WO2024209290A1

WO2024209290A1 - A method and system for switching uplink satellite sites

Info

Publication number: WO2024209290A1
Application number: PCT/IB2024/052369
Authority: WO
Inventors: Joby SEBASTIAN; Sanket KUSHWAH; Rajeev Sharma; Manjunath A; Sanat Kumar MOHANTY; Harit Nagpal
Original assignee: Tata Play Limited
Priority date: 2023-04-03
Filing date: 2024-03-12
Publication date: 2024-10-10

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a field of satellite communication that discloses a method and system for switching uplink satellite sites. The method includes transmitting one or more uplink signals to at least one satellite, from a first satellite site (101). Further, determining at least one trigger condition to switch the transmitting using second satellite site (103). The at least one trigger condition is based on operating mode of the uplink satellite sites. The method includes switching to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site (103).

Description

TITLE: A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SWITCHING UPLINK SATELLITE SITES

TECHNICAL FIELD

Present disclosure generally relates to the field of satellite communication. Particularly but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to a method and a system of switching between uplink satellite sites.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

A satellite communication system generally comprises one or more gateway stations, a satellite and a number of user stations which may be used.

One of the existing technologies discloses that a satellite communication system may comprise a number of earth stations sharing an uplink carrier in a time division multiple access mode. One of the earth stations is designated as the master station for the carrier. The uplink transmissions from each station are synchronized by computing the time interval between the arrival of the signal at the satellite from the master station and the arrival of signals at the satellite from each of the other stations. These time intervals are compared to optimum intervals for a properly synchronized transmission from each station. There exists a problem when the comparison indicates that a given earth station is not properly synchronized, in such scenario, the time of the station which is not synchronized is adjusted until the actual interval substantially matches the optimum interval.

However, the currently existing technologies do not provide any mechanism that is efficient and accurate enough to overcome long latencies, data loss and uplink the signals in critical situations in no time.

The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the disclosure and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

One or more shortcomings of the conventional systems are overcome by system and method as claimed and additional advantages are provided through the provision of system and method as claimed in the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.

In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure discloses a method for switching up link satellite sites. The method includes transmitting one or more uplink signals to at least one satellite, from a first satellite site. Further the method includes determining at least one trigger condition to switch the transmitting using a second satellite site. At least one trigger condition is based on operating mode of the uplink satellite sites. The method includes switching to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the operating mode of the uplink satellite sites includes at least one of an automatic mode, a disabled mode or a manual mode.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, at least one trigger condition in the automatic mode is signal strength of the beacon signal.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the method further includes monitoring perpetually the signal strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site. Further, comparing the strength of the beacon signal with a predefined threshold signal and switching to the second satellite site from the first satellite site based on said comparison.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the switching to the second satellite site is performed when the strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site is less than the predefined threshold signal.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the strength of the beacon signals is monitored by one or more sensors associated with the first satellite site and the second satellite site.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, switching to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site further includes tuning a state of the second satellite site to uplink the one or more uplink signals from offline state to the stand-by state once the signal strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site is determined to be lower than the predefined threshold signal. Further, switching the state of the second satellite site from the stand-by state to online state automatically. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the method further includes performing a switchback to the first satellite site when the strength of the beacon signal received at transmitted the first satellite site is greater than the predefined threshold signal and the strength of the beacon signal received at transmitted the second satellite site is less than the predefined threshold signal.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one trigger condition in the manual mode is maintenance activity, fault repair, equipment replacement, weather conditions.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, switching to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site further includes receiving a user input for switching and transmitting to the second satellite site for the at least one trigger condition. Further, the method includes determining a state of the second satellite site to initiate up linking of one or more uplink signals from the second satellite site, wherein the state of the at least one of the satellites comprise online state, stand-by state and offline state. The method includes providing one or more user inputs to the second satellite site to switch transmitting of the one or more uplink signal from the first satellite site to the second satellite site based on the determination. Further, when the state of the second satellite site is determined as offline state, the method includes tuning the state of second satellite site to transmit the one or more uplink signals from offline state to the stand-by state. Switching the state of the second satellite site from stand-by state to online state to transmit the one or more uplink signals to a second satellite.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the method includes selecting the operating mode of the first satellite site and the second satellite site via a button or means for switching.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the method includes performing a switchback to the first satellite site from the second satellite site on receiving the user input.

In another non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure, a system for switching up link satellite sites is disclosed. The system includes a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to transmit one or more uplink signals to at least one satellite, from a first satellite site. Further, the processor is configured to determine at least one trigger condition to switch the transmitting using second satellite site, wherein at least one trigger condition is based on operating mode of the uplink satellite sites. Further, the processor switches to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site. In another non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure, a system for switching up link satellite sites is disclosed. The system includes a transmitter configured to transmit one or more uplink signals to at least one satellite, from the first satellite site. Further the system includes a comparator configured to determine at least one trigger condition to switch the transmitting using second satellite site. The at least one trigger condition is based on operating mode of the uplink satellite sites. A switching unit configured to switch to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site.

It is to be understood that aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several aspects and embodiments may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles. In the figures, the left- most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference features and components. Some embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

FIG.l illustrates an overview/environment for switching uplink satellite sites, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG.2 illustrates a block diagram representation of a satellite site, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG.3 shows a detailed block diagram of a system for switching up link satellite sites, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.4 illustrates a flowchart of a method for switching up link satellite sites, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the system illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.

The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes” or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device or method that includes a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises. . . a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method. Disclosed herein are a method and a system for switching uplink satellite sites. The present disclosure solves the problems existing with the satellite sites. Particularly, uplink satellite site may be down due to many reasons such as poor weather conditions, equipment failure etc. In such scenarios, the satellite site may not work properly and may require maintenance as well. Thus, due to maintenance work, the uplink satellite site may be shut down till the time maintenance is performed or weather conditions get finer. To overcome these issues and to reduce the shut down time of the satellite site, solutions are provided in the present disclosure. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the parameter related to the satellite site such as beacon strength is monitored and once it reaches below a threshold value (as signal transmission is not proper due to weather conditions or maintenance or any other reason) then instead of shutting down the satellite site and waiting for the corrective measures, the transmission of uplink signals is shifted to other satellite sites available with better beacon signal strength. Such switching of the uplink satellite sites may be operated in manual mode or automatic mode. The selection of operating mode of the first satellite site and the second satellite site may be done via a button or any other means for switching. In the automatic mode, a secondary site may transmit the uplink signals to the satellite when the primary site fails due to one or more reasons as stated above automatically. In the manual mode, switching to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site is based on the input received from the user.

The present disclosure discloses switching satellite sites that provide uplink signals in a single click of button. The manual process of site switching involves efforts in analyzing the parameters associated while communicating with satellite through satellite sites and that is a very time-consuming task. This may also increase the outage time on uplink carriers. Further, if the process is performed manually, there is also a possibility of human error as various High Power Amplifiers (HPA) and waveguide switches are involved at each satellite site for uplink transmission. As the logic for switch position (used for switching between satellite sites) and the high-power amplifiers modes of operations is predefined and is executed by the processor, the present disclosure even in the manual mode enables to switch to desired satellite site within few seconds which may eliminate the efforts and outage on the carriers that was a challenge in normal manual switching process.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the disclosure.

In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

FIG.l illustrates an overview or environment for switching uplink satellite sites, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The architecture 100 includes a first satellite site 101, a second satellite site 103a .... 103n (herein collectively referred as second satellite 103) and a satellite 105. As an illustrative example, only two satellite sites are discussed in respect of figure 1. However, a person of ordinary skill may appreciate and understand that there may be various satellite sites present on the earth’s surface that may be used as second satellite site 103 /backup satellite site for various communication or other related activities. To make the reader understand the concept and technique disclosed, only two satellite sites are presented i.e the first satellite site 101 and the second satellite site 103. Similarly, there may be a plurality of satellites available, but in an exemplary embodiment, only one satellite is considered i.e satellite 105. The satellite 105 may receive one or more uplink signals from at least one of the first satellite sites 101 or the second satellite site 103a....103n. Generally, satellite communication is referred to as communication performed between the ground station present on the surface of the earth and the satellite. During uplink of signals, the signals from the satellite sites are transmitted to the satellite. Further, the satellite may retransmit the signal towards the earth stations present on the various locations on the ground known as satellite site. The uplink denotes the transmission of radio waves from an earth station/satellite site to satellite. The frequency of the signal which is transmitted from the earth station/satellite station site to the satellite is known as the uplink frequency. For ease of understanding, consider that a first satellite site 101 may be a primary site which may transmit one or more uplink signals to satellite 105. The second satellite site 103 may substantially mirror the content and the configuration of the first satellite site 101. In other words, the secondary satellite site 103 may work in a similar manner as performed by the first satellite site 101. The second satellite site 103 is configured to perform back-ups (full, incremental) describing functionality and configurations of the primary satellite site 101. The backups may be taken on regular basis or frequently based on the requirement. According to an embodiment, full backups may be performed weekly or on daily basis. The backups from the first satellite site 101 are replicated to the second satellite site 103. The functionality of up linking the one or more uplink signals from the first satellite site 101 is automatically replayed on the corresponding second satellite site 103 such that the first satellite site 101 and second satellite site 103 remain synchronized in a timely manner.

Initially, the first satellite site 101 may transmit one or more uplink signals to satellite 105. A beacon signal that is a reference signal transmitted from the satellite to at least one of satellite site, may be continuously monitored.. In an exemplary embodiment, when the first satellite site 101 is operating then beacon signal may be received from the satellite by the first satellite site 101. In another embodiment, when the satellite site is switched and the second satellite site 103 is operating then beacon signal may be received from the satellite by the second satellite site 103. This happens, when the beacon signal degrades below the set threshold level due to one or more reasons such as rain, fault in the uplink equipment, fault in the waveguide or due to any maintenance activity etc. In such a scenario, the strength of the beacon signal drops below threshold level, accordingly the transmission of the one or more uplink signals may be switched from first satellite site 101 to the second satellite site 103 as shown in FIG.l.

FIG.2 illustrates a block diagram of a satellite site that is used for sending uplink signals, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

The block diagram of satellite site 200 is presented in figure 2. It may include first satellite site 101 that comprises one or more sensors 201 and a system 203 that comprises a processor 205, a memory 207 and an I/O Interface 209 which may be in communication with at least one satellite 105. In an exemplary scenario, one or more sensors 201 may be present inside the system 203 and help in communication with the satellite 105. However, the below scenario is explained by considering the first satellite site 101 in communication with one or more sensors (that are present outside the system 203) and the satellite 105 as shown in FIG.l which should not be construed as the limitation. The same functionalities may be performed by satellite site 103 in communication with one or more sensors and the satellite 105 not shown in FIG.2. In some embodiments, one or more sensors 201 may work in communication with the system 203. In an embodiment, one or more sensors 201 may work in communication with the first satellite site 101 or the second satellite site 103. The one or more sensors may determine weather data, functionalities of one or more equipment of the first satellite site 101. The weather data can be a state of the atmosphere in a particular location over a specific period of time by measuring several different parameters such as temperature, air quality, wind speed, and precipitation level using one or more sensors. Further, one or more sensors 201 may be configured to continuously monitor the beacon signal that may be received at the first satellite site 101. During operation, when the strength of the beacon signal degrades below predefined threshold signal, the system may generate an indication that there is a requirement to switch the communication or transmission of uplink signals to the second satellite site 103. The transmission is shifted to only that second satellite site 103 that is capable to transmit the one or more uplink signals to the satellite 105 and is synchronized with the first satellite site 101.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a processor 205, Vo interface 209 and a memory 207 that is communicatively coupled to the processor 205. The processor 205 is configured to transmit one or more uplink signals to at least one satellite from a first satellite site 101. Further, the processor 205 with the help of one or more sensors 201 monitors the signal strength of the beacon signal received from the satellite to the first satellite site 101 continuously. When the strength of the beacon signal degrades, i.e., when the strength of the beacon signal is less than a predefined threshold signal, the processor 205 may switch the transmission of one or more uplink signals automatically to the second satellite site 103 from the first satellite site 101. The predefined threshold may be computed based on various signals, transmission power etc. and it provides an indication of satisfactory performance of the satellite site. The value of the predefined threshold may be set by the user in the system’ s memory based on the satellite site’ s performance regarding transmission of uplink signals. The switching of second satellite site 103 is based on the trigger condition which is determined based on the operating mode. The mode of operation of the satellite site may be selected as automatic mode, a disabled mode or a manual mode.

