RU2810124C1 - Personalised connection service offers - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: wireless communications.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the means for providing selectable service offers to users of mobile devices through mobile terminals over a satellite communications system. According to the invention, a database of access profiles is maintained for accessing a network through a wireless communication system. Each access profile corresponds to a service offering from a set of service offerings and is associated with a set of network destinations within the network. In embodiments of the invention, a request for a specific service offering from the plurality of service offerings is received from a device in the collection of devices. An access profile can be identified from a database that is associated with a specific service offering.

EFFECT: efficient use of available radio frequency (RF) spectrum resources in the satellite communication system, reducing the volume of traffic through the satellite communication system.

24 cl, 10 dwg

Description

State of the art

In a wireless communications system, a satellite communications system may provide network connectivity to a number of devices communicatively coupled to a satellite terminal of the wireless communications systems. The network connection offered to devices can be binary (for example, all or nothing), such as being connected to the entire network, such as the Internet, or disconnected. The services offered to devices within the same operator are generally the same, regardless of any features or characteristics of the devices. Providing full network access to a device can be a costly and inefficient use of available radio frequency (RF) spectrum resources in a satellite communications system. Additionally, not every service offered may be applicable to every device.

The essence of the invention

The features described generally relate to the provision of personalized service offerings to devices connected to a satellite terminal in a satellite communications system. Specifically, each customer or passenger associated with a device is provided with connectivity solutions specific to that customer or passenger. The methods described in this document provide passengers with personalized products, services and applications on their own devices while on board the mobile platform. When a service is requested by a device, a micro-session for the service may be established between the device and the network providing the service via a satellite communications system. A microsession can limit network traffic to a set of network destinations associated with the requested service. This method allows for traffic shaping, reduces satellite traffic, reduces costs and provides passengers with a more personalized experience.

Various content and service providers on one or more networks may provide service offering-related information to an operator associated with the mobile platform. Each service offer can be personalized using one or more access profiles. Access profiles may define a set of rules for a collection of service offerings, including a specific service offering, offered across a collection of devices within a mobile platform. The service offering manager may reside within the satellite communications system, for example, may reside on board the mobile platform. The service offering manager can compare the requested service offering and the requesting device with the corresponding access profile. If there is a match, authorization occurs in the satellite communication system to provide access to the service offering in the device. The satellite communications system may facilitate communication between a network and a device at a particular set of network destinations to provide a requested service to the device.

The foregoing has outlined the features and technical advantages of examples according to the invention so that the following detailed description can be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described below. The disclosed concept and specific examples can easily be used as a basis for modifying or developing other designs to achieve the same objectives of the present invention. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein, both their organization and manner of operation, and the benefits associated therewith will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. Each of the figures is presented for purposes of illustration and description only and not as a definition of the scope of the claims.

Brief description of graphic materials

Further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention can be realized with reference to the following drawings. In the accompanying figures, like components or elements may be designated by the same reference numerals. In addition, different components of the same type can be distinguished by a hyphen following the reference position and a second label that distinguishes them from similar components. If only the first reference numeral is used in a specification, the description applies to any of the similar components having the same first reference numeral, regardless of the second reference numeral.

In fig. 1 is a diagram of a wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present invention;

in fig. 2 is a diagram of a media delivery transport system in accordance with various aspects of the present invention;

in fig. 3 is a flow diagram of an example of providing service offerings in accordance with aspects of the present invention;

in fig. 4 shows a typical screenshot of a toolbar for a set of service offerings in accordance with aspects of the present invention;

in fig. 5-8 are flowcharts illustrating exemplary methods for personalized offers of connectivity services in accordance with aspects of the present invention;

in fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a satellite communication environment in accordance with aspects of the present invention; And

in fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a service offering manager in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

A satellite terminal (eg, a multi-user access terminal) in a satellite communications system may use a communications antenna to establish a communications link between the satellite terminal and a communications satellite. The communication channel may be configured to allow bidirectional communication (eg, transmit and receive, etc.) or unidirectional communication (eg, receive) in some cases. Such a communication channel may provide communication services between a terrestrial network and a mobile vehicle that includes a satellite terminal. These communication channels can be used to provide services to devices (eg, user devices such as mobile phones and laptops) for passengers in the mobile vehicle.

The procedure can be used to establish a specific service in a device on board a mobile vehicle capable of connecting via a satellite communications system. A satellite communications system relays network traffic for a specific service between a device and the network. In accordance with aspects of the present invention, one or more networks may provide the satellite terminal with information related to service offerings, wherein the service offerings include one or more network services. The satellite terminal may provide these service offerings to devices on board the mobile vehicle associated with the satellite terminal. The satellite terminal may create a portal for each device, individually configured for that device, based on a set of access profiles associated with service offerings. The portal may display service offers authorized for a device, which may be based on the characteristics of the device or the associated device user. Service offerings may vary between clients depending on content, price, type, etc.

When a customer selects a service from a service offering to use (eg through a created portal), the satellite terminal can establish communication between the device and the corresponding network and network destinations for that specific service. That is, accepting a service offer whitelists the device to communicate with one or more network destinations associated with the service offer. The satellite terminal may facilitate service provision by acting as a relay for network activity.

This description contains examples and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of embodiments of the principles described herein. Rather, the following description will provide those skilled in the art with description to enable embodiments of the principles described herein to be implemented. Various changes may be made to the function and arrangement of elements.

Thus, in various embodiments of the invention, various procedures or components may be omitted, replaced, or added as necessary. For example, it should be understood that the methods may be performed in an order different from that described, and that various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. In addition, aspects and elements described with respect to certain embodiments of the invention may be combined into various other embodiments of the invention. It should also be understood that the following systems, methods, devices and software may individually or collectively constitute components of a larger system, and other procedures may take precedence over or otherwise alter their use.

In fig. 1 shows a diagram of a wireless communication system 100 in accordance with aspects of the present invention. The wireless communications system 100 includes a satellite communications environment that includes a satellite communications system 157 (including one or more communications satellites 121 ), a satellite terminal 150 , one or more devices 160 , one or more satellite terminals 136 , a gateway 130 , and one or more networks 140 Satellite terminal 150 may be multi-user access terminals providing network access connectivity to multiple devices 160 on mobile platform 170. On board mobile platform 170 is a service offering manager 172 that provides connectivity to a selected service from the service offering in devices 160. System 100 wireless communication may be connected to at least one user device 160 and to one or more networks 140 directly or through one or more network devices 141.

The one or more communications satellites 121 in the satellite communications system 157 may include any suitable type of communications satellites configured to communicate wirelessly with the gateway 130 and one or more satellite terminals 150. In some examples, some or all of the communications satellites 121 may be located in geostationary satellites. orbits such that their positions with respect to ground devices can be relatively fixed or fixed within an operational tolerance or other orbital window. In other examples, any suitable orbit (eg, low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), etc.) for one or more satellites 121 of the satellite communications system may be used.

