Patent ID: 9559767
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: H04B

Claim:
1. A method comprising: determining, by a first terminal, forward channel reception level estimations at first preconfigured intervals of a first duration; transmitting, from the first terminal to a hub, selected forward channel reception level estimations at second preconfigured intervals of a second duration; receiving, at the hub, the selected forward channel reception level estimations corresponding to the first terminal; determining, at the hub and based on the selected forward channel reception level estimations, a fade rate corresponding to a rate at which a forward channel reception level at the first terminal changes; and determining a margin corresponding to the first terminal based on the fade rate and any one or more of the following: a) a round trip delay between the hub and the first terminal, b) an interval between consecutive selected forward channel reception level estimations transmitted by the first terminal, or c) a preconfigured maximal link fade rate, wherein the margin is a factor in selecting a Modulation and Coding (MODCOD) for a transmission to the first terminal.