Variable frame rate technique for use in a time-division multiple access (TDMA) communication system
First Claim
1. A method of providing efficient access in a communication system between at least one transmitter disposed in a first ground area and a plurality of receiving stations having a plurality of different communication traffic requirements disposed in a second remote ground area, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting information destined for the plurality of receiving stations in a transmission burst; and
(b) in performing step (a), transmitting in each transmission burst a plurality of q subbursts, each subburst comprising digital information associated with a particular receiving station and including preamble information bits and a plurality of information bits where the preamble bits comprise, inter alia, information for accessing the proper receiving station to receive and process the included information bits,characterized in thatthe method comprises the further steps of;
(c) transmitting a plurality of s sequential transmission bursts during a predetermined time interval to form a communication sequence which communication sequence is sequentially repeated, each communication sequence being capable of providing q·
s one-way transmission channels between the first and second ground areas; and
(d) transmitting within n assigned subbursts in each transmission burst of the communication sequence the digital information associated with n·
s transmission channels required between the at least one transmitter in the first ground area and a receiving station in the second ground area when n is an integer while transmitting within each of m assigned subbursts spaced at preselected intervals throughout the s transmission bursts of the communication sequence the digital information associated with m transmission channels required between said at least one transmitter in the first ground area and a receiving station in the second group area when m<
s.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method for use in a communcation system of providing efficient access by low traffic stations while keeping the buffering requirements for high traffic stations at a minimum. The method provides a TDMA architecture which includes a plurality of different frame rates which is dependent on the traffic requirements between station pairs. In operation, a sequence of a plurality of s switching frames are used to form a super frame and each communication burst of a switching frame is divided into a plurality of q subbursts representative of q transmission channels so that a maximum of (q·s) transmission channels are available for assignment in corresponding bursts during a super frame. When traffic demands require n·s channels between two ground stations, then n subbursts in corresponding bursts in each switching frame will be assigned thereto for an integer portion of n, while demands for less than s channels will be spread as evenly as possible throughout the corresponding bursts of the s switching frames of a super frame.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method of providing efficient access in a communication system between at least one transmitter disposed in a first ground area and a plurality of receiving stations having a plurality of different communication traffic requirements disposed in a second remote ground area, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) transmitting information destined for the plurality of receiving stations in a transmission burst; and (b) in performing step (a), transmitting in each transmission burst a plurality of q subbursts, each subburst comprising digital information associated with a particular receiving station and including preamble information bits and a plurality of information bits where the preamble bits comprise, inter alia, information for accessing the proper receiving station to receive and process the included information bits, characterized in that the method comprises the further steps of; (c) transmitting a plurality of s sequential transmission bursts during a predetermined time interval to form a communication sequence which communication sequence is sequentially repeated, each communication sequence being capable of providing q·
s one-way transmission channels between the first and second ground areas; and(d) transmitting within n assigned subbursts in each transmission burst of the communication sequence the digital information associated with n·
s transmission channels required between the at least one transmitter in the first ground area and a receiving station in the second ground area when n is an integer while transmitting within each of m assigned subbursts spaced at preselected intervals throughout the s transmission bursts of the communication sequence the digital information associated with m transmission channels required between said at least one transmitter in the first ground area and a receiving station in the second group area when m<
s. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method of providing efficient access in a communication system between transmitters disposed in a plurality of first spaced-apart ground areas and a plurality of receiving stations disposed in a second remote ground area and having different communication traffic requirements with each of the transmitters, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) sequentially transmitting information destined for the plurality of receiving stations in a separate transmission burst from each of the plurality of first ground areas during a switching frame interval using a time-division multiple access mode; (b) in performing step (a), transmitting in each transmission burst a plurality of q subbursts, each subburst comprising digital information associated with a particular receiving station and including preamble bits and a plurality of information bits where the preamble bits comprise, inter alia, information for accessing the proper receiving station to receive and process the included information bits; characterized in that the method comprises the further steps of; (c) transmitting a plurality of s sequential switching frames during a predetermined time interval to form a communication sequence which is sequentially repeated, each communication sequence being capable of providing q·
s one-way transmission channels between the transmitters in each of the first spaced-apart ground areas and the receiving stations in the second ground area; and(d) transmitting within n assigned subbursts in each corresponding transmission burst of each switching frame interval of the communication sequence the digital information associated with n·
s transmission channels required between each transmitter in the particular first ground area associated with said corresponding transmission burst and the receiving stations in the second ground area where n is an integer, while transmitting within each of m assigned subbursts spaced at preselected intervals throughout the s corresponding transmission bursts of the communication sequence the digital information associated with m transmission channels required between the transmitters in the particular first ground area associated with said corresponding transmission bursts and the receiving stations in the second ground area when m<
s. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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8. A method of providing efficient access in a satellite communication system between ground transmitter/receiver stations disposed in a plurality of spaced-apart ground areas on the surface of a celestial body, the system comprising a satellite capable of switching transmissions concurrently received from the plurality of ground areas via a plurality of y up-link beams of electromagnetic energy for concurrent retransmission to the destined ground areas via a plurality of y down-link beams of electromagnetic energy using a time-division multiple access mode of communication, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) transmitting in each up-link beam from the ground stations in the associated ground areas a series of y transmission bursts for retransmission by the satellite in the plurality of y down-link beams, respectively, during a switching frame interval using a time-division multiplexed communication mode for accessing the ground stations in the ground areas receiving the plurality of y down-link beams; and (b) in performing step (a), transmitting in each transmission burst of the switching frame interval a plurality of q subbursts, each subburst comprising digital information associated with a particular receiver station and including both preamble bits comprising information, inter alia, for accessing the proper ground station and a plurality of information bits destined for the accessed ground station, characterized in that the method comprises the further steps of; (c) transmitting a plurality of s sequential switching frame intervals formed in step (a) during a predetermined time interval to form a communication sequence which communication sequence is sequentially repeated, each communication sequence being capable of providing q·
s one-way transmission channels between the ground areas associated with each up-link beam, and the ground areas associated with each down-link beam; and(d) transmitting within n assigned subbursts in each corresponding transmission burst of each switching frame interval of the communication sequence the digital information associated with n·
s transmission channels required between each transmitter station and receiver station served by the down-link beam associated with said corresponding transmission burst when n is an integer. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification