second satellite sends the data down to a \"terrestrial gateway\" (a ground station) via a \"feeder link\" (Claim 1). For example, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) could send high-speed data to a satellite, which then relays it through the satellite network to a ground station connected to the internet.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Satellite systems where the user-facing antenna cannot also operate at the feeder link frequency band (Claim 1).",
    "Systems where the data rate from the user is consistently 30 Mbps or less (Claim 1).",
    "Satellite systems that do not use crosslinks to forward data between satellites (Claim 1).",
    "Systems where the feeder link does not connect to a terrestrial gateway coupled to a terrestrial data network (Claim 1).",
    "Systems where the user terminal requires a transmitter output power of 50 watts or more, or an aperture size of 1.3 meters or more (Claim 12)."
  ],
  "filed": "2008-12-24",
  "granted": "2012-03-13",
  "expires": "2028-12-24",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Space Systems Loral",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/space-systems-loral",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Walter Gelon",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/walter-gelon"
    },
    {
      "name": "William Nations",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/william-nations"
    },
    {
      "name": "Douglas Burr",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/douglas-burr"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 25,
  "tags": [
    "telecommunications",
    "aerospace",
    "software"
  ],
  "abstract": "High data rata communications services are provided via a satellite system. Data is received from a user at a data rate greater than 30 Mbps over a communications link between the user and a first satellite, where the first satellite is one of a number of satellites within the satellite system; the data is forwarded over a crosslink from the first satellite to at least a second satellite within the satellite system; and the data is forwarded from the second satellite by a feeder link to a gateway located on the earth, said gateway being communicatively coupled to a terrestrial data network. The data is received from the user terminal by an antenna on the first satellite adapted for operation at a frequency associated with the feeder link.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8135338/satellite-system-with-enhanced-payload-capacity",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8135338/satellite-system-with-enhanced-payload-capacity/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US8135338",
  "relatedPatents": []
}