Satellite terminal 150 may include a satellite terminal communications antenna configured to receive signals 155 to and transmit signals from communications satellite 121. The satellite terminal 150 may be configured to communicate unidirectionally or bidirectionally with one or more communications satellites 121 of the satellite communications system 157.

The communications satellite 121 may communicate via signals 155 directed to a service beam coverage area 126 that includes the satellite terminal 150. The service beam coverage area 126 may cover any suitable service area (e.g., circular, elliptical, hexagonal, local, regional, national, etc.) and provide service to any number of satellite terminals 150 located within the service beam coverage area 126. Likewise, communications satellite 121 may communicate via signals 135 directed to a service beam coverage area 136 that includes one or more satellite terminals 110. Communications satellite 121 may communicate with gateway 130 by sending and/or receiving signals 135. Signals 135 may, for example, carry communications traffic for one or more satellite terminals 150 (e.g., relayed by communications satellite 121) or other communications between communications satellite 121 and gateway 130. In some examples, communications satellite 121 may be a multi-beam satellite and may have multiple beams services covering multiple service beam coverage areas, including service beam coverage areas 126 and 136, which may or may not overlap with adjacent service beam coverage areas.

The wireless communications system 100 (including satellite communications system 157) may operate in one or more frequency bands. For example, wireless communication system 100 may operate in Ku-, K-, or Ka-band, C-band, X-band, S-band, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) L-band, and the like. Additionally, satellite terminal 150 may be used in applications other than terrestrial fixed systems, including mobile applications such as boats, aircraft, land vehicles, and the like.

The satellite terminal 150 may be located on a mobile platform 170, which may be any device, apparatus, or object configured to support the satellite terminal 150 and change location. For example, the mobile platform may be a mobile vehicle such as an aircraft, spacecraft, ship, vehicle, or the like.

The gateway 130 may send signals 135 to and receive signals from communications satellites 121 of the satellite communications system 157 using one or more satellite gateway terminals 110. The gateway antenna terminal 110 may be bidirectional and have sufficient transmit power and receive sensitivity to reliably communicate with at least one communications satellite 121 . Gateway 130 may also communicate with one or more networks 140. One or more networks 140 may be part of a wireless communication system or may be external to it. The wireless communication system may access one or more networks 140 using a database of access profiles 145 . The one or more networks 140 may include a local area network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), wide area network (WAN), or any other suitable public or private network, and may be connected to other communications networks such as the Internet, telephone networks ( for example, public switched telephone network (PSTN), etc.) and/or the like. One or more network devices 141 may be coupled to the gateway 130 through one or more networks 140 and may control aspects of the wireless communication system 100 in some examples. In various examples, network device 141 may be co-located or otherwise located adjacent to gateway 130, or may be a remote installation that communicates with gateway 130 and/or one or more networks 140 via one or more wired and/or wireless communication channels. In some examples, at least some of the network devices 141 are servers. Network 140 may contain one or more service offerings 167.

Aircraft communications equipment 174 may include a satellite terminal 150 (which may constitute, be part of, or include aspects of a multi-user access terminal), service offering manager 172, network access unit 164, wireless access point 166, and user devices 160 -a to 160-d (collectively referred to herein as device 160). Satellite terminal 150 may include one or more mobile terminal antennas, a transceiver 176, and a modem 178. All or part of the aircraft communications equipment 162 may be located within the aircraft.

Mobile platform 170 includes aircraft communications equipment 174, which includes a satellite terminal 150 including an antenna, which may be an antenna array. The mobile platform 170 may use the antenna of the satellite terminal 150 to communicate with the satellite communications system 157 via one or more signals 155. Portions of the satellite terminal 150 (e.g., antenna, transceiver 176) may be mounted on the outside of the fuselage or elsewhere outside the mobile platform 170 and may be installed under the fairing. In other examples, other types of housings may be used to house portions of the satellite terminal 150. Other portions of the satellite terminal 150 may be located within the aircraft (eg, modem 178). The satellite terminal 150 can operate in the ITU Ku, K or Ka bands. Alternatively, satellite terminal 150 may operate in other frequency bands, such as C-band, X-band, S-band, L-band, and the like.

Data sent on the downlink and uplink to the satellite communications system 157 via one or more signals 155 may be formatted using a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), which may be satellite specific or similar to others in the industry. For example, an MCS may include multiple code points, each of which is associated with a modulation method (e.g., BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM, etc.) and an encoding rate, which is based on the ratio of encoded bits of information to the total number of encoded bits, including redundant information.

The service offering manager 172 may be located on board the mobile platform 170 and may include a processor 180, a network interface 182, and a storage device 186. The service offering manager 172 may manage various service offerings among various devices, such as providing requested service offerings, approving requested service offers and whitelisting devices to communicate with associated network destinations when service offers are accepted. The processor 180 may execute instructions stored in the storage device 186 to perform the functions of the service offering manager 172 . Storage device 186 may store instructions for operating the service offering manager 172, local copies of media content, and access profile database 145-b, as well as one or more device-specific profiles 149. In some examples, storage device 186 stores a database of device-specific profiles . Storage device 186 may also store an index that may organize or otherwise identify content stored in storage device 186.

The access profile database 145 may contain a set of access profiles that define a set of rules for a set of service offerings. Each service offering may be authorized for a particular device 160 based on the access profile of the device 160. The access profile may be based on one or more characteristics of the device 160. For example, the access profile may indicate that one or more service offerings may be authorized for the device 160 at based on a characteristic of the device 160, the identity of the user associated with the device 160, a subscription of the device 160, a service provider of the device 160, one or more characteristics of the mobile platform 170 carrying the device 160 specific to a flight or other travel route, communication information, a reservation identifier, an identifier a ticket, an individual membership associated with device 160, a group membership associated with device 160, or a combination thereof. In other examples, the access profiles in the access profile database 145 may be based on different or additional information, properties, or characteristics. In some examples, both the network 140 and the service offering manager 172 contain an access profile data base 145. In other examples, only one of the network 140 or service offering manager 172 has an access profile data base 145. The access profile database 145-b may be queued when the wireless communication system receives a request (eg, from device 160) associated with a service offering to determine whether access to the service offering is authorized. Once device 160 selects one or more access profiles, those access profiles may be associated with device 160. When device 160 requests communication with network destination 141, one or more access profiles associated with device 160 (which may now be specific to device profiles 149) can be queued to determine whether communication is allowed.

The service offer manager 172 may also include a portal builder 188 and a service offer request manager 184 . The portal builder 188 may provide a server-side capability to manage and control what services are deployed to different users or devices 160 associated with the mobile platform 170 or associated operator. What services are offered to each user or device 160 may be based on a set of rules unique to the user or device 160, such as access profiles. Portal builder 188 may create a display for a user to view service offerings on device 160.

The service proposal request manager 184 may process service proposal requests through device 160. In some examples, the service proposal request manager 184 may process service proposal selections.