In an embodiment, when an operator selects automatic mode of operation, the processor 205 may check for the weather data. Further the processor may check uplink equipment failure, rain, maintenance of uplink equipment’s issue with the transmitting waveguide and NOCC issues viz. Cross Pole. When at least one of the above-mentioned condition is identified or the signal strength is determined to be less than a predefined threshold, then the processor may automatically switch the satellite from the first satellite site 101 to the second satellite site 103 to transmit the one or more uplink signals to the satellite 105. Accordingly, in the automatic mode, there is no intervention of the user required for shifting the transmission of uplink signals from the first satellite site 101 to the second satellite site 103. In such scenario, the second satellite site or the diversity site 103 is immediately put to Standby mode from Offline mode and once it is assured that it has signal strength more than the first satellite site 101 then it is switched to Online mode and replaces the first satellite site 101.

In another embodiment, when manual mode of operation is selected, the processor 205 may check for the weather data. Further the processor may check uplink equipment failure, rain, maintenance of uplink equipment’s issue with the transmitting waveguide and NOCC issues viz. Cross Pole. When at least one of the above-mentioned condition is identified, then the processor may provide indication to the user for switching the satellite from the first satellite site 101 to the second satellite site 103 to transmit the one or more uplink signals to the satellite 105 .Accordingly, the user with the help of switch may shift the transmission of uplink signals from the first satellite site 101 to the second satellite site 103.

In such scenarios, switching is not possible without user intervention. The processor 205 may determine the state of the second satellite site 103 to initiate transmission of one or more uplink signals from the second satellite sitel03, the state of the at least one of the satellites comprise online state, stand-by state and offline state. Based on the provided one or more user inputs, the second satellite site 103 is switched to transmitting of the one or more uplink signal that was earlier transmitted from the first satellite site 101. Initially, the second satellite site 103 is in offline mode as it is not transmitting any uplink signal to the satellite 105. However, when the switching to the second satellite site 103 is performed by toggling the switch manually, to transmit the one or more uplink signals, then firstly, the state of second satellite site 103 is switched from offline state to the stand-by state. Further, switching the state of the second satellite site 103 takes place from stand-by state to online state to uplink the one or more uplink signals. The selection of operating mode of the first satellite site 101 and the second satellite site 103 is performed via a button or switch.

Further, in the disabled mode, no action is performed by the satellite sites and there is no transmission of uplink signals take place. FIG.3 shows a detailed block diagram for switching uplink satellite sites, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In some implementations, the system 301 (which is the system 203 of FIG 2) may include memory 307 and various units 311. As an example, the data is stored in memory 307 configured in system 301 as shown in FIG.3. In one embodiment, the memory 307 may store transmission data 313, switching data 315, input data 317 and other data 319 such as predefined threshold and other information. Units illustrated in FIG.3, are described herein in detail.

In some embodiments, the data may be stored in memory 307 in the form of various data structures. Additionally, the data can be organized using data models, such as relational or hierarchical data models. The other data may store data, including temporary data and temporary files, generated by the various units 311 for performing the various functions of the system 301.

In some embodiments, the transmission data 313 corresponds to data or one or more uplink signals which may be transmitted to satellite from at least one of first satellite site 101 or the second satellite site 103. For example, the first satellite site 101 may transmit one or more uplink signals to the satellite 105 which can be considered as the primary satellite site. The first satellite site 101 may receive the beacon signal from the satellite 105 and the strength of the beacon signals is monitored continuously at the satellite site. Further, the satellite site identifies if the transmission of the one or more uplink signals is performed successfully or not. All this data related to transmission of signals and the information about beacon’s signal strength may be stored as data in the memory 307 of the system.

In some embodiments, the switching data 315 corresponds to data related to the activity performed while switching of the first satellite site 101 to the second satellite site 103. The switching data may comprise trigger condition information, the mode information, information related to toggling of switch and waveguides. The trigger condition for operating in the manual mode may be at least one of maintenance activity, fault repair, equipment replacement, weather conditions.

In some embodiments, the input data corresponds to data that may be received from the operator for performing switching or any other activity related to operation of satellite. The operating mode of the first satellite site 101 and the second satellite site 103 is controlled via a button or any other means of switching. The button may be used by the operator for switching from one site to the other in the manual mode. In other words, there is a separate button for selection of operating mode i.e., automatic mode or manual mode. In other words, when the operator wishes to switch the sites manually, the operator may provide commands (i.e. input data) related to switching and the actions corresponding to these commands are served.

In some embodiments, the data stored in memory 307 may be processed by the units 311 of the system 301. The units 311 may be stored within the memory 307. In an example, the units 311 communicatively coupled to the processor 303 configured in the system 301, may also be present outside the memory 307 as shown in FIG.3 and implemented as hardware. As used herein, the term units may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor 303 (shared, dedicated, or group) , a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality.

In some embodiments, the units 311 may include, for example, transmitter 321, switching unit 323, receiver 325, monitoring unit 327, comparator 329 and other units 331. The other units 331 may be used to perform various miscellaneous functionalities of system 301. According to embodiments of present disclosure, these units 321-331 may comprise hardware components like processor, microprocessor, microcontrollers, application- specific integrated circuit for performing various operations of the system. It must be understood to a person skilled in art that the processor 205 may also perform all the functions of the units 321-331 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. It may be appreciated that such aforementioned units may be represented as a single unit or a combination of different units.

In some embodiments, transmitter 321 may correspond to transmission of one or more uplink signals to at least one of the satellites from at least one of the first satellite sites 101 or the second satellite site 103. Upon transmitting one or more signals, the satellite may send the beacon signal to the first satellite site 101. The beacons signals may include, but not limited to radio, ultrasonic, optical, laser or other types of signals that indicate the proximity or location of a device or its readiness to perform a task. The transmitter 321 may initially transmit the one or more uplink signals to the satellite i.e., from the first satellite site 101 or the primary satellite site. The monitoring unit 327 may monitor the strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site 101 from the satellite 105 continuously. The comparator 329 works in conjunction with the monitoring unit 327 and compare the strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site 101 with a predefined threshold signal. Once the comparator 329 determines that the strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site 101 is less than the predefined threshold signal. It provides a signal to the switching unit 323 to switch the first satellite site 101 acting as the primary satellite site to the second satellite site 103 acting as the backup site. Now the transmitter 321 presents at the second satellite site 103 or the backup satellite site may transmit the one or more uplink signals to the satellite 105. In an alternative embodiment, the switching unit 323 may switch the transmission of the one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site 103 based on the at least one or more trigger conditions.

