Patent ID: 6175719
Filing Date: 2001-01-16
Classification: H04B

Abstract:
A method of configuring a satellite payload for use in a multi-spot-beam communication system comprising the steps of:providing a plurality of spot-beam uplinks each of which receive signals transmitted from a particular section of a total geographic area to be serviced by the communication system;providing a plurality of spot-beam downlinks each of which transmits signals to a particular section of the total service area;providing a broadcast downlink which transmits a single wide-area beam to the total service area;routing point-to-point transmissions received by said plurality of uplinks to a particular one of said plurality of downlinks;routing broadcast transmissions received by said plurality of uplinks to said broadcast transmission link in a non-blocking manner; andproviding a surge mechanism by routing to the broadcast downlink point-to-point transmissions of any of said plurality of spot-beam uplinks and spot-beam downlinks whose transmission capacity is exhausted.