JP2003531543A - Active antenna communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: This specification discloses a communication system that uses a high-altitude aircraft that travels at a relatively slow speed that can stay in the air for a long time. The communication system uses an aircraft as a long-term, high-altitude aircraft that relays signals between satellites, aircraft, etc., and one or more ground stations. The ground station has a narrow beam antenna that can be aimed at, and the aircraft can use the narrow beam antenna to maintain a larger station (holding space). The ground station adjusts its aim based on tracking aircraft signals or based on information transmitted by the aircraft to the ground station.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention is directed to US Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 197,79, filed April 14, 2000.
No. 9 claims priority, the contents of which are incorporated herein for any purpose.

[0002]

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to wireless communication systems that use aircraft with one or more ground bases.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION High bandwidth, ultimate connectivity to voice, and end-user demand for data streams have grown rapidly for quite some time. This demand for increased communication capacity exists both in urban areas, where there is considerable telecommunications infrastructure, and in later areas where such infrastructure is lacking. Communication signals may be communicated to end users via many different types of communication systems. Wired, terrestrial systems typically provide high speed communications for wideband signals. However, the infrastructure for such systems is expensive and time consuming to build, maintain and upgrade and does not support mobile communications by itself. Wireless systems that utilize transmission towers provide fairly high speed communications over a fairly limited bandwidth per service land area.

Geostationary Satellites to Earth (GEO) (altitude approximately 36,000 kilometers) can also provide wireless communication to end users, but at very high altitudes, they are limited by bandwidth efficiency. Even narrow beam antennas mounted at such distances encompass large land areas. Therefore, GEO satellites are limited in their capabilities to meet high bandwidth communication demands in most areas, and especially for densely populated areas. Moreover, the GEO satellite must be in the equatorial orbit, which limits its practical use to the equatorial ground region.

Mid-Low Earth Orbit (MEO and LEO) satellite systems (altitude 10,0 respectively)
00 kilometers and 700 to 1500 kilometers) are complex in nature and end users must be equipped with devices to track the relative motion of satellites in the sky. Non-earth geostationary satellites are complex and can be supported by gimbals over wide angles,
It requires a directional antenna that is continuously adjusted. These antennas are typically needed both in the air and on the ground, with terrestrial antennas having a secondary antenna system suitable for switching communication signals from one transit satellite to the next. Of course, none of the above satellites can be easily retrieved, eg for maintenance.

Aircraft are used in a wide variety of application areas including travel, transportation, fire extinguishing, surveillance and combat. Aircraft can be used to relay communication signals. Ground stations for such purposes will typically require either low bandwidth, omnidirectional antennas or wide gimbal angle capability (similar to ground stations for MEO or LEO satellites), because such This is because an aircraft travels a considerable distance even if it makes a turn.

Unfortunately, conventional gimbal ground stations are expensive equipment and can be damaged or worn. Using a wide-angle or omnidirectional antenna avoids the use of gimbals. However, wide broadcast angles require additional power and, more importantly, limit frequency reuse by nearby ground stations and / or nearby aircraft. Therefore, the bandwidth of the system width is limited by the use of wide-angle or omnidirectional antennas.

An exception to the above requirement for antennas having either a wide broadcast angle or a wide angle gimbal is when the aircraft can maintain its position within a small station (position) in the air for long periods of time. That is, in the case of the role of a long-term sub-orbital high altitude platform. Such an aircraft is described in US Pat.
No. 10,284. This aircraft design is known by Pathfinde
r, Centurion and Helios aircraft.

[0009]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

These aircraft can maintain position in the stratosphere for extended periods of time, and ground stations have fixed, narrow beam antennas (eg, 2 ° or 3 ° with no maneuvering mechanism other than to initially target the target). ° Bandwidth antennas) can be used. These narrow beam antennas are used between many ground stations and a given aircraft,
And allows frequency reuse between one ground station (or a nearby ground station) and multiple aircraft. However, such aircraft may consume significant resources (ie, power) to maintain the close station required to use such narrow beam antennas. Power is consumed both for tight maneuvers and for quick response adjustments to transient changes in regional flight conditions.

It would be desirable to develop a communications system that provides high bandwidth signals to a large number of low cost, persistent ground stations. Various embodiments of the invention can meet some or all of these needs and provide related advantages as well.

In various embodiments, the present invention provides a communication system that allows an aircraft to have a wider flight station while retaining the advantages of using narrow beam ground station antennas. Solve some or all.

[0012]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The communication relay system of the present invention typically includes one aircraft and multiple ground stations to which the aircraft relay signals. The aircraft is configured to station-keep within a designated flight station, which is only part of the ground view that may include multiple other potential flight stations. The aircraft includes a communication relay module having one or more antennas for communicating with ground stations. Ground stations are located within the coverage area and each ground station has at least one antenna of the communication relay module and at least one antenna configured to communicate via a communication signal.

The present invention is characterized in that the beam width of the ground station antenna is sufficiently narrow that it is not suitable for irradiating (that is, transmitting and receiving) the entire flight station at one time. Since the aircraft can move across all of the flight stations, each ground station antenna is configured to be steered under the control of the antenna controller. And the ground station antenna
Communication with the communication relay module of the aircraft may be maintained as the aircraft travels across all of the flight stations. The antenna controller is configured to limit steering of the antenna, thus avoiding the antenna being directed to a flight station other than the designated flight station.

Advantageously, most embodiments with this feature use less power through the ground station antenna compared to having a ground station antenna with a beam width wide enough to illuminate the entire flight station, Less interference from nearby communications using the same frequency. In addition, the aircraft requires fewer operations and less energy is consumed to maintain the station as compared to a flight station that is small enough to be completely illuminated by a narrow beam ground station antenna.

Another feature of the invention is that the position information of the aircraft is received by the ground station using a wide beam or omnidirectional antenna and / or is transmitted from the aircraft towards the ground station. The station is to be able to receive information without aiming its antenna precisely at the aircraft.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by reading the following description of specific embodiments, which illustrates, by way of non-limiting example, the principles of the present invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings. Let's do it. The detailed description of specific preferred embodiments, which are set forth so as to make and use the embodiments of the present invention, should not be construed as limiting the numbered claims but as specific examples of the claimed invention. It is a thing.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention briefly described above and limited by the numbered claims, will be better understood by reading the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings. This detailed description of recommended communication system-specific embodiments, which are described as enabling and implementing particular implementations of the present invention, are not limiting of the numbered claims and provide specific examples thereof. It is for.

Referring to FIG. 1, a communication system embodying the present invention includes one or more ground stations 102, one or more aircraft 104, and preferably one or more satellites 106. The ground station is located in the cell 108 targeted by the directional antenna of the aircraft. Each plane is in the stratosphere, for example 50,000 feet and 70,000
Station keep yourself in a flight station restricted between altitudes of feet. Preferably, each flight station is set to the same altitude as the other flight stations. Aircraft use one-way or two-way communication signals to relay ground station communications to other ground stations and / or satellite networks.

Airplane The present invention preferably involves the use of an aircraft as a near-earth stationary platform with moderately stringent station maintenance requirements. According to the invention, the recommended plane is P
It is of similar design to that of the athfinder, Centurion and / or Helios aircraft. A recommended airplane design is shown below and is described in further detail in US Pat. No. 5,810,284, which is incorporated herein by reference. Nevertheless, aircraft such as helicopters, balloons, airships, kites or other types of aircraft are also within the scope of the invention.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B, an embodiment of the preferred aircraft 104 is a flying wing aircraft (all-wing aircraft), ie it has no fuselage or tail. Instead,
A non-swept wing with a nearly consistent airfoil shape and size along the wing span 1
It consists of 12. Preferably, 6, 8 or 14 electric motors 114 are located elsewhere along the blade span, each electric motor driving a single propeller 116 to generate thrust. Preferably two, four or five vertical fins 118a to 118d
Alternatively, the pod extends downward from the wing and has a landing gear at its lower end.