The on-board communications system of the mobile platform 170 may provide communication services to devices 160 via a modem 178. Devices 160 may connect to and access network 140 and service offerings via modem 178. Devices 160 may be mobile devices such as laptops or cell phones, or may represent other types of devices within mobile platform 170. Devices 160 may communicate with modem 178 through network access unit 164, which may provide network services such as DNS, IP address management (e.g., Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)) , network address translation (NAT), etc. Devices 160 may connect to network access unit 164 via wired or wireless connections. For example, devices 160 may connect to network access unit 164 through a wireless access point (WAP) 166, which may provide a wireless connection within the mobile platform 170. The wireless connection may be accomplished, for example, in accordance with wireless local area network (WLAN) technology. such as IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) or other wireless technology.

In the example in FIG. 1, two devices 160-a and 160-b are shown as wireless user devices, and two devices 160-c and 160-d are shown as fixed devices. Device 160-a or 160-b may be a mobile device, such as a wireless device, remote device, portable device, subscriber device, or other suitable terminology, and “device” may also be referred to as a unit, station, terminal, or client. Devices 160-a or 160-b may also be a personal electronic device such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, laptops, personal computers, other portable devices, netbooks, laptops, display devices (e.g. televisions, computer monitors, etc.), printers or other types of customer premises equipment (CPE), etc. Devices 160-c and 160-d may be devices mounted within the mobile platform 170, such as a display screen or a seatback monitor. In other examples, a different number of devices 160 may be included.

Device 160 may generate a request for a service offer. For example, a user associated with device 160 may use the connection provided by WAP 166, network access unit 164, and satellite terminal 150 to receive a service offering and view any available content items or other services. After selecting a service offer to accept, the user may prompt device 160 to send a service offer request that may identify any selected content or service items and any other relevant information, including requested features, duration of content, related content, recommended content, and the like. Network 140 may provide services offered to device 160 and may also provide services to device 160. Network 140 may contain at least one service offering 166.

Satellite terminal 150 may provide a collection of service offerings, such as network access service (eg, Internet access, etc.) or other communication services (eg, broadcast media, etc.), that are specific to each device 160 via a wireless communication system 100 (including a satellite communication system). In some examples, satellite terminal 150 provides two-way communication between device 160 and network(s) 140 via communications satellite 121 and gateway 130. In other examples, other types of devices may be connected to the satellite terminal, such as any equipment located on a subscriber premises, including routers, firewalls, switches, private branch exchanges (PBXs), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateways, and the like. In some examples, devices 160 may include an installation device (e.g., a portable installation device, a laptop computer, etc.) configured to perform various procedures for establishing, maintaining, and/or troubleshooting a communications link between the communications satellite 121 and the satellite terminal 150.

Although the examples of satellite terminal communication antenna 152 described herein use two-way satellite communications for illustrative purposes, the methods described herein are not limited to this. For example, the hardware and methods described herein may be used in antennas for point-to-point terrestrial communications, and in some examples may not be limited to two-way communications.

The wireless communication system may use the techniques described herein to provide curated service offerings to each device 160 on board a mobile vehicle. The service offerings may be all of the card offerings from which the user associated with the device can select. The wireless communications system may provide communications between on-board devices and terrestrial networks that host services, applications, or both in service offerings. These techniques may reduce costs, provide passengers with more personalized and relevant services or applications, improve streaming functionality, reduce the size, weight and power limitations of in-flight mobile platforms, provide passengers with a wider range of media content items, or reduce network traffic.

In fig. 2 shows a diagram of a media delivery transport system 200 in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. The media delivery transport system 200 includes a wireless communications system including at least one satellite 121-a, a network 140-a, and mobile vehicle communications equipment 170-a. One or more networks 140-a may be located outside of the wireless communication system and may be terrestrial networks. Satellite 121-a, mobile platform 170-a, and one or more networks 140-a may be an example of or include aspects of satellite 121, mobile platform 170, and one or more networks 140 in FIG. 1 respectively.

In fig. 2 shows another view of a wireless communication system 100, including a detailed block diagram of one exemplary embodiment of a network access unit 164-a. Many other configurations of network access unit 164-a are possible, having more or fewer components. Although the device is shown as a single physical computing device in FIG. 2, in some aspects, one or more of the functions discussed below with respect to network access unit 164-a may be performed by multiple different physical computing devices. In some aspects, network access unit 164a may include fewer functional components than shown in the example of FIG. 2. Moreover, the functionality described in this document may be distributed among components in a manner different from that described.

In some aspects, network access unit 164-a provides gateway functionality between personal electronic devices 160-a in mobile vehicle 170-a and network 140-a or network destinations 141 discussed above with respect to FIG. 1. In some examples, personal electronic devices 160-e may be examples of one or more aspects of devices 160, as illustrated in FIG. 1. In some aspects, all network traffic transmitted and/or received by the personal electronic devices 160 may be processed by the network access unit 164 a. For example, in some aspects, network traffic transmitted to personal electronic device 160-e from devices within network 140-a may be received electronically by network access unit 164-a, which then forwards or relays the network traffic to personal electronic devices. 160s under one or more policies. Likewise, in some aspects, network traffic transmitted to devices on the network 140-a by personal electronic devices 160-a may be received electronically by the network access unit 164-a, which may then forward or relay the network traffic to destinations. indicated in network traffic (eg, destinations within network 140-a) based on one or more policies.

According to FIG. 1, network access transport unit 164-a communicates via satellite 121-a (or other suitable communications network as described above) and other components of a two-way communication system such as that shown in FIG. 2, with terrestrial network 140-a. Network access unit 164a may also be coupled to personal electronic devices 160 and, in some aspects, to vehicle management computer 202. In fig. 2 and in the following discussion, the gateway 130 and certain components (eg, satellite terminal 150, transceiver 176, modem 178 and WAP 166, etc.) of the wireless communication system 100 discussed above with respect to FIG. 1, have been omitted to avoid overcomplicating the graphic materials.

The illustrated aspect of the network access unit 164-a includes an electronic hardware processor 180-a and a network interface 210. The processor 180-a may communicate with the network interface 210 via an electronic bus within the network access unit 164-a. Processor 180-a may communicate with network interface 210 to transmit and/or receive packets over a network, such as a network providing connectivity to wireless access point 166 and/or modem 178 discussed above with respect to FIG. 1. Processor 180-a may also communicate through network interface 210 to exchange network messages with personal electronic device 160-e and/or vehicle management computer 202.

The network access unit 164a also includes an account provisioner 215, a web server 216, a traffic classifier 217, a rules engine 220, a traffic scheduler 220, and a service offering manager 172a. Account provider 215, web server 216, traffic classifier 217, rules engine 220, traffic scheduler 220, and service offering manager 172 may be part of volatile or stable storage, such as a virtual or physical storage area accessible to processor 180 -A. Account provider 215, web server 216, traffic classifier 217, rules engine 218, traffic scheduler 220, and service offering manager 172a may include binary data defining commands that configure processor 180a to perform various functions. For example, account provisioning engine 215 may contain instructions that configure processor 180-a to allow one or more personal electronic devices 120a-n to access network 140-a.

Web server 216 may store instructions that configure processor 180a to provide functionality associated with delivering electronic content via web standards such as html/http. Traffic classifier 217 may include instructions that configure processor 180-a to classify network traffic received by network access unit 164-a. For example, the traffic classifier 217 may determine whether the traffic is email, web browsing traffic, video streaming traffic, messaging traffic, or other types of traffic. This information can be used to determine whether traffic is allowed by the traffic policy, as discussed in more detail below.

The rules engine 218 may include instructions that configure the processor 180-a to execute one or more rules that assign a traffic policy to the personal electronic device 160 based on one or more characteristics of the network device. Traffic scheduler 220 may include instructions that configure processor 180-a to schedule network traffic generated by personal electronic devices 160-a. Instructions in one or more of the account provisioner 215 and/or the traffic scheduler 220 may configure the processor 180-a to read data from the policy database 225. For example, in some aspects, processor 180-a may read data from policy database 225 and rules database 228 to determine traffic policies to apply to network traffic generated by one or more personal electronic devices 160-a.

Although in FIG. 2 the network access unit 164-a is shown as a single physical device, one skilled in the art will appreciate that in some aspects the functions discussed above and below related to the network access unit 164-a may be implemented in some embodiments on multiple physical devices. For example, in some aspects, each of the functionality associated with each of the account provider 215, web server 216, traffic classifier 217, rules engine 218, traffic scheduler 220, and service offering manager 172 may be provided in a separate physical a device that has its own dedicated electronic hardware processor, storage device, and network interface. Additionally, in some embodiments, policy database 225, rules database 228, and access profile database 145-c may also be implemented on separate devices from one or more of account provisioner 215, web server 216, traffic classifier 217 , a rules engine 218 and a traffic scheduler 220 . The manner in which the functionality discussed above and below is distributed across one or more physical hardware devices does not substantially affect the methods and systems disclosed herein. Although in FIG. 2, the policy database 225, the rules database 228, and the access profile database 145-c are shown included as part of the network access unit 164-a; in some other embodiments, these components may be accessed through the network 140-a. In some of these aspects, the network access unit 164-a may be configured to cache at least a portion of the policy database 225, the rules database 228, and/or the access profile data database 145-c in a local storage device to provide reliable and efficient access to the data they contain.

In fig. 3 illustrates a flow diagram 300 of an example of providing service offerings in accordance with aspects of the present invention. Flow diagram 300 illustrates a typical communication between service offering manager 172-b (eg, a wireless communications system that includes one or more satellites), network 140-b, and device 160-f. The wireless communication system may include aspects of the wireless communication systems shown in FIG. 1 and 2, for example, service offering manager 172-b, network 140-b, and device 160-f may represent aspects of service offering manager 172 and 172-a, network 140 and 140-b, and devices 160-a to 160 -d and 160-e shown in FIG. 1 and 2 respectively. In some examples, device 160-f may be located on a mobile platform, such as an aircraft.

Network 140-b may be one or more networks. Network 140-b may provide information related to one or more service offerings 305 to service offering manager 172-b. Service offerings may be an offer of an application or service that is personalized for a specific operator, mobile vehicle, user or device. In some examples, service offerings are based on the route, sector, base or zone of the relevant operator. In some examples, service offerings may dynamically change to personalize them for an operator, user, or device. An operator can be any person or company that transports people or goods, such as an airline that has a fleet of aircraft, or a company that has a fleet of ships.

Service offerings may be associated with an access profile for a population of devices 160-f. That is, each service offering may be authorized for a specific device 160-f based on the access profile of device 160-f. An access profile may define a set of rules for a set of service offerings and may be based on one or more characteristics of device 160-f. For example, an access profile may indicate that one or more service offerings may be authorized for device 160-f based on a user ID associated with device 160-f, a subscription of device 160-f, a service provider of device 160-f, one or more characteristics the mobile platform on which the device 160-f is installed, flight or other travel route specific communications information, a reservation ID, a ticket ID, an individual membership associated with the device 160-f, a group membership associated with the device 160-f, or combinations thereof. In other examples, the access profile may be based on different or additional information, properties, or characteristics.

Once the service offering manager 172-b receives or has access to one or more service offerings to make them available to passengers, the service offering manager 172-b may provide information related to the service offerings to the device 160-f in the service information signal 310 service offers. The information in the service offering information signal 310 may include identifying information for each service offering, including information about what type of service is offered, what applications or services are included, terms of the service offering, any validity period of the service offerings, and the like. The service offering information signal 310 may be provided to device 160-f upon request or when device 160-f connects to the mobile platform network. The service offering information signal 310 may be generated in the service offering manager 172-b or in the network 140-b.

Device 160-f may send a request for service offer signal 315 to service offer manager 172-b. For example, a user associated with device 160-f may view one or more service offerings available for device 160-f. After selecting a service offer to accept, the user may prompt device 160-f to send a request to a service offer signal 315, which may identify the selected service offer and any other relevant information, including requested features, duration, and the like.

Upon receiving a request for service offer signal 315, service offer manager 172-b may identify an access profile associated with the particular selected service offer. That is, the service offering manager 172-b may identify an access profile from the access profile database at step 320, wherein a particular access profile is associated with a service offering. Based on the corresponding access profile, the service offering manager 172-b can determine whether communication is allowed between the device 160-f and the corresponding set of network destinations associated with the identified access profile. In some examples, the service offer manager 172-b may approve the service offer request at step 325 based on the access profile. In other examples, the service offer manager 172-b may determine that the access profile does not provide service offer approval for device 160-f. In such a case, the service offer manager 172-b may reject the request for the service offer signal 315.

If the service offering manager 172-b determines that the service offering is approved based on the access profile, the service offering manager 172-b may send an authorization signal 330 to the network 140-b. Network 140-b and service offering manager 172-b may establish a communication session 335, and in turn, service offering manager 172-b may establish a communication session 340 with device 160-f. In some examples, communication sessions 335 and 340 may be microsessions. A micro-session may be a session that is limited to a service offering and may also be limited to a corresponding set of network destinations associated with an identified access profile. Communication sessions 335 and 340 may be two-way communication sessions in which communication 345 between device 160-f and network 140-b is relayed through service offering manager 172-b. In other words, the service offering manager 172-b provides a communication service to the device 160-f within the mobile platform via a wireless communication system.

In fig. 4 shows a typical screenshot 400 of a portal 405 for a collection of service offerings 410 in accordance with aspects of the present invention. Portal 405 may be displayed on the display screen of a device, such as device 220, as shown in FIG. 2 and 3 when a service offer is received, for example, at step 310 in FIG. 3. The portal 405 may be displayed on a mobile device on board the mobile vehicle or may be displayed on the screen of a terminal attached to the mobile vehicle. Screenshot 400 is just one example of the many possible different screenshots and alternatives to portal 405.

