Virtual channel satellite communication system with improved bandwidth efficiency
First Claim
1. A method of satellite communication that allows efficient use of available bandwidth, the method comprising:
- receiving a channel signal;
dividing the channel signal into one or more subchannels according to available bandwidths, wherein dividing the channel signal comprises fragmenting the channel signal into data packets and encapsulating each of the data packets, wherein the encapsulating includes adding a header that contains information useful for combining the data packets to reconstruct the channel signal; and
transmitting the subchannel to at least one transponder.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Presented is a satellite communication system that allows aggregation of available transponder bandwidth. A channel signal is divided into subchannels if no full transponder is available to receive the channel signal in its entirety, and the subchannels are distributed among a available bandwidths in a plurality of transponders. At the receiving station, the subchannels are combined to form the original channel signal. The channel signal, whether divided and reconstructed or transmitted without being divided, are received into a switch matrix that receives a user channel selection and identifies the channel signal that corresponds to the selection. The identified channel signal is then demodulated and forwarded to a user interface unit. Only a single demodulator is necessary for a user interface unit.
15 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of satellite communication that allows efficient use of available bandwidth, the method comprising:
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receiving a channel signal; dividing the channel signal into one or more subchannels according to available bandwidths, wherein dividing the channel signal comprises fragmenting the channel signal into data packets and encapsulating each of the data packets, wherein the encapsulating includes adding a header that contains information useful for combining the data packets to reconstruct the channel signal; and transmitting the subchannel to at least one transponder. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of satellite communication that allows efficient use of available bandwidth, the method comprising:
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receiving a channel signal; dividing the channel signal into one or more subchannels according to available bandwidths; transmitting the subchannel to at least one transponder; multiplexing a plurality of channel signals to form a virtual channel; deciding whether to convert the virtual channel into multiple subchannels or a single subchannel; and adding conditional access data during the multiplexing, wherein the conditional access data identifies whether an end user equipment is allowed to access a subchannel.
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14. A method of satellite communication that allows efficient use of available bandwidth, the method comprising:
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receiving a channel signal; dividing the channel signal into one or more subchannels according to available bandwidths; transmitting the subchannel to at least one transponder; receiving the subchannels; identifying a user selected channel; categorizing the subchannels into a first category and a second category wherein the first category contains subchannels needed to reconstruct the user selected channel; and combining the subchannels in the first category to reconstruct the channel signal. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A satellite communications system comprising:
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at least one low noise block converter feed (LNBF) device receiving signals from transponders; a switch matrix coupled to the LNBF device, wherein the switch matrix includes an independently programmable switch between each of a plurality of input ports and an output port and receives a command to turn the switch on and off in response to a user action end wherein the switch matrix receives a plurality of signals from the at least one LNBF device and forwards at least one signal that contains a user-selected content to one or more demodulators via one or more output ports, wherein the number of output ports matches the number of demodulators. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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Specification