Uplink beamforming between an airborne transceiver and a terrestrial transceiver

Abstract

An aerial vehicle wirelessly transmits data that indicates an antenna aperture beamwidth for an airborne wireless transmitter. The aerial vehicle wirelessly receives an uplink beamforming instruction and an uplink power instruction. The aerial vehicle beamforms an uplink wireless signal responsive to the uplink beamforming instruction. The aerial vehicle amplifies the beamformed uplink wireless signal responsive to the uplink power instruction. The aerial vehicle wirelessly transmits the beamformed and amplified uplink wireless signal from the airborne wireless transmitter.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method to wirelessly beamform an uplink, the method comprising:
 wirelessly transmitting data that indicates an antenna aperture beamwidth for an airborne wireless transmitter;   wirelessly receiving an uplink beamforming instruction and an uplink power instruction;   beamforming an uplink wireless signal responsive to the uplink beamforming instruction;   amplifying the beamformed uplink wireless signal responsive to the uplink power instruction; and   wirelessly transmitting the beamformed and amplified uplink wireless signal.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein wirelessly transmitting the data that indicates the antenna aperture beamwidth for the airborne wireless transmitter comprises indicating an identifier for an airborne vehicle. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein wirelessly transmitting the data that indicates the antenna aperture beamwidth for the airborne wireless transmitter comprises indicating an identifier for an airborne transceiver. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein wirelessly transmitting the data that indicates the antenna aperture beamwidth for the airborne wireless transmitter comprises indicating an identifier for the airborne wireless transmitter. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein wirelessly transmitting the data that indicates the antenna aperture beamwidth for the airborne wireless transmitter comprises indicating an antenna type. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein beamforming the uplink wireless signal comprises determining a geometric orientation of the airborne wireless transmitter relative to a terrestrial wireless receiver and beamforming the uplink wireless signal based on the geometric orientation. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein:
 wirelessly receiving the uplink beamforming instruction comprises receiving an aperture instruction; and 
 beamforming the uplink wireless signal comprises modifying the antenna aperture beamwidth responsive to the aperture instruction. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein:
 wirelessly receiving an uplink beamforming instruction comprises receiving an uplink Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI); and 
 beamforming the uplink wireless signal comprises beamforming the uplink wireless signal based on the uplink PMI. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein:
 wirelessly receiving the uplink beamforming instruction comprises receiving an uplink Rank Index (RI); and 
 beamforming the uplink wireless signal comprises beamforming the uplink wireless signal based on the uplink RI. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 wirelessly receiving a downlink wireless signal; 
 determining downlink beamforming metrics based on the downlink wireless signal; 
 generating a downlink beamforming instruction based on the downlink beamforming metrics; and 
 wirelessly transmitting the downlink beamforming instruction. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 determining an altitude of an airborne receiver; 
 generating a downlink beamforming instruction based on the altitude; and 
 wirelessly transmitting the downlink beamforming instruction. 
 
     
     
         12 . A method of operating an airborne wireless transceiver to wirelessly beamform an uplink to a terrestrial wireless transceiver, the method comprising:
 control circuitry generating data that indicates an antenna aperture beamwidth for the airborne wireless transceiver;   a radio wirelessly transmitting the data to the terrestrial wireless receiver that indicates the antenna aperture beamwidth for the airborne wireless transceiver;   the radio wirelessly receiving an uplink beamforming instruction and an uplink power instruction from the terrestrial wireless transceiver;   the control circuitry beamforming an uplink wireless signal responsive to the uplink beamforming instruction;   the radio amplifying the beamformed uplink wireless signal responsive to the uplink power instruction; and   the radio wirelessly transmitting the beamformed and amplified uplink wireless signal to the terrestrial wireless transceiver.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein:
 the control circuitry generating the data that indicates the antenna aperture beamwidth for the airborne wireless transceiver comprises indicating an identifier for the airborne wireless transceiver; and 
 the radio wirelessly transmitting the data that indicates the antenna aperture beamwidth for the airborne wireless transceiver comprises indicating the identifier for the airborne wireless transceiver. 
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein:
 the control circuitry generating the data that indicates the antenna aperture beamwidth for the airborne wireless transceiver comprises indicating an antenna type for the airborne wireless transceiver; and 
 the radio wirelessly transmitting the data that indicates the antenna aperture beamwidth for the airborne wireless transceiver comprises indicating the antenna type for the airborne wireless transceiver. 
 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12  wherein:
 the radio wirelessly receiving the uplink beamforming instruction comprises receiving an aperture instruction; and 
 the control circuitry beamforming the uplink wireless signal comprises modifying the antenna aperture beamwidth responsive to the aperture instruction. 
 
     
     
         16 . An airborne wireless transceiver to wirelessly beamform an uplink, the airborne wireless transceiver comprising:
 control circuitry to generate data that indicates an antenna aperture beamwidth for the airborne wireless transceiver;   a radio to wirelessly transmit the data that indicates the antenna aperture beamwidth for the airborne wireless transceiver to a terrestrial wireless transceiver;   the radio to wirelessly receive an uplink beamforming instruction and an uplink power instruction from the terrestrial wireless transceiver;   the control circuitry to beamform an uplink wireless signal responsive to the uplink beamforming instruction;   the radio to amplify the beamformed uplink wireless signal responsive to the uplink power instruction; and   the radio to wirelessly transmit the beamformed and amplified uplink wireless signal to the terrestrial wireless transceiver.   
     
     
         17 . The airborne wireless transceiver of  claim 16  wherein the control circuitry is to determine a geometric orientation of the airborne wireless transceiver relative to the terrestrial wireless transceiver and beamform the uplink wireless signal based on the geometric orientation. 
     
     
         18 . The airborne wireless transceiver of  claim 16  wherein:
 the radio is to wirelessly receive the uplink beamforming instruction that indicates an uplink Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI); and 
 the control circuitry is to beamform the uplink wireless signal based on the uplink PMI. 
 
     
     
         19 . The airborne wireless transceiver of  claim 16  further comprising:
 the radio to wirelessly receive a downlink wireless signal from a terrestrial wireless transceiver; 
 the control circuitry to determine downlink beamforming metrics based on the downlink wireless signal; 
 the control circuitry to generate a downlink beamforming instruction based on the downlink beamforming metrics; and 
 that radio to wirelessly transmit the downlink beamforming instruction to the terrestrial wireless transceiver. 
 
     
     
         20 . The airborne wireless transceiver of  claim 16  further comprising:
 the control circuitry to determine an altitude of the airborne wireless transceiver; 
 the control circuitry to generate a downlink beamforming instruction based on the altitude; and 
 that radio to wirelessly transmit the downlink beamforming instruction to the terrestrial wireless transceiver.