The preferred airplane 104 is solar powered and includes a fuel cell that stores energy for continuous day and night flight. Thus, it is ideally suited for continuous, unmanned mission flights from one week to more than 10 days (eg, 200 hours), and more preferably 3000 hours or more. Alternatively, it cannot be renewed at night from hydrogen fuels (eg, liquefied hydrogen used in either fuel cells or conventional prime movers), fossil fuels or other stored fuels, or a combination of fuel sources such as solar energy during the day , Or it can be designed to obtain some or all of its power from a partially renewable fuel.

The aircraft 104 is longitudinally divided into preferably five or six modular segments located sequentially along the wing span. These segments have a length of 39
To 43 feet and the chord length is approximately 8 feet. Therefore, the length of the aircraft is approximately 8 feet, and preferably approximately 100,120,20.
Has a wing span of 0 or 250 feet. Each wing segment of an aircraft bears its own weight during flight to minimize loads between the segments, thereby minimizing the required load carrying structure.

Fins 118a through 118d extend downward from wing 112 at the connection points between the segments, each fin mounting the front and rear wheels of the landing gear. Fins are designed as pods that house electronics and / or aircraft components such as payloads. One of the pods, the "control pod", is used to carry control electronics, including the autopilot, which is implemented in principle as software to control the prime mover and elevator. In addition, the pod carries sensors, including Global Positioning System devices, as well as communication devices.

The aircraft also includes a communication relay module that includes an aircraft antenna for transmitting and receiving ground stations. Aircraft antennas preferably have a medium beamwidth on the order of 10 ° to 20 °.

As a result of the design described above, the preferred embodiment of the aircraft is lightweight (less than 1 pound per square foot wing area), flying relatively slow (from 13 knots at low altitude to 100 knots at high altitude). ), Requires relatively little power from the solar cell device to stay in the air. The relatively slow flight performance of airplanes enhances the rigorous maneuverability of airplanes during long flight and stationkeeping.

Flying Station With reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 6, each aircraft 104 holds its position.
That is, the ground station 102 maintains a substantially stationary position with respect to the earth. This substantially geostationary position is a flight point (flight range) 132 having a center point 134 and allowable lateral and altitude travel distances. Thus, an air station is typically a cylindrical section of airspace, with the cylinder extending vertically in the longitudinal direction. Preferably, the flight station is above 60,000 above normal air traffic and atmospheric disturbances (storms, etc.).
At an altitude of 0 to 70,000 feet. At this altitude, the maximum wind speed is slower than the wind in the lower jet stream region.

Preferably, each aircraft 104 is maintained within a flight station 132 that is separated from other flight stations by a separation distance 136. At any given time, each aircraft may be at any location within its flight station (as shown in Figure 5). The separation distance ensures that one aircraft does not fly within the beam width of the associated ground antenna of the other, while at the same time avoiding collisions between the aircraft.

[Ground Station] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the ground station 102 in each cell 108 is preferably a ground communication node (node) that transmits and receives signals to and from one or more aircraft 104. .
Ground stations are typically much larger than the number of cells (ie, there are many ground stations in most cells). The ground-based communication device is connected to the ground station,
It typically includes one or more end user terminals (ie, communication devices for one or more end users). Each ground station includes one or more narrow beam antennas that can each send and receive communication signals to and from the antenna of a communication module on board one of the aircraft.

The ground station antenna preferably has a narrow beamwidth, for example around 2 °, 2.5 °, 3 ° or 4 °, which provides a high potential bandwidth at reasonable power levels. These antennas have a steering mechanism and can fine-tune the aiming of the antenna by about 3 to 6 degrees from the normal position, which is about 1 to 3 times the beam width of the ground station antenna.
The communication system includes one or more controllers that direct and control the operation of ground station antennas. A separate controller can be located at each ground station, or a single controller can be located at either the aircraft or the controlling ground station. The controlling ground station can either contact an aircraft that relays control information to another ground station or can communicate directly with a regular ground station. In addition, the controller may be co-located within a number of system components, for example some in an airplane and some in each ground station.

A single ground station can target multiple aircraft and can be equipped with multiple ground station antennas that can access the signals from them, thereby increasing the available bandwidth. Another controller may control different antennas, or a single system controller may control all ground station antennas.

The ground station also includes an initial aiming adjustment mechanism. This mechanism will typically be a manually adjusted and locked system that includes some type of signal strength indicator to help set the antenna's rated aim at the center point 134 of the flight station 132.

Ground Station Cell The antenna on each aircraft 104 is configured and targeted to illuminate an area 142 on the ground substantially filled by one cell 108.
These preferably hexagonal cells are of variable size and are preferably balanced with the aerial antenna beamwidth at a distance equal to the cruise altitude of the airplane. The aircraft antenna has a complete cell cover (covering area 144).
To achieve coverage, it may be targeted to illuminate overlapping ground areas. The coverage area may have a radius typically on the order of 10 to 30 miles.

The aircraft antennas are carried within one or more payload modules within the aircraft 104. Using a gimbal, the antenna is decoupled from the aircraft roll-pitch yaw and translation while maintaining its altitude. Preferably all of the aircraft antennas are mounted on a single, gimbal platform to limit the number of active gimbals. Therefore, the aiming of each antenna is maintained in alignment with each cell 108.

[Antenna Beam Operation] Referring to FIG. 7, in the present invention, the size of the flight station 132 is larger than that of the narrow beam, and the beam 152 of the ground station 102 can be covered without movement. By using a slight twist in the direction of the ground station antenna (ie, minimal maneuvering), the communication system can benefit from having a narrow beam ground antenna (otherwise from a central reference point). A flight station of ± 0.5 miles horizontally and ± 0.1 miles vertically is required). On the other hand, aircraft may benefit from having a wider flight area, such as approximately ± 1.5 miles horizontally and approximately ± 1.0 miles vertically from a central reference point.

In particular, aircraft are generally capable of operating at less power than would be needed to maintain a smaller station (holding space). Airplanes can also maintain position (station keep) in more difficult weather conditions such as strong winds, high-intrusion thunderstorms, turbulence, and vertical air movement. Furthermore, from a reliability point of view, it may not need to be operated too often or too hard, and the antenna platform will be more deflection resistant and easier to stabilize.

When performing steering of a ground station antenna in accordance with the present invention, the ground station antenna controller is preferably configured to steer the antenna beam to move throughout the flight station (space). More preferably, the ground station antenna beam steering is configured to prevent the beam from crossing a particular, non-designated flight station. This configuration can occur in control system software or hardware. This is because the required beam steering depends on the relative position of the ground station and the flight station, and the size and shape of the flight station. In particular, a wide flight station will require higher maneuverability from a ground station directly below the flight station, which is higher than from a ground station that is far away from the aircraft location. Similarly, taller flight stations will require maneuverability from ground stations well further away from the position of the higher aircraft than from those directly below the station. These geometric conditions are easily calculated by the controller.

Referring now to FIGS. 8A and 8B, the ground station antenna typically includes a feed horn 202 and a main dish 204. 2 antennas
A secondary reflector (reflector) 206 may be included.

The actuator for fine tuning antenna steering has low power and long life. Since it does not need to be deflected at a large angle, it can be a low-priced simple mechanism
It can be more reliable than the wide-angle gimbal system. The types of mechanisms that can be used include servomotors, stepper motors, piezoelectric actuators, bimetal strips, and the like. Gimbals can also be used in some embodiments of the invention.