The portal 405 may include an identifier 435 that indicates that the portal 405 is intended to establish one or more microsessions. As used herein, the term microsession may include access to only a portion of the Internet or other network service, wherein said portion relates to an application or service identified in the service offering. Portal 405 may contain a list of service offerings 410, which may include prices 420. Typical service offerings as well as typical prices are listed on portal 405. For example, a messaging service may be listed as free along with 8 different options for different messaging applications. which the user can select. Various options can be selected from messaging services popular at the time, messaging services commonly used in the region or route of the operator or mobile vehicle, personalized user history associated with the device, and the like. Other service offerings shown in the example portal 405 could include a social networking service, a video service, a music application, a spreadsheet application, or a mapping application. In other examples, other service offerings may be included, which may have more or fewer service offerings than shown in the example of FIG. 4.

The portal 405 may also include one or more request options 415, such as radio buttons, through which the device user can select a service offering. As shown in FIG. 4, request option 415-a has been selected by placing X in radio button 415-a, which selects an associated service offering called music. Send option 440 may be selected to provide a request to offer services to the wireless communication system. If authorized, the device can connect to the service offering via a wireless communication system. If send option 440 is selected, then device 160-f may request a service offer, for example, at step 315 in FIG. 3.

Although the typical portal 405 is shown simply as a line drawing, other examples may include graphics, videos, colors, graphics interchange formats (GIFs), icons, and the like. Other options or features may also be included, such as options for submitting, canceling, updating service offerings, and the like. In some examples, the 405 portal is a web page provided by a web browser. In other examples, the 405 portal is a graphical user interface (GUI) for another type of application.

In some examples, portal 405 may be generated in a service offering manager portal builder, such as portal builder 188, as shown in FIG. 1. The portal builder may be located within a wireless communications system, which may be located, for example, on a satellite gateway or satellite terminal. The portal builder can provide a backend capability to manage and control what services are deployed to different users or devices associated with an operator. What services are offered to each user or device may be based on a set of rules unique to the user or device, such as an access profile. Access profile rules may be changed or updated based on changes in the provider offering the service, or changes in anything related to the operator, user, or device (for example, subscription status, service provider, location, route, local competitors, market changes, changes licenses, applications installed on the device, etc.). Prices may also vary between different devices, which may be based on, among other factors, such things as loyalty program enrollment, identification of the device's service provider, existing subscriptions, current promotions and regions.

Portal 405 may provide a server-side method for dynamically determining personalized service offerings for a population of devices. Service offerings displayed in the portal 405 may be personalized for each device, which could, for example, be based on current subscriptions and installed applications. Portal 405 may be different for different users. The portal 405 may provide a more unique and optimized experience to the user, for example, by offering services that are relevant to that user and at appropriate prices. The user can save time browsing through many different service offers when using the methods described herein, since more relevant service offers can be displayed more clearly. In some examples, a user can also save money by paying only for the specific service they want to use in a micro-session, rather than paying a higher price for full network access. These methods can also reduce traffic on your network.

In fig. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method 500 for personalized offers of connectivity services regarding a wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present invention. In some examples, a wireless communication system may be or include aspects of a wireless communication system, as described with respect to FIG. 1–4.

At block 505, one or more service offers may be received in the wireless communication system from one or more networks. Service offers may be valid for a specific period of time or may be real-time offers. Service offerings may be offers of device-specific access to one or more applications or services provided by a corresponding set of network destinations within the network. Service offers can be generated based on operator, route, region, etc. mobile platform. At step 510, method 500 includes providing service offerings to a collection of devices on a mobile platform. In some examples, the access profile database may be accessed before service offerings are provided to a population of devices to further personalize service offerings for specific devices.

At step 515, method 500 includes determining whether a request for service offering has been received from the device. If not, method 500 continues to receive updated offers from the network and provide those offers to the devices. If the request to access the service offering is accepted, execution of method 500 proceeds to block 520.

At step 520, the access profile database is queried to determine the rules associated with a particular device accessing a particular service offering. At step 525, method 500 determines whether the access profile associated with the service offering and the device allow connection to the service offering. If the service offering matches the access profile, execution of method 500 may return to updating its service offerings or providing updated service offerings to the device. However, if the service offering matches the access profile, the device may be authorized by the wireless communications system to use the service offering. At step 530, a communication session may be established between the device and the network, with the wireless communication system acting as a relay. The communication session may be a micro-session.

At step 535, method 500 may include relaying communications by a wireless communication system between a device and a network during a session. If method 500 includes receiving a request to terminate a session at step 540 from either a device or a network, the session may be terminated at step 545. In other examples, the session may be associated with a session timer, and the session may time out after the timer has expired. session. If not, then execution of method 500 continues to maintain communication between the device and the network until the session is terminated. Method 500 may be repeated or performed in parallel for different devices connecting to the wireless communication system, as well as for updated service offerings.

In fig. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method 600 for personalized offers of connectivity services regarding a device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. In some examples, the device may be device 160 or device 220, such as a mobile device or any other type of device, as described with respect to FIGS. 1–3.

At step 605, method 600 may include establishing a connection with a wireless communication system, such as a wireless communication system, including one or more of the aspects described with respect to FIG. 1–5. This could be, for example, a mobile device connected to a Wi-Fi network in the nature of a mobile vehicle, such as a Wi-Fi network connected to a satellite communications system to connect to the network. The device may receive service offers from the wireless communication system and display (or speak, etc.) them at step 610. The device user may select a service offer to use, and the device will send a request for the specific service offer to the wireless communication system at step 615.

If the service offer authorization is rejected at step 620, execution of method 600 may return to step 615 where the user can select another service. However, if the service offering authorization is accepted, execution of the method proceeds to block 625. At block 625, the device participates in communications related to the service offering contained in the wireless communication system, which may constitute a micro-session. The device may continue to participate in the microsession until the service offering is indicated to end, at step 630. The service offer may be ended if the user decides to stop using the service, the service offer has expired, or the service offer provider indicates that the service has ended. . At step 635, the communication session may be terminated based on the indication.

In one use case, for example, the user may be on board an aircraft flying along a specific route. The user can connect his mobile phone to the Wi-Fi network on board the aircraft. When connected to a Wi-Fi network, a wireless communications system also connected to or including a Wi-Fi network can identify one or more service offerings and compare them to the access profile for the mobile phone. Based on the service offerings and access profile, the wireless communication system can generate a mobile phone portal at the backend that identifies specific personalized service offerings. The wireless communication system may present service offerings in the form of a portal to a mobile phone. The user can access the portal from his mobile phone, view service offerings and select which service offerings he would like to use. The mobile phone requests access to the corresponding service offering via the on-board Wi-Fi, which relays the request to the wireless communication system. The wireless communication system, in particular a satellite terminal (which may be located in an aircraft or on the ground), may further confirm the mobile device's access to the service offering. Once approved, the wireless communication system facilitates communication between the mobile device and the network containing the service offering. The mobile device accesses the service offering, but not necessarily other services or sites on the network, through a relay connection.

In fig. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method 700 for personalized offers of connectivity services with respect to a network containing service offers, in accordance with aspects of the present invention. In some examples, the network may be, for example, network 140, as described in relation to FIG. 1–3.

