Mobile Satellite Venture LP announced it has been awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,181,161 covering the company's hybrid satellite-terrestrial system which includes ancillary terrestrial component technology. The use of an ATC is not new--Sirius and XM Radio use it to improve coverage in urban areas. MSV's patent covers "Multiband/Multimode Satellite Radiotelephone Communications Systems and Methods." The patent requires at least one air interface, based upon a terrestrial cellular/PCS air interface, and feeder links that are used to transport data between the satellite and a satellite gateway. These links are segmented into sub-bands, so that different air interfaces are transported over different feeder link segments, allowing efficient processing of information and reducing interference.
Dr. Peter Karabinis, senior vice president and chief technical officer at MSV, is the inventor of the patent. He said, "This patent covers enabling technologies that may be deployed by a satellite to facilitate support of legacy and modern terminal equipment. We recognized the importance of such technologies and filed this patent early."
Karabinis said that the solutions claimed in the patent would allow the system to continue to serve legacy equipment, as required, and also facilitate state-of-the-art air interfaces for enhanced voice and data services.
