Patent ID: 6594469
Filing Date: 2003-07-15
Classification: H04B

Abstract:
A broadcast communication system, comprising:at least one satellite; at least one ground station for transmitting an uplink communication signal to said at least one satellite; at least one broadcast information source having an output coupled to said at least one ground station for providing information to be broadcast thereto; and a controller for assigning and unassigning codes to beams for handing over a particular broadcast region from one beam to another beam, wherein said at least one satellite transmits a downlink communication signal comprised of a plurality of beams each having a beam coverage area on the ground, individual ones of said beams being capable of simultaneously conveying at least one broadcast communication and at least one point-to-point communication; and wherein the ground is partitioned into a plurality of broadcast regions each of which is assigned an associated predetermined frequency and code that are a subset of a larger set of frequencies and codes used for point-to-point communications within the beam coverage areas.