Method and apparatus of using satellites to augment traffic capacity of a wireless network infrastructure

摘要

A system and method for augmenting a wireless communication network to provide at least a portion of digital data to a user is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of receiving the portion of the digital data in a satellite receiver, providing the received portion of the digital data to at least one of a plurality of terrestrial receivers which form the wireless communication network, and transmitting the received portion of the digital data to a user within a service region using the terrestrial transmitter. The apparatus comprises a satellite antenna, for receiving a signal having at least a portion of the data from a satellite, and a satellite receiver, communicatively coupled to the satellite antenna for detecting and demodulating the signal to produce a portion of the digital data, the satellite receiver communicatively coupled to a terrestrial transmitter in a terrestrial wireless communication network.