At 705, method 700 may include providing a set of service offerings to an operator via a wireless communication system. Each service offering can be associated with a set of corresponding network destinations. Service offerings may be for an online application or service. The network may provide a set of service offerings periodically, on demand or, for example, whenever a change occurs in the service offerings. A set of service offerings can detail the applications and services offered, prices, any restrictions, etc. and may be based on the specific characteristics of the relevant operator or mobile vehicle.

At step 710, the network may receive an authorization message regarding a specific device that requires access to a particular service in the service offerings. It may be accepted immediately upon submission of a set of service offers, or it may be accepted at a later date. The authorization message may indicate that the device is authorized, through an appropriate access profile, to access a particular service.

At step 715, a communication session is established between the device and the network via a wireless communication system, which may be or include a satellite communication system. A communication session can be a micro-session, which means that only those network destinations that are associated with a specific service can be accessed by the device. The network communicates with the device through the wireless communication system at 720 until the communication session is terminated at 725. The communication session may be terminated by the device, the network, or the wireless communication system (eg, a wireless communication system device).

In fig. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method for personalized offers of connectivity services in accordance with aspects of the present invention. Some or all of the steps of the exemplary method 800 may be performed by various devices of a wireless communication system, for example, for one or more of a satellite terminal 150, a satellite communication satellite 121, a gateway 130, and/or a satellite communication system network device 141, as described with reference to fig. 1–3. In the description of method 800, one or more devices of the wireless communication system may perform each of the described steps. In some examples, a single wireless communication system device may perform the above steps. In other examples, one or more steps may be performed by a first device while a second device may perform one or more other steps of method 800.

At step 805, method 800 may include providing communication service to a plurality of devices within a mobile platform via a wireless communication system. In some examples, the mobile platform is associated with an operator that defines access profiles for the mobile platform, wherein the operator is associated with a collection of mobile platforms. In some examples, step 805 may be performed at least in part by network manager 1020, service proposal manager 1015, and/or transmitter 1095, as illustrated in FIG. 10.

At step 810, method 800 may include maintaining a database of access profiles for accessing a network through a wireless communication system, wherein each of the access profiles corresponds to a corresponding service offering from a set of service offerings selected by a plurality of devices and is associated with a corresponding set of network destinations within the network. In some examples, step 810 may be performed at least in part by the access profile database 1010, as depicted in FIG. 10.

At step 815, method 800 may include receiving a request from a device of the plurality of devices for a particular service offering of the plurality of service offerings. In some examples, step 815 may be performed at least in part by the service request manager 1015 or receiver 1090, as illustrated in FIG. 10.

At step 820, method 800 may include identifying an access profile from the access profile database that is associated with a particular service offering. In some examples, access profiles define a set of rules for a collection of service offerings, including a specific service offering, offered across a collection of devices within a mobile platform. In other examples, each access profile defines a set of rules for a population of devices to access the corresponding service offering. In some examples, the set of access rules is based at least in part on at least one of a subscription, identification, communication information, booking identifier, ticket identifier, individual membership associated with a device, group membership associated with a device, or a combination thereof. In some examples, step 820 may be performed at least in part by the network manager 1020 or the access profile database 1010, as illustrated in FIG. 10.

At step 825, method 800 may include allowing communication between the device and a corresponding set of network destinations associated with the identified access profile. In some examples, allowing communication between the device and a corresponding set of network destinations associated with the identified access profile further includes allowing communication across beam resources of at least one satellite beam of the satellite communications system, wherein the wireless communications system comprises the satellite communications system. In some examples, step 825 may be performed at least in part by microsession manager 1025 or network manager 1020, as illustrated in FIG. 10.

In some examples, method 800 further includes establishing a session for a particular service offering on a device of a collection of devices, wherein communication occurs during the established session.

In some examples, method 800 also includes configuring a session in accordance with an access profile associated with a particular service offering and transmitting information identifying the configured session of said session to the device. Some examples include configuring a set of service offerings based on the characteristics of the mobile platform.

In other examples, method 800 may also include determining a set of service offerings based at least in part on identifying information for at least one user associated with the device. This may be accomplished with or without a device that directly transmits identifying information. For example, a preference profile may be built based on past device use or other characteristic. A preference profile can be used to determine which services a device is allowed to choose from.

In additional examples, method 800 further includes transmitting at least a portion of data associated with a particular service offering from a network destination from a corresponding set of network destinations, wherein the network destination is located outside the wireless communication system. In yet other examples, method 800 may include updating a device-specific profile database to include an indication of a request for a particular service offering from the device.

In some examples, method 800 further includes receiving a request from a second device of the plurality of devices for another service offering of the plurality of service offerings. The method 800 may further include allowing communication between the second device and a corresponding second set of network destinations associated with a second identified access profile associated with a different service offering. In some examples, each device receives a unique service offering or set of service offerings.

In other examples, method 800 may include maintaining a device-specific profile database, wherein each of the device-specific profiles is associated with a corresponding one of a population of devices. Method 800 may further include updating, in response to receiving a request from a device, a device-specific profile that is associated with the device to include indicating a request for a particular service offering from the device. In additional examples, method 800 may also include allowing communication if the request indication for a particular service offering is within a device-specific profile that is associated with the device.

In fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a satellite communications environment 900 in accordance with aspects of the present invention. The satellite communication environment 900 may be an example of the satellite communication environment 100 or 200 described with reference to FIG. 1 or 2 respectively. The satellite communications environment 900 includes a multi-user access terminal 950, a satellite 121-c (eg, as part of a satellite communications system, and a device 160-g). In some examples, the multi-user access terminal 950 may be an example of the satellite terminal 150 described with reference to FIG. 1, or modem 270. In some examples, the multi-user access terminal 950 may be a single device, for example, within a mobile platform such as an aircraft 230. In other examples, the functions performed by the multi-user access terminal 950 may be subdivided or shared between two or more devices.

The multi-user access terminal 950 may include a processor 905 and a memory 910. The storage device 910 may store computer-readable, computer-executable software or firmware code 915, including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the multi-user access terminal 950 to perform various functions, described in this document. In some examples, code 915 may not be executed directly by the processor, but may cause the computer to perform (eg, when compiled and executed) the functions described herein. The processor 905 may include an intelligent hardware device (eg, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc.). Each of the components of the multi-user access terminal 950 may communicate, directly or indirectly, with each other (eg, through one or more buses 960).

The multi-user access terminal 950 may be configured to communicate with one or more communications satellites (eg, communications satellite 121-c), which may be an example of aspects of the communications satellite 121 of a satellite communications system, as described with reference to FIG. 1–3. The multi-user access terminal 950 may be configured to establish a communications link with a communications satellite 121-c using the satellite terminal's communications antenna 954 and a communications signal transceiver 952. The communication link may support two-way communication via forward link signals 172-a and/or reverse link signals 173-a between the multi-user access terminal 950 and the communications satellite 121-c.

