Carrier group apportionment for a satellite communications system
First Claim
1. A method for allocating bandwidth resources in amulti-beam satellite communications network having a plurality of terminals in each of a plurality of beams, the bandwidth resources defined in resource units, the method comprising:
- receiving a resource request from each of at least a subset of the plurality of terminals in a beam of the plurality of beams, wherein at least a subset of resource requests identify an amount of requested resource units and a requested carrier group for the requesting terminal;
identifying an amount of allocatable resource units for the beam for a defined time duration, the amount of allocatable resource units for the beam determined responsive to the received resource requests for the beam relative to other beams of the plurality of beams; and
allocating the amount of resource units for the beam for the defined time duration among a plurality of carrier groups for the beam using a prioritization scheme corresponding to a set of resource obligations to generate a carrier group allocation associated with each of the plurality of carrier groups, the allocating responsive to the requested carrier groups for the at least the subset of the plurality of terminals in the beam.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Satellite communications systems, methods, and related devices are described. In one embodiment, a satellite communications system is configured to dynamically allocate bandwidth and frequencies among different beams. Bandwidth request data may be received and compiled from the terminals. The satellite may be configured with different beam coverage areas, and may dynamically allocate bandwidth and particular frequency channels to different beam coverage areas based on the requests. In each of a series of one or more epochs, and according to the bandwidth requests, there may be allocations among carrier groups, traffic classes, and particular terminals. The setup of slot structure and selection of modes for particular terminals is also addressed.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method for allocating bandwidth resources in a
multi-beam satellite communications network having a plurality of terminals in each of a plurality of beams, the bandwidth resources defined in resource units, the method comprising: -
receiving a resource request from each of at least a subset of the plurality of terminals in a beam of the plurality of beams, wherein at least a subset of resource requests identify an amount of requested resource units and a requested carrier group for the requesting terminal; identifying an amount of allocatable resource units for the beam for a defined time duration, the amount of allocatable resource units for the beam determined responsive to the received resource requests for the beam relative to other beams of the plurality of beams; and allocating the amount of resource units for the beam for the defined time duration among a plurality of carrier groups for the beam using a prioritization scheme corresponding to a set of resource obligations to generate a carrier group allocation associated with each of the plurality of carrier groups, the allocating responsive to the requested carrier groups for the at least the subset of the plurality of terminals in the beam. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for allocating bandwidth resources in a beam of a satellite communications network having a plurality of terminals, the bandwidth resources defined in resource units and the beam including a plurality of carrier groups, the system comprising:
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a beam request compilation module configured to; receive one or more resource requests from each of at least a subset of the plurality of terminals in the beam, wherein at least a subset of resource requests identifies an amount of requested resource units and a requested carrier group for the requesting terminal; and generate an amount of requested resource units from the received resource requests, wherein different portions of the amount are associated with different carrier groups of the plurality of carrier groups; a beam resource module configured to identify an amount of allocatable resource units for the beam for a defined time duration; and a carrier group allocation module, communicatively coupled with the beam request compilation module and the beam resource module, and configured to allocate the amount of allocatable resource units for the beam for the defined time duration among the plurality of carrier groups using a prioritization scheme corresponding to a set of resource obligations to generate a carrier group allocation associated with each of the plurality of carrier groups, the carrier group allocation responsive to the portions of the amount of requested resource units associated with respective carrier groups of the plurality of carrier groups. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system for allocating bandwidth resources in a multi-beam satellite communications network having a plurality of terminals in each of a plurality of beams, the bandwidth resources defined in resource units, the system comprising:
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the plurality of terminals in a beam of the plurality of beams, wherein at least a subset of the plurality of terminals in the beam are each configured to transmit a resource request identifying an amount of requested resource units and a requested carrier group for the requesting terminal; a network control center in communication with the at least a subset of the terminals via satellite, and configured to; receive the resource requests; generate, for a defined time duration, an amount of requested resource units for respective carrier groups of a plurality of carrier groups for the beam from the received resource requests; identify an amount of allocatable resource units for the beam for the defined time duration; and allocate the amount of resource units for the beam for the defined time duration among a plurality of carrier groups using a prioritization scheme corresponding to a set of resource obligations to generate a carrier group allocation associated with each of the plurality of carrier groups, the allocation responsive to the amount of requested resource units for respective carrier groups for the defined time duration. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A device for allocating bandwidth resources in a satellite communications network having a plurality of terminals in a beam of the satellite, the bandwidth resources defined in resource units, the device comprising:
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means for receiving resource requests from each of at least a subset of the plurality of terminals in the beam, wherein at least a subset of resource requests identifies an amount of requested resource units and a requested carrier group for the requesting terminal; means for generating, for a defined time duration, an amount of requested resource units for respective carrier groups of a plurality of carrier groups for the beam from the received resource requests; means for identifying an amount of resource units for the beam for the defined time duration; and means for allocating the amount of resource units for the beam for the defined time duration among the plurality of carrier groups using a prioritization scheme corresponding to a set of resource obligations to generate a carrier group allocation associated with each of the plurality of carrier groups, the allocating responsive to the amount of requested resource units for respective carrier groups.
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Specification