As mentioned above, the switching unit 323 may correspond to the one or more uplink signals which may be switched from the first satellite site 101 to second satellite site 103 or vice-versa to uplink the one or more uplink signals to the satellite 105. These satellite sites may be present at different part of the country or in different zones of the earth surface. For instance, if the first satellite site 101 is in Chennai location and the second satellite site 103 may be in Delhi location or Hyderabad location or Mumbai location. The satellite site other than the first satellite site 101 that is capable of receiving beacon’s signal strength more than a predefined threshold may be considered as second satellite site 103. In an exemplary embodiment, if the satellite site present in Mumbai location is capable of receiving a signal strength more than Chennai satellite site then satellite site present at Mumbai location may serve as second satellite 103. In an exemplary embodiment, if there are multiple satellite sites present which receive higher signal strength than the first satellite site 101, in such scenario, the satellite site receiving maximum signal strength is considered as second satellite site 103. When the system is working in automatic mode, the beacon signal may be continuously monitored at the first satellite site 101, located in Chennai. Further, when the strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site 101 is less than the predefined threshold signal. The switching unit 323 may switch the transmission of one or more uplink signals from the first satellite site 101 to second satellite site 103 present in Delhi. The switching unit 323 may also perform switchback to the first satellite site 101 when the strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site 101 is greater than the predefined threshold signal and the strength of the beacon signal received at the second satellite site 103 is less than the predefined threshold signal. However, during the transmit from the first satellite site 101 to the second satellite site 103, the switching unit 323 may tune a state of the second satellite site 103 to transmit the one or more uplink signals from offline state to the stand-by state once the signal strength of the beacon signal received at transmitted the first satellite site 101 is determined to be lower than the predefined threshold signal. Further, switching the state of the second satellite site 103 from the stand-by state to online state may take place automatically.

In an alternative embodiment, when the system 301 is working in the manual mode, the switching may be based on the trigger conditions such as manual mode is maintenance activity, fault repair, equipment replacement, weather conditions. In such instances, the switching unit 323 may receive the user input for switching and transmitting one or more uplink signals to the second satellite site 103. The switching unit 323 may determine the state of the second satellite site 103 to initiate transmission of one or more uplink signals from the second satellite site 103. As the switching is performed when the first satellite site 101 may not be capable to uplink and the state of the second satellite site 103 is offline . Upon determining the state of the second satellite site 103 i.e., offline state, based on the user commands or inputs, the second satellite site 103 state may be switched to online state and then the one or more uplink signals may be transmitted to the satellite from the second satellite site 103. In other words, when there is a bad weather condition in Chennai where the first satellite site 101 is present, the one or more uplink signals may not be transmitted, the switching unit 323 may receive data relating to weather conditions from one or more sensors and based on received weather details, the switching unit 323 may switch an antenna associated with the satellite sites and may transmit the one or more uplink signals from the second satellite site 103 present in Delhi which supports good weather conditions.

In some embodiments, the receiver 325 may correspond to user input for switching to the second satellite site 103 for meeting the at least one trigger condition. The trigger condition in the manual mode is maintenance activity, fault repair, equipment replacement, weather conditions. Initially, when at least one of the trigger conditions is identified, the state of the second satellite site 103 may be determined to initiate transmission of one or more uplink signals from the second satellite site 103. The receiver 325 may receive one or more inputs from the second satellite site 103 regarding the operating condition of the second satellite site 103 so that feasibility to switch transmission of the one or more uplink signals from the second satellite site 103 may be verified. When the state of the second satellite site 103 is offline state, the state of second satellite site 103 may be tuned to from offline state to the stand-by state. Based on the tuning, the switching unit 323 may switch the state of the second satellite site 103 from stand-by state to online state to transmit the one or more uplink signals to a second satellite site 103. FIG.4 shows a flowchart illustrating a method of switching up link satellite sites, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG.4, method 400 includes one or more blocks illustrating a method of switching up link satellite sites. The method 400 may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. Generally, computer executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform functions or implement abstract data types.