The communications signal transceiver 952 may include various circuits and/or processors to support receiving, transmitting, converting, encoding, and/or decoding signals 155-a. For example, the communications signal transceiver 952 may include a modem for modulating packets and providing the modulated packets to the satellite terminal communications antenna 954 for transmission and for demodulating packets received from the satellite terminal communications antenna 954. As shown in the present example, the multi-user access terminal 950 includes one satellite terminal communications antenna 954. However, in some cases, the multi-user access terminal 950 may have more than one satellite terminal communications antenna 954, which may be capable of simultaneously transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions and/or may be configured to support different beamforming techniques.

The multi-user access terminal 950 may include a service offering manager 172-c. The service offer manager 172-c may include various circuits and/or processors to support personalized service offers. In some examples, the service offering manager 172-c may include circuitry and/or processors configured to receive a plurality of service offerings and apply the service offerings to a plurality of devices using access profiles.

The multi-user access terminal 950 may be configured to communicate with one or more devices 160-g via signals transmitted over wired and/or wireless connection(s) 161-c. The multi-user access terminal 950 may utilize a local communications interface 920 that supports any number of wired and/or wireless communication channels between the multi-user access terminal 950 and one or more devices 160-g, which may be controlled by the service offering manager 172-c. As illustrated in the present example, the service offering manager 172-c may be implemented as a separate module of the multi-user access terminal 950, which may be implemented as a stand-alone instruction set (e.g., a software module having a set of instructions stored in a memory device that may be a standalone portion of a storage device) and/or a separate processing element (e.g., a standalone CPU, microcontroller, ASIC, field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other similar integrated circuit (IC)). In other examples, some or all of the operations of the service offering manager 172-c may be caused by commands stored in memory 910 (eg, part of the code 915), which in some examples may be executed by the processor 905. The service offering manager 172-c may manage and/or or configure various components of the satellite terminal by performing one or more operations of the exemplary methods 500, 600, 700, or 800 described with reference to FIG. 5–8.

The multi-user access terminal 950 may include a satellite communications manager 930 configured to manage various aspects of communications between the multi-user access terminal 950 and the communications satellite 121-c. As illustrated in the present example, the satellite communications manager 930 may be implemented as a separate module of the multi-user access terminal 950, which may be implemented as a standalone instruction set (e.g., a software module having a set of instructions stored in an offline portion of the storage device) and/or a separate processing element (such as a stand-alone CPU, microcontroller, ASIC, FPGA or similar IC). In other examples, some or all of the operations of satellite communications manager 930 may be caused by instructions stored in memory 910 (e.g., part of code 915), which in some examples may include steps performed by processor 905.

In various examples, the components of the multi-user access terminal 950 may be divided into sub-assemblies, and the various components may be included in a sub-assembly either partially or completely.

In fig. 10 illustrates a block diagram 1000 of a service offering manager 172-d in accordance with aspects of the present invention. The service offering manager 172-d may be part of any satellite terminal 150, device 220, communications satellite 121, gateway 130, or network device 141, as described with reference to FIG. 1-3 and 9. For example, the service offering manager 172-d may be a portion of the satellite terminal 150 operating with a common processor and memory of the satellite terminal 150. In another example, the service offering manager 172-d may be a stand-alone component of the satellite terminal 150 , receiving input data from other components of the satellite terminal 150 and sending output data to them. In other examples, the service offering manager 172-d may be or form part of a device 160, communications satellite 121, gateway 130, or network device 141 that manages access rules for service offerings of one or more networks or content providers for a satellite communications system. The service offering manager 172-d may also be or include a processor. Each of the service offering manager components 172-d may be coupled with others to provide the functionality described herein. The service offering manager 172-d may be configured to receive signals from receiver 1090 and deliver signals to transmitter 1095 using various methods, including wired or wireless communications, control interfaces, user interfaces, and the like.

The service offering manager 172-d may include an access profile database 1005 that stores a collection of access profiles. The service offering manager 172-d may also include a service offering request manager 1015, which may perform one or more aspects of managing requests for specific service offerings from devices, as described with reference to FIG. 1–9. For example, the service proposal manager 1015 may receive as input from the receiver 1090 a service proposal request via a satellite communications system. In various examples, the service offer request manager 1015 may query the access profile database 1010 to determine whether the requested service offer is available to the requesting device.

The service offering manager 172-d may include a network manager 1020 that may perform one or more aspects of managing a microsession between a device and the network that provides access to a particular service offering, as described with reference to FIG. 1–9. The network manager 1020 may establish a session between the device and the network and relay communications between them. The service offering manager 172-d may include a microsession manager 1025 that may perform one or more aspects of providing personalized service offerings, as described with reference to FIG. 1–9. In some examples, the microsession manager 1025 may facilitate a microsession between a network and a device.

The service offering manager 172-d may include a portal builder 1030, which may provide a portal for a device to request and access one or more service offerings, as described with reference to FIG. 1–9. For example, portal builder 1030 may determine which service offerings are applicable to a particular device, perhaps using the access profile database 1010, and present the portal to the device. In some examples, the portal may be a GUI. The service offering manager 172-d may include a device-specific profile database 1035 that may provide device-specific rules for devices to access service offerings, as described with reference to FIG. 1–9.

The components of the service offering manager 172-d, individually or collectively, may be implemented with at least one ASIC configured to implement some or all of the applicable functions in hardware. Alternatively, the functions may be performed by one or more other processors (or cores) on at least one IC. Other examples may use other types of integrated circuits (eg, structured/platform ASICs, FPGAs, or other semi-custom ICs) that can be programmed in any manner known in the art. The functions may also be implemented, in whole or in part, by instructions implemented in a storage device formatted for execution by one or more general purpose or special purpose processors.

The detailed description set forth above in connection with the accompanying drawings provides examples and does not represent the only examples that may be implemented or that fall within the scope of the claims. The term "example" as used herein means "serving as an example, example, or illustration" and not "preferred" or "superior to other examples." The detailed description includes specific details in order to provide an understanding of the methods described. However, these methods can be put into practice without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to facilitate understanding of the concepts of the described examples.

Information and signals can be represented using any of a wide variety of technologies and methods. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols and chips that may be referred to in the above description may be voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

Various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the invention herein may be implemented or implemented using a general purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete component circuit, or transistor logic circuit , discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described in this document. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other similar configuration.

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored or transmitted as instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and embodiments are included within the scope of the invention and the accompanying claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, a hardware implementation, or a combination of any of the foregoing. Elements that implement functions can also be physically located in different positions, including being distributed in such a way that parts of the functions are implemented in different physical positions. As used herein, including in the claims, the term “and/or”, when used in a list of two or more elements, means that any of the listed elements may be used by itself or any combination of two may be used. or more of the listed elements. For example, if the composition is described as containing components A, B and/or C, the composition may contain only A; only in; only with; A and B in combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B and C in combination. Additionally, as used herein, including in the claims, the term “or” when used in a list of elements (e.g., a list of elements preceded by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) means a delimiter list, such as, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C" means A, or B, or C, or AB, or AC, or BC, or ABC (i.e., A, B, and C).

