초록 ▼

A communication system includes a satellite communication system segment having at least one satellite, that projects a plurality of beams on the surface of the earth, and at least one terrestrial satellite gateway that is bidirectionally coupled to the at least one satellite and also to a terrestri

A communication system includes a satellite communication system segment having at least one satellite, that projects a plurality of beams on the surface of the earth, and at least one terrestrial satellite gateway that is bidirectionally coupled to the at least one satellite and also to a terrestrial communications system. One or more beams from one or more satellites at the surface of the earth define a regional service area within which at least one Wireless Local Loop (WLL) service region is located. The communication system further includes a terrestrial communication segment having at least one WLL base station, capable of bidirectional communications with a plurality of WLL user terminals within the WLL service region, and a virtual gateway that is bidirectionally coupled to the WLL base station and to the at least one satellite. The virtual gateway is responsive to the terrestrial satellite gateway for temporarily assuming control of some satellite system resources for bidirectionally coupling a communication to or from an individual one of the WLL user terminals into or out of the WLL service region.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A method for operating a communication system, comprising steps of:receiving a call for a user terminal at a satellite system gateway;examining a database to determine if the user terminal is associated with a localized service area within a coverage area of the satellite

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A method for operating a communication system, comprising steps of:receiving a call for a user terminal at a satellite system gateway;examining a database to determine if the user terminal is associated with a localized service area within a coverage area of the satellite system gateway;if yes, formulating a message and transmitting the message to a virtual gateway that serves the regional service area, the message being transmitted via at least one satellite;receiving the message at the virtual gateway and paging the user terminal; andupon the user terminal responding to the page, establishing the call using satellite system resources that are allocated to the virtual gateway from the satellite system gateway.