The steering of the antenna can be mechanically reconfigured in a number of different ways.
For example, the entire antenna assembly could be repositioned. More preferably, however, only a portion of the antenna assembly, such as the main dish (see FIG. 8A), secondary reflector (FIG. 8B), or feed cone, can be reset to the deflected position 208. Since the device is typically small, it is preferable to reposition the feed cone or secondary reflector. When using feed cones or secondary reflector repositioning, it may be necessary to use a larger dish than is required for fixed antennas.

Other types of antennas are also within the scope of the invention. For example, phased arrays may also be used. That is, the group of antennas when the relative phase of each signal provided to the antenna is varied such that it enhances the effective radiation pattern of the array in the desired direction and suppresses it in the unwanted direction. In such a case, the antenna is electronically steered. Similarly, an array of narrow beam antennas targeted in a pattern that covers the entire flight station can be selectively used by the control system as a single steerable antenna. Thus, not all embodiments require physical movement to steer the antenna.

Beam Steering Control System In order for the ground station antenna to steer the beam so that it tracks the plane as the plane moves through the flight station, the ground station must control the antenna steering information (ie, Information on vertical and horizontal ground station antenna orientation operations) must be obtained.
This information can be developed in many different ways and in many different control system embodiments. Typically, this information will be generated from aircraft position information as well as information regarding the relative position of the ground station with respect to the flight station.

In the first embodiment of the ground station antenna maneuvering control system of the present invention, the position of the aircraft is determined, for example, using Global Positioning System (GPS) readings.
Confirmed by plane. The information is then transmitted to each ground station via separate narrow channel broadcasts using wide beam or omnidirectional antennas for transmitting and receiving that information, or encoded in the carrier signal normally transmitted to each cell. Transmitted.

Information can be provided in many formats. For example, the information can be transmitted as an absolute geographic position, the aircraft's relative position to the cell, or the aircraft's relative position to the flight station. Alternatively, the information is converted to antenna steering information for each given cell and / or each group of one or more ground stations before being communicated.

It is worth keeping in mind that antenna orientation information and / or aircraft position information is a small amount of data and requires very low transfer rates and very low transfer power to transfer the data. is there. That information needs to reach each ground station with an antenna that targets the aircraft. Each ground station will have to perform the appropriate elevation and azimuth maneuvers for its geographical location with respect to the aircraft.
If one wide-beam antenna on board is used to send the machine-orientation information so that it reaches all users, the information will clarify the antenna maneuvering requirements for each ground station. Or each ground station should calculate its maneuvering requirements based on the position of the aircraft.

In a second embodiment of a ground station antenna maneuver control system for the present invention, the location of each aircraft is determined, for example, using radar ranging and direction finding,
It can be determined by the central control station based on the ground. The information can be telemetered to the aircraft and relayed to the ground station in a manner similar to that discussed above for the first embodiment of the ground station antenna steering control system. Similarly, the information can be communicated to the ground station via other means such as available ground communication systems or other wireless transmissions. Again, the information can be provided in various forms, such as aircraft positioning information or antenna maneuvering information.

In a third embodiment of a ground station antenna steering control system for the present invention, aircraft positioning is determined by each ground station, such as by an automatic tracking system based on the transmitted signal strength of the aircraft. In this type of system, the ground station antenna is steered periodically at small angles and the signal strengths are compared at each position. A stronger signal indicates that the antenna is closer to the center on the aircraft.
Of course, once the ground station is locked to its respective plane, it will remain locked to it, even without any communication from the plane.

If the antenna of the third embodiment has lost the tracking of the aircraft, which can occur when the system is powered down, a search (search) that covers the range of motion that should cover the entire flight station. It should be kept in mind that the pattern can be executed. This capability is also necessary in other embodiments if the antenna maneuvering information is sent to a ground station that is embedded in the aircraft's normal transmission which may be lost when the antenna loses its trajectory. It may be. The use of omnidirectional antennas in control systems generally eliminates the need for significant or frequent scanning.

[Other Considerations] The principle of small-angle antenna control for ground station antennas is a wide range of flight stations such as lateral direction ± 15 miles vertical direction ± 5 miles, or lateral direction ± 20 miles vertical direction ± 3 miles. Applicable to size. However, as the stationkeeping is loosened, side effects such as signal strength fluctuations accompanying large fluctuations in distance or interference with other users of the same frequency that are originally shielded by strict directivity become significant.
Additionally, it may be necessary to increase the spacing between one flight station and nearby flight stations.

Small angle maneuvers can be used for airplane antennas as well as for ground station antennas by adding fine control to the wide angle gimbal that stabilizes the antenna during flight.

There may be ground stations in the overall communication system that do not use only small angle adjustments. Such ground stations may include mobile ground stations and ground stations designed to switch communications (eg, for aircraft command and control) between different aircraft.

It should be noted that the use of limited directional adjustments for ground stations adds cost and complexity to fixed ground stations, but has many associated with efficiency, energy supply, and maneuverability of stratospheric aircraft that act as relay stations. Benefits are provided. Therefore, overall communication system efficiency, cost and reliability are improved under many embodiments of the present invention.

The resulting system can be used for two-way communication between ground stations and other locations, one-way broadcasting relative to ground stations, or even one-way broadcasting by ground stations. Thus, the above description of antennas illuminating a cell or air station relates to antenna beam widths taken remotely and not necessarily to antennas configured to send communications as well as receive communications. You have to understand that it is not a thing.

While a particular form of the invention has been described, of course, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, while the present invention has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments only, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Therefore, the present invention is not limited by the above description, but in connection with the following claims.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a preferred embodiment of a communication system implementing the present invention.

2A is an elevational view of an aircraft used in the communication system shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

2B is a plan view of the aircraft shown in FIG. 2A.

3 is an explanatory diagram of another communication system shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a relative number of ground stations used in the communication system shown in FIG.
It is an elevation view of a flight station.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an array of flight stations used in the communication system shown in FIG.

6 is a plan view of a ground illumination array with overlapping aircraft antenna beams defining cells in a coverage area used in the communication system shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of a directional ground antenna targeting an aircraft within a flight station used in the communication system shown in FIG.

8A is a schematic diagram of a first embodiment of a steerable antenna used in a ground station of the communication system shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

8B is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of a steerable antenna used in a ground station of the communication system shown in FIG.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (81) Designated countries EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE , TR), OA (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, KE, LS, MW, MZ, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AE, AG, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, BZ, CA, CH, CN, CO, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM, DZ, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD , GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MZ, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG , US, UZ, VN, YU, ZA, ZWF F terms (reference) 5K067 AA22 BB04 BB21 DD51 EE02 EE06 EE10 KK01 5K072 AA29 BB12 BB27 CC04 DD13 DD16 DD19 GG03 GG06 [Continued summary]

Claims (21)