Machine-readable media includes both computer storage media and communications media, including any media that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one location to another. A storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and without limitation, computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other media that can be used to carry or store required program code facilities in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Additionally, any connection is properly referred to as a computer readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then coaxial cable , fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwave are included in the definition of media. The disc and disc used herein include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disc and Blu-ray disc, discs generally reproducing data magnetically, whereas discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above are also included in the scope of machine-readable media.

As used herein, the phrase “based on” should not be construed as a reference to a closed set of terms. For example, the exemplary step described by the phrase "based on condition A" may be based on both condition A and condition B without departing from the scope of the present invention. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” should be interpreted in the same way as the phrase “based on at least in part.”

The previous description of the invention is provided to enable one skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention should not be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should have the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims (57)

1. A communication method for use in a wireless communication system (100), including: providing communication services to a set of devices (160) within the mobile platform (170) through a wireless communication system; maintaining a database (145) of access profile data for accessing a network (140) through a wireless communication system, wherein each of the access profiles (147) corresponds to a corresponding service offering from a plurality of service offerings (167) selected by the plurality of devices, and is associated with a corresponding set of network destinations (141) within the network; receiving a request (315) from a device from the plurality of devices for a specific service offering from the plurality of service offerings; identifying an access profile from the access profile database that is associated with a particular service offering; allowing communication between the device and a corresponding set of network destinations associated with the identified access profile; And configuring a set of service offerings based on the characteristics of the mobile platform. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the device of the plurality of devices is a first device, the corresponding set of network destinations is a corresponding first set of network destinations, the identified access profile is an identified first access profile, the method further comprising: receiving a request from a second device from the plurality of devices for another service offering from the plurality of service offerings; And allowing communication between the second device and a corresponding second set of network destinations associated with the second identified access profile associated with the other service offering. 3. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1, 2, additionally including: establishing a session for a particular service offering on a device from a collection of devices, wherein communication occurs during the established session. 4. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-3, further including: determining a set of service offerings based on at least partially identifying information for at least one user associated with the device. 5. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-4, characterized in that the set of service offerings is different for each of the set of devices. 6. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-5, characterized in that the access profiles define a set of rules for a set of service offerings, including a specific service offering, offered in a set of devices within the mobile platform. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the set of access rules is based at least in part on at least one of subscription, identification, communication information, booking identifier, ticket identifier, individual device-associated membership, group membership associated with the device, or a combination thereof. 8. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-7, further including: transmitting at least a portion of the data associated with a particular service offering from a network destination from a corresponding set of network destinations, wherein the network destination is located outside the wireless communication system. 9. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-8, characterized in that the mobile platform is associated with an operator who defines access profiles for the mobile platform, wherein the operator is associated with a collection of mobile platforms. 10. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-9, additionally including: maintaining a device-specific database (1035) of profile data, wherein each of the device-specific profiles is associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of devices; And updating, in response to receiving a request from the device, a device-specific profile that is associated with the device to include an indication of the request for a specific service offering from the device. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein enabling communication between the device and a corresponding set of network destinations further includes: allowing communication if the request indication for a specific service offering (315) is within a device-specific profile (1035) that is associated with the device. 12. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-11, characterized in that enabling communication between the device and a corresponding set of network destinations associated with the identified access profile further includes: resolution of communication on beam resources (155) of at least one satellite beam of the satellite communication system (157), wherein the wireless communication system comprises a satellite communication system. 13. Wireless communication system (100), comprising: a satellite (121) providing communication services to a plurality of devices (160) within a mobile platform (170) via one or more satellite beams (155); an access profile database (145) for accessing a network (140) via a wireless communication system, wherein each of the access profiles (147) corresponds to a corresponding service offering from a plurality of service offerings (167) selected by the plurality of devices and is associated with a corresponding a set of network destinations (141) within the network; processor (180); a storage device (186) in electronic communication with the processor; And instructions stored in a storage device and executed by a processor to cause a wireless communication system to: receiving a request (315) from a device from the plurality of devices for a specific service offering from the plurality of service offerings; identifying an access profile from the access profile database that is associated with a particular service offering; allowing communication between the device and a corresponding set of network destinations associated with the identified access profile; And configuring a set of service offerings based on the characteristics of the mobile platform. 14. The wireless communication system of claim 13, wherein the device of the plurality of devices is a first device, a corresponding set of network destinations is a corresponding first set of network destinations, the identified access profile is an identified first access profile, and wherein commands are additionally executed by the processor to cause the wireless communication system to: receiving a request from a second device from the plurality of devices for another service offering from the plurality of service offerings; And allowing communication between the second device and a corresponding second set of network destinations associated with a second identified access profile associated with a different service offering. 15. Wireless communication system according to any one of paragraphs. 13 and 14, characterized in that the instructions are additionally executed by the processor to cause the wireless communication system to: establishing a session (340) for a particular service offering at a device of the plurality of devices, wherein communication occurs during the established session. 16. Wireless communication system according to any one of paragraphs. 13-15, characterized in that the commands are additionally executed by the processor to cause the wireless communication system to: determining a set of service offerings based on at least partially identifying information for at least one user associated with the device. 17. Wireless communication system according to any one of paragraphs. 13-16, characterized in that the set of service offerings is different for each of the set of devices. 18. Wireless communication system according to any one of paragraphs. 13-17, characterized in that the access profiles define a set of rules for a set of service offerings, including a specific service offering, offered in a set of devices within the mobile platform. 19. The wireless communications system of claim 18, wherein the set of access rules is based at least in part on at least one of subscription, identification, communication information, reservation ID, ticket ID, individual membership associated with the device, membership in a group associated with a device, or a combination thereof. 20. Wireless communication system according to any one of paragraphs. 13-19, characterized in that the commands are additionally executed by the processor to cause the wireless communication system to: transmitting at least a portion of the data associated with a particular service offering from a network destination from a corresponding set of network destinations, wherein the network destination is located outside the wireless communication system. 21. Wireless communication system according to any one of paragraphs. 13-20, characterized in that the mobile platform is associated with an operator who defines access profiles for the mobile platform, wherein the operator is associated with a set of mobile platforms. 22. Wireless communication system according to any one of paragraphs. 13-21, characterized in that the commands are additionally executed by the processor to cause the wireless communication system to: maintaining a device-specific database (1035) of profile data, wherein each of the device-specific profiles is associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of devices; And update, in response to receiving a request (340) from the device, for a device-specific profile that is associated with the device to include indicating a request for a specific service offering from the device. 23. The wireless communication system according to claim 22, characterized in that enabling communication between the device and a corresponding set of network destinations further includes: allowing communication if the request indication for a specific service offering is within a device-specific profile that is associated with the device. 24. Wireless communication system according to any one of paragraphs. 13-23, characterized in that enabling communication between the device and the corresponding set of network destinations further includes: resolution of communication on beam resources (155) of at least one satellite beam of the satellite communication system (157), wherein the wireless communication system comprises a satellite communication system.