Methods of communicating overtime division multiple access (TDMA) communication systems with distinct non-time critical and time critical network management information transmission rates

• US 6,463,040 B1
• Filed: 04/28/1999
• Issued: 10/08/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ATC Technology Corporation (FedEx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mobile Satellite Venture LP
• Inventors: Dutta, Santanu
• Primary Examiner(s): HSU, ALPUS
• Application Number:
  US09/300,423
• Time in Patent Office: 1,259 Days
• Field of Search: 370/280, 370/321, 370/329, 370/337, 370/341, 370/347, 370/442, 370/465, 370/468, 370/470, 370/477, 370/522, 455/450, 455/453, 455/507, 455/509, 455/511, 455/515, 455/517, 455/67.1
• US Class Current: 370/280
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18532 Arrangements for managing transmission, i.e. for transporting data or a signalling message
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/212 Time-division multiple access [TDMA]

Abstract

Data transfer efficiencies of a frequency division and/or time division multiple access (FDMA/TDMA) communication methods are improved over prior art methods by communicating over a channel group of a comunication system. A central station transmits to a number of terminals over a forward channel, and transmissions by at least one of the terminals to the central station occur over a return channel of the channel group. The improved methods include the step of transmitting by the at least one of the plurality of terminals at least one superframe to the central station at one of a plurality of data rates over one of a plurality of return channels using a corresponding one of a plurality of data frames having lengths responsive to the one of the plurality of data rates. The methods may also include the step of formatting said transmission superframe comprising a plurality of frames by removing network management information which is not time critical from substantially all of the plurality of frames.

Claims

1. A method of communicating over a channel group of a communication system wherein a central station transmits to a plurality of terminals over a forward channel, and transmissions by any one of the terminals to the central station occur over a return channel of the channel group, the method comprising the steps of:

formatting a transmission superframe comprising a plurality of frames by removing network management information which is not time critical from substantially all of the plurality of frames; and

transmitting the transmission superframe, thereby reducing data transfer delays;

wherein said formatting step further comprises the step of formatting the transmission superframe comprising the plurality of frames by removing the network management information which is not time critical from all but one of the plurality of frames;

wherein the non-time critical network management data comprises first and second non-time critical network management data; and

wherein the first non-time-critical network management data is transmitted in a long bulletin board packet formatted into a first type of frame, and the second non-time-critical network management data being deleted from the long bulletin board packet to form a short bulletin board packet for the second type of frame.

2. The method of communicating according to claim 1, wherein the central station transmits the first and second types of frames in alternate succession, each at one-half of a superframe rate.

3. The method of communicating according to claim 2, wherein the alternate transmission of the first and second types of frames comprise a hyperframe having a hyperframe transmission rate half a superframe transmission rate.

4. The method of communicating according to claim 2, wherein the first type of frame comprises the short bulletin board frame and the second type of frame comprises the long bulletin board frame.

5. The method of communicating according to claim 2, wherein the first type of frame comprises a message frame and the second type of frame comprises the long bulletin board frame.

6. A method of communicating over a channel group of a time-division multiple-access (TDMA) communication system wherein a central station transmits to a plurality of terminals over a time-division multiplexed forward channel, and transmissions by any one of the terminals to the central station occur over a return channel of the channel group, the method comprising periodically formatting log in frames of non-real time network control data, real-time network control data, protocol data, and message data, periodically formatting message frames of data exclusive of the non-real time network control data and including the real-time network control datat, the protocol data and the message data;

arranging in periodic repetition one of the log in frames and a plurality of the message frames into a substantially sequential grouping of frames forming at least one superframe with a substantially same length; and

transmitting the at least one superframe at a predetermined rate over the forward channel with the predetermined rate being less that a frame transmission rate for the substantially sequential grouping of frames of the at least one superframe.

7. A method of communicating over a channel group of a communication system wherein a central station transmits to a plurality of terminals over a forward channel, and transmissions by any one of the terminals to the central station occur over a return channel of the channel group, the method comprising the steps of:

formatting a transmission superframe comprising a plurality of frames by removing network management information which is non-time critical from all but one of the plurality of frames,

wherein the non-time critical network management data comprises first and second non-time critical network management data, and

wherein the first non-time critical network management data is transmitted in a long bulletin board packet formatted into a first type of frame, and the second non-time critical network management data being deleted from the long bulletin board packet to form a short bulletin board packet for a second type of frame; and

transmitting the transmission superframe, thereby reducing data transfer delays.

8. The method of communicating according to claim 7,

wherein said method further comprises the step of transmitting by the at least one of the plurality of terminals data to the central station at one of a plurality of data rates over at least one of a plurality of return channels in a channel group, wherein doubling the data rate substantially doubles data transfer capacity and a ratio of the network management information overhead to the frame is reduced substantially in half.

9. The method of communicating according to claim 7, wherein said transmitting step further comprises the step of transmitting the transmission superframe having a length of about 8 seconds comprising a variable number of the plurality of frames responsive to a data rate transmission.

10. The method of communicating according to claim 7, wherein said transmitting step further comprises the step of transmitting the transmission superframe having a length of about 8 seconds comprising a leading frame and seven message frames, substantially reducing message transfer delays.

11. The method of communicating according to claim 7, wherein said transmitting step further comprises the step of transmitting the transmission superframe having a length of about 8 seconds comprising a leading frame including non-time critical network control data and seven message frames, substantially reducing message transfer delays.

12. The method of communicating according to claim 7,

wherein said transmitting step further comprises the step of transmitting the transmission superframe at one of a plurality of data rates, and

wherein as the data rate increases, a number of frames in the transmission superframe increases proportionally to the increase in the data rate.

13. The method of communicating according to claim 7,

wherein said transmitting step further comprises the step of transmitting the transmission superframe at one of a plurality of data rates, and

wherein as the data rate increases, a number of frames in the transmission superframe increases proportionally to the increase in the data rate and a frame length for each of the frames becomes shorter, increasing an effective information rate over the forward channel.

14. The method of communicating according to claim 7, wherein the central station transmits the first and second types of frames in alternate succession, each at one-half of a superframe rate.

15. The method of communicating according to claim 14, wherein the alternate transmission of the first and second types of frames comprise a hyperframe having a hyperframe transmission rate half a superframe transmission rate.

16. The method of communicating according to claim 14, wherein the first type of frame comprises the short bulletin board frame and the second type of frame comprises the long bulletin board frame.

17. The method of communicating according to claim 14, wherein the first type of frame comprises a message frame and the second type of frame comprises the long bulletin board frame.