Satellite communication network
First Claim
1. A Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) or Multi Frequency-Time Division Multiple Access (MF-TDMA) satellite network system comprising:
- a plurality of slave stations;
at least one master station; and
at least one geosynchronous satellite for Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) and TDMA communications, wherein;
a. TDM channels use a clock reference signal and a closed-loop TDMA synchronization control process for slave stations that rely upon regular timing correction messages issued by a master station to the slave stations to maintain high precision TDMA synchronization relative to each other and to a burst time plan so that the satellite network operates with a plurality of slave stations without loss of TDMA synchronization;
b. at least one slave station includes at least two TDM receivers configured to receive at least two TDM channels concurrently, each with separate network clocking and synchronization control information from at least one master station located diversely within at least one footprint of at least one satellite; and
c. multiple master stations are configured to provide mutually consistent supplementary control information to indicate to each slave station individually, at log-on time, and later as necessary, available clock references and synchronization control information that take precedence, and when one or more of the TDM channels transmitted by the master stations do not contain their own network clock signal and synchronization control information, and enable each slave to receive user content of two or more TDM channels while being slave to only one master station at any time, by filtering out any unneeded clocking and control information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are disclosed to enable a fixed or a mobile ground based slave stations (VSAT: Very Small Aperture Terminal) in a communication network to receive TDM transmissions from and transmit TDMA burst transmissions to one or more ground-based gateway stations in a networking system that employs one or more geosynchronous satellites. Each gateway station transmits on one or more forward TDM channels to the slave stations; however, one primary gateway acts as the master station at any given time which transmits the network control messages to the slave stations (VSATs) that control their TDMA transmission behavior on the network.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) or Multi Frequency-Time Division Multiple Access (MF-TDMA) satellite network system comprising:
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a plurality of slave stations; at least one master station; and at least one geosynchronous satellite for Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) and TDMA communications, wherein; a. TDM channels use a clock reference signal and a closed-loop TDMA synchronization control process for slave stations that rely upon regular timing correction messages issued by a master station to the slave stations to maintain high precision TDMA synchronization relative to each other and to a burst time plan so that the satellite network operates with a plurality of slave stations without loss of TDMA synchronization; b. at least one slave station includes at least two TDM receivers configured to receive at least two TDM channels concurrently, each with separate network clocking and synchronization control information from at least one master station located diversely within at least one footprint of at least one satellite; and c. multiple master stations are configured to provide mutually consistent supplementary control information to indicate to each slave station individually, at log-on time, and later as necessary, available clock references and synchronization control information that take precedence, and when one or more of the TDM channels transmitted by the master stations do not contain their own network clock signal and synchronization control information, and enable each slave to receive user content of two or more TDM channels while being slave to only one master station at any time, by filtering out any unneeded clocking and control information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) or Multi Frequency-Time Division Multiple Access (MF-TDMA) satellite communication method for a satellite network system, the method comprising:
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receiving, concurrently, by at least one slave station, separate network clocking and synchronization control information from at least one master station located diversely within at least one footprint of at least one satellite to maintain high precision TDMA synchronization relative to other slave stations and to a burst time plan; and providing, by multiple master stations, mutually consistent supplementary control information to each slave station, at log-on time, and later as necessary, to indicate available clock references and synchronization control information that take precedence, and at times when some of the TDM channels transmitted by the master stations do not contain their own network clock signal and synchronization control information, and enable each slave to receive user content of two or more TDM channels while being slave to only one master station at any one time. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification