Patent ID: 6151318
Filing Date: 2000-11-21
Classification: H04B,H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
A source node for encapsulating ATM cells into data packets to be transmitted through a broadband satellite communications system, said source node comprising:an ATM cell receiver having a data input and a data output; anda data packet formatter having a data input coupled to the data output of the ATM cell receiver, and having a data output for coupling said source node to said broadband satellite communications system, said data packet formatter comprising means for encapsulating at least one ATM cell into a data packet, means for formatting said data packet for transmission in said broadband satellite communications system, and means for outputting said data packets to said broadband satellite communications system, said data packets being larger than ATM cells, wherein said ATM cell receiver further comprises a received cell indicator output, and said data packet formatter further comprises a send input, and wherein said source node further comprises a timer having a reset input coupled to the received cell indicator output of the ATM cell receiver, and having a terminal count output coupled to the send input of the data packet formatter, whereby said timer is reset each time an ATM cell is received by said ATM cell receiver, and said data packet formatter sends a packet when said timer reaches terminal count.