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SonyGranted patentNetworks & wirelessInterest 6/10

Sony patents satellite network timing for better phone connections

Sony has been granted a patent for a method that helps mobile devices communicate with satellite networks. The system waits for the phone to update its position and timing data before allowing it to send information back to the satellite.

Why it mattersThis technology could improve how phones connect to satellites in remote areas by ensuring the device has accurate location data before transmitting.

In the filing’s own words

A method for use in a mobile telecommunications system comprising a Non-Terrestrial Network “NTN”, the network comprising a base station and a terminal configured to communicate with the base station via an air interface provided by infrastructure equipment of the NTN. The method comprises the terminal receiving a downlink signal from the base station; determining that a first uplink transmission is to be transmitted; determining that the terminal will obtain, during a first time period, position information; the base station scheduling first uplink resources for the terminal to transmit the first uplink transmission, wherein the first uplink resources are scheduled at a point in time selected after the first time period; in response to the downlink signal and during the first time period, the terminal obtaining position information; and the terminal transmitting, using the obtained position information, the first uplink transmission to the base station using the first uplink resources.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method of operating a base station in a mobile telecommunications system comprising a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN), the NTN comprising the base station and a terminal configured to communicate with the base station via an air interface provided by infrastructure equipment of the NTN, the method comprising: determining that a first uplink transmission is to be transmitted by the terminal; determining that the terminal will obtain, during a first time period, position information for the terminal; and scheduling first uplink resources for the terminal to transmit the first uplink transmission, wherein the first uplink resources are scheduled at a point in time selected after the first time period, wherein determining that the terminal will obtain, during the first time period, position information for the terminal is based on one or more of: a time elapsed since the terminal last communicated on the first uplink; a time elapsed since the terminal last received communications on a downlink; and a time elapsed since the base station last sent timing and frequency information to the terminal; wherein scheduling the first uplink resources for the terminal to transmit the first uplink transmission includes: determining that the terminal will obtain new position information for the terminal, wherein said determining is based on a time elapsed since the base station last sent timing and frequency information to the terminal being greater than a predetermined threshold; transmitting a delay indication to the terminal, the delay indication identifying a point in time selected after the first time period; and scheduling the first uplink resources at the point in time selected after the first time period, the point in time being that identified by the delay indication.

Facts

Company
Sony (Sony Group Corporation)
Official title
Methods, communications device and infrastructure equipment for a non-terrestrial network
Patent number
US12750843B2
Application number
18268623
Filed
Dec 31, 2021
Granted
Sep 29, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
16

Classified under

H04W 72/1268 Electricity & electronicsH04W 72/0446 Electricity & electronicsH04W 84/06 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.