The order in which the method 400 is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method 400. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method 400 can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.

At block 401, the method 400 may include transmitting, one or more uplink signals to at least one satellite, from a first satellite site 101. The uplink satellite sites are first satellite site 101 and the second satellite site 103 and the operating mode of the uplink satellite sites includes at least one of an automatic mode, a disabled mode or a manual mode.

At block 402, the method 400 may include determining at least one trigger condition to switch the transmitting using second satellite site 103, wherein the at least one trigger condition is based on operating mode of the uplink satellite sites. In an exemplary embodiment, the uplink satellite sites may be first satellite site 101 and the second satellite site 103. In a non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one trigger condition in the automatic mode is signal strength of the beacon signal received at the satellite site. The at least one trigger condition in the manual mode is maintenance activity, fault repair, equipment replacement, weather conditions.

At block 403, the method 400 may include switching to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site 103. In a non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the switching to the second satellite site 103 is performed when the strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site 101 is less than the predefined threshold signal. The strength of the beacon signals is monitored by one or more sensors 201 associated with the first satellite site 101 and the second satellite site 103. In a non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, switchback may be performed to the first satellite site 101 when the strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site 101 is greater than the predefined threshold signal and the strength of the beacon signal received at the second satellite site 103 is less than the predefined threshold signal.

The advantages of the embodiment of the present disclosure are illustrated herein. The present disclosure provides a method and a system for switching up link satellite sites to provide better communication performance to the users.

The present disclosure discloses switching uplink satellite sites that provides a transmission of one or more uplink signals through any of uplink sites in a single click of button, thus, eliminate the manual efforts and outage on the carriers which may occur during manual switching.

Referral Numerals:

Claims

We Claim:

1. A method for switching uplink satellite sites, the method comprising: transmitting, one or more uplink signals to at least one satellite (105), from a first satellite site (101); determining at least one trigger condition to switch the transmitting using second satellite site (103), wherein the at least one trigger condition is based on operating mode of the uplink satellite sites; and switching to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site (103).

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the uplink satellite sites are first satellite site (101) and the second satellite site (103) and wherein the operating mode of the uplink satellite sites includes at least one of an automatic mode, a disabled mode or a manual mode.

3. The method as claimed in claims 1 and 2, wherein the at least one trigger condition is signal strength of a beacon signal.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, further comprises: monitoring perpetually the signal strength of the beacon signal at the first satellite site (101); comparing the signal strength of the beacon signal with a predefined threshold; switching to the second satellite site (103) from the first satellite site (101) based on said comparison.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the switching to the second satellite site (103) is performed when the signal strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site (101) is less than the predefined threshold signal.

6. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the signal strength of the beacon signal is monitored by one or more sensors (201) associated with the first satellite site (101) and the second satellite site (103).

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 and 3, wherein switching to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site (103) further comprises: tuning a state of the second satellite site (103) to transmit the one or more uplink signals from an offline state to a stand-by state once the signal strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site (101) is determined to be lower than the predefined threshold signal; switching the state of the second satellite site (103) from the stand-by state to an online state automatically.

8. The method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising: performing a switchback to the first satellite site (101) when the signal strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site (101) is greater than the predefined threshold signal and the signal strength of the beacon signal received at the second satellite site (103) is less than the predefined threshold signal.

