Method of exchanging communications between a satellite and terminals associated therewith
First Claim
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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Accused Products
Abstract
A method is provided for enabling communications between one or more satellites and a plurality of terminals wherein the plurality of terminals are divided into M groups of terminals and wherein the method comprising: forwarding a plurality of communication frames in a forward link, wherein said plurality of 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, and assigning, by a satellite return link scheduler, a respective capacity of the return link for at least one of the one or more groups of terminals, wherein the assignment takes into account which of the sub-frames is associated with that at least one group of the terminals.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for enabling communications between one or more satellites and a plurality of terminals, said method comprising:
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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; andassigning, 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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for enabling communications between one or more satellites and a plurality of terminals wherein the plurality of terminals are divided into M groups of terminals and wherein said method comprising:
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forwarding a plurality of communication frames in a forward link, wherein said plurality of 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; and assigning, by a satellite return link scheduler, a respective capacity of the return link for at least one of the one or more groups of terminals, wherein said assignment takes into account which of the sub-frames is associated with that at least one group of the terminals, wherein the one or more satellites are configured to communicate with the plurality of terminals belonging to a public network through at least one gateway, and wherein the plurality of terminals and the at least one gateway are configured to execute identical, bit-exact satellite coverage calculation routines, synchronized for traffic routing and beam/satellite selection with minimal signaling. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification