Patent ID: 6496682
Filing Date: 2002-12-17
Classification: H04B

Abstract:
A communication system, comprising:a plurality of spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit, each spacecraft cooperating to provide a fixed plurality of beams on the surface of the earth; and a fixed plurality of ground stations individual ones of which are located in one of said beams for transmitting uplink signals to one of said spacecraft; wherein each spacecraft is comprised of: a plurality of input hybrids, each input hybrid being for receiving a plurality of the uplink signals from ground stations and for combining said uplink signals, a plurality of receivers, a single receiver being coupled to an output of each input hybrid, each receiver being for receiving a combined plurality of uplink signals combined by one of said input hybrids, each receiver having a frequency translator for translating the received combined uplink signals to a transmission frequency of a plurality of downlink signals, a plurality of channel amplifiers, a single channel amplifier being coupled to an output of an input multiplexer filter, an input of the input multiplexer filter being connected to an output of a respective receiver, each channel amplifier being for amplifying one of the downlink signals, at least one output hybrid for combining a plurality of outputs of said channel amplifiers, and a plurality of transmitters, each transmitter being for receiving an output from one of said hybrids and for transmitting the plurality of downlink signals within the same beams as the corresponding uplink signals.