9. The method as claimed in claims 1 and 2, wherein at least one trigger condition in the manual mode is maintenance activity, fault repair, equipment replacement, weather conditions.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1 and 9, wherein switching to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site (103) further comprises: receiving a user input for switching and transmitting to the second satellite site (103) based on the at least one trigger condition; determining a state of the second satellite site (103) to initiate transmission of one or more uplink signals from the second satellite site (103), wherein the state of the at least one of the satellites comprise an online state, a stand-by state and an offline state; providing one or more user inputs to the second satellite site (103) to switch transmission of the one or more uplink signal from the first satellite site (101) to the second satellite site (103) based on the determination, wherein when the state of the second satellite site (103) is determined as the offline state, performing: tuning the state of second satellite site (103) from offline state to the stand-by state; switching the state of the second satellite site (103) from standby state to online state to transmit the one or more uplink signals to the at least one satellite.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising: selecting the operating mode of the first satellite site (101) and the second satellite site (103) via a button or means for switching.

12. The method as claimed in claim 10, further comprising: performing a switchback to the first satellite site (101) from the second satellite site (103) on receiving the user input.

13. A system for switching up link satellite sites, the system comprising: a processor; a memory (207) communicatively coupled to the processor (205), wherein the processor (205) is configured to: transmit one or more uplink signals to at least one satellite, from a first satellite site (101); determine at least one trigger condition to switch the transmitting using second satellite site (103), wherein the at least one trigger condition is based on operating mode of the uplink satellite sites; and switch to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site (103).

14. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the uplink satellite site comprises first satellite (101) and second satellite (103).

15. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the operating mode of the uplink satellite sites includes at least one of an automatic mode, a disabled mode or a manual mode.

16. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the at least one trigger condition is signal strength of a beacon signal.

17. The system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to: monitor perpetually the signal strength of the beacon signal of the first satellite site (101); compare the signal strength of the beacon signal with a predefined threshold signal; switch to the second satellite site (103) from the first satellite site (101) based on said comparison.

18. The system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the switching to the second satellite site (103) is performed when the signal strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site (101) is less than the predefined threshod signal.

19. The system as claimed in claim 16, wherein one or more sensors are configured to monitor the signal strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site (101) and the second satellite site (103).

20. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to switch to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site (103) by: tuning a state of the second satellite site (103) to transmit the one or more uplink signals from an offline state to a stand-by state once the signal strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site (101) is determined to be lower than the predefined threshold signal; switching the state of the second satellite site (103) from the stand-by state to an online state automatically.

21. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to: perform a switchback to the first satellite site (101) when the signal strength of the beacon signal received at the first satellite site (101) is greater than the predefined threshold signal and the signal strength of the beacon signal received at the second satellite site (103) is less than the predefined threshold signal.

22. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the at least one trigger condition in the manual mode is maintenance activity, fault repair, equipment replacement, weather conditions.

23. The system as claimed in claim 22, wherein to switch the transmitting of one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site (103), the processor (205) is configured to: receive a user input for switching and transmitting to the second satellite site (103) based on the at least one trigger condition; determine a state of the second satellite site (103) to initiate transmission of one or more uplink signals from the second satellite site (103), wherein the state of the at least one of the satellites comprise online state, stand-by state and offline state; provide one or more user inputs to the second satellite site (103) to switch transmitting of the one or more uplink signal from the first satellite site (101) to the second satellite site (103) based on the determination, wherein when the state of the second satellite site (103) is determined as the offline state, the processor is further configured to : tune the state of second satellite site (103) from the offline state to the stand-by state; switch the state of the second satellite site (103) from stand-by state to online state to transmit the one or more uplink signals to the at least one satellite .

24. The system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the processor (205) is further configured to: select the operating mode of the first satellite site (101) and the second satellite site (103) via a button or means for switching.

25. The system as claimed in claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to: perform a switchback to the first satellite site (101) from the second satellite site (103) on receiving the user input.

26. A system for switching up link satellite sites, the system comprising: a transmitter configured to transmit one or more uplink signals to at least one satellite, from a first satellite site (101); a comparator configured to determine at least one trigger condition to switch the transmitting using second satellite site (103), wherein the at least one trigger condition is based on operating mode of the uplink satellite sites; and a switching unit configured to switch to transmitting one or more uplink signals using the second satellite site (103).