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Method of exchanging communications between a satellite and terminals associated therewith

  • US 10,305,578 B2
  • Filed: 05/13/2015
  • Issued: 05/28/2019
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2014
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method for enabling communications between one or more satellites and a plurality of terminals, said method comprising:

  • forwarding a plurality of communication frames in a forward link to a plurality of terminals, wherein the plurality of terminals are divided into M groups of terminals;

    wherein said plurality of communication frames are divided into N sub-frames, and wherein traffic being carried along the forward link by each of the N sub-frames serves one or more groups of terminals associated with a respective satellite, such that each group is served by at least a fraction of a sub-frame capacity of the plurality of communication frames, associated with a forward link time slot; and

    assigning, by a satellite return link scheduler, a respective capacity of the return link for at least one group of terminals of the one or more groups of terminals,wherein the terminals belonging to the at least one group of terminals are configured such that the terminals cannot receive communications while they are transmitting communications; and

    wherein the assignment of the respective capacity of the return link to the at least one group is allocated in return link time slots at which the terminals of the at least one group of terminals are not receiving communication of the sub-frames of said forward link which are is associated with said at least one group of the terminals.

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