[Claims] 1. An aircraft configured for stationkeeping within one designated flight station from a plurality of potential flight stations, wherein the aircraft includes a communication relay module having one or more antennas. A plurality of ground stations located within the coverage area, each ground station including an antenna configured to communicate via a communication signal with at least one of the antennas of the communication relay module, The antenna has a beam width that is insufficient to illuminate the entire flight station at one time; an antenna controller, where the ground station antenna acts as a communication relay module as the aircraft moves within a designated flight station. Each ground station antenna is configured to be steerable under the control of an antenna controller to maintain the communication of
An antenna controller is configured to limit steering of the antenna to avoid directing the antenna to a flight station other than the designated flight station. 2. The antenna controller according to claim 1, wherein the aircraft position information is transmitted to each ground station, and each ground station is configured to calculate antenna steering information from the aircraft position information. Communication relay system. 3. The communication relay system according to claim 2, wherein the antenna controller is configured such that aircraft position information is developed from an onboard sensor. 4. The communication relay system according to claim 2, wherein the antenna controller is configured such that aircraft position information is developed from a sensor located on the ground. 5. The communication relay system according to claim 1, wherein the antenna controller is configured to transmit antenna control information to each ground station. 6. The antenna controller is configured such that information of the antenna controller is embedded in a communication signal from the communication relay module to the ground station antenna and transmitted to each ground station. The communication relay system according to 1. 7. The communication relay system according to claim 1, wherein the antenna controller is configured such that information of the antenna controller is received by each ground station via an omnidirectional antenna. 8. The communication relay system according to claim 1, wherein the antenna controller is configured so that information of the antenna controller is transmitted to each ground station from a position based on the ground. 9. The plurality of ground stations further comprises a tracking system configured to detect information of aircraft position relative to the ground station; the antenna controller for steering ground station antennas. The communication relay system of claim 1, wherein the communication relay system is configured to use aircraft position information to generate antenna steering commands. 10. Each ground station of the plurality of ground stations includes a tracking system configured to detect information about an aircraft position relative to the ground station; the antenna controller is a ground station. The communication relay system of claim 1, wherein the communication relay system is configured to use aircraft position information to generate an antenna steering command for steering an antenna. 11. A tracking system for each ground station is configured to use the signal strength of a signal received by a ground station antenna to detect information about the position of the aircraft, wherein the antenna controller is designated by the aircraft. Characterized by generating an antenna steering command to steer the antenna in the search pattern when the ground station antenna loses communication with the communication relay module while in the station. The communication relay system according to claim 10. 12. The communication relay system according to claim 1, wherein the aircraft is a device selected from the group of airships, airplanes, and kites. 13. The communication relay system according to claim 1, wherein the designated flight station is separated from the reference position by approximately 1.5 miles laterally and approximately 1 mile vertically. . 14. The designated station is approximately 20 miles laterally and approximately 3 miles vertically from a reference position.
The communication relay system described in. 15. The communication relay system according to claim 1, wherein the antenna controller and the ground station antenna are configured such that the ground station antenna can be steered by about 6 ° or less. 16. The communication relay system according to claim 1, wherein the antenna controller and the ground station antenna are configured so that the ground station antenna can be steered by about 3 ° or less. 17. The ground station antenna comprises a main dish and a feed cone, and each ground station antenna is steerable by moving the main dish relative to the feed cone. The communication relay system described in. 18. In a communication relay system, each ground station antenna includes a main dish portion and a feed cone, and each ground station antenna can be operated by moving the feed cone relative to the main dish portion. The communication relay system according to claim 1. 19. Each ground station antenna includes a main dish portion, a secondary reflector, and a feed cone, each ground station antenna relative to at least one of the main dish portion and the feed cone. The communication relay system according to claim 1, wherein the communication relay system can be steered by moving the main dish section. 20. An aircraft configured for stationkeeping within one designated flight station from a plurality of potential flight stations, wherein the aircraft comprises a communication relay module having one or more antennas. Including; a plurality of ground stations located within the coverage area, each ground station including an antenna configured to communicate via a communication signal with at least one of the antennas of the communication relay module, The station antenna has a beam width that is insufficient to illuminate the entire flight station at one time; a control means for the ground station antenna, where the ground station antenna is used when the aircraft moves within the designated flight station. Each ground station antenna is configured to be steerable under the control of the control means, such that the ground station antenna can maintain communication with the communication relay module, and As avoid antenna is directed to the flight station other than the constant flight station, the control means is configured so as to limit the steering of the ground station antenna; communication relay system including. 21. An aircraft including a communication relay module including one or more antennas, the aircraft configured to stationkeep within a flight station designated by a plurality of potential flight stations. Providing a plurality of ground stations for the coverage area, wherein each ground station includes an antenna configured to communicate via a communication signal with at least one of the antennas of the communication relay module. , And the ground station antenna has a beam width insufficient to illuminate the entire flight station at one time; the ground station antenna maintains communication with the communication relay module as the aircraft moves within the designated flight station. And controlling the operation of the ground station antenna so as to avoid being directed to a flight station other than the designated flight station. Law.