Abstract:
A system and method employing an access terminal for maintaining discontinuous communications including a gateway receiver for receiving the discontinuous information, a radio frequency (RF) communication link via geosynchronous earth orbit satellite for conveying multiple communication channels using time division multiple access (TDMA), the access terminal initiating information communication with the receiver via at least one of the multiple communication channels. The access terminal further includes a memory for storing protocol processing information and a transmitter for establishing the radio frequency communication link to the receiver of the terrestrial gateway system. The access terminal memory provides for destroying of a signal pattern or protocol assigned to the access terminal by the gateway receiver or transmission of keep-alive bursts by the transmitter during periods of inactivity to maintain information communication with the receiver.

Description:
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/052,443, of Roos et al.; filed Jul. 14, 1997, for COMMON AIR INTERFACE, incorporated herein by reference. 
     This patent document relates to a common air interface described in a series of patent documents filed concurrently herewith. Related patent documents are: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/115,098, filed Jul. 13, 1998, of Joshi et al.; for SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPLEMENTING TERMINAL TO TERMINAL CONNECTIONS VIA A GEOSYNCHRONOUS EARTH ORBIT SATELLITE, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,278,876; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/115,097, filed Jul. 13, 1998, of Roos, et al.; for MOBILE SATELLITE SYSTEM HAVING AN IMPROVED SIGNALING CHANNEL, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/115,096; filed Jul. 13, 1998, of Noerpel, et al.; for SPOT BEAM SELECTION IN A MOBILE SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,451; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/115,101, filed Jul. 13, 1998, of Noerpel, et al.; for PAGING RECEPTION ASSURANCE IN A MULTIPLY REGISTERED WIRELESS TRANSCEIVER, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,282,178; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/115,095, filed Jul. 13, 1998, of Joshi, et al.; for IMMEDIATE CHANNEL ASSIGNMENT IN A WIRELESS SYSTEM, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/115,099, filed Jul. 13, 1998, of Joshi, et al.; for ERROR AND FLOW CONTROL IN A SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,482; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/115,100, filed Jul. 13, 1998, of Roos, et al.; for SYNCHRONIZATION OF A MOBILE SATELLITE SYSTEM WITH SATELLITE SWITCHING, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to cellular and satellite communications. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and a system for providing signaling bursts for maintaining communications channel transmissions during periods of voice inactivity during ongoing voice communications between a transmitter and a receiver in a time division multiple access (TDMA) mobile satellite communication system. 
     A mobile satellite communication system such as the Geosynchronous Earth Orbit Mobile (GEM) network discussed herein, typically includes one or more satellites, at least one fixed ground terminal such as a gateway system (GS) and several mobile access terminals (ATs). The access terminals typically communicate with the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or other mobile terminals via an air communication interface between the satellite and the gateway. Using the mobile access terminals, the satellite system provides a variety of telephony services. Satellite telephony systems as described herein share call processing information with terrestrial systems such as the GSM cellular system to allow compatibility between the satellite, cellular, and the public switch telephone network services. The terrestrial standards such as GSM may not apply directly to the mobile satellite communication system, more particularly the satellite air interface poses physical constraints not accounted for in the GSM architecture. 
     A number of communication systems utilizing satellites and small mobile terminals provide voice and other information communication. In all such systems, the bandwidth and satellite power associated with the communication links may be expensive and wasteful of limited resources. In addition, the mobile access terminals such as hand-held terminals (HHTs), which are often small, hand-held devices, are constrained by power consumption and related battery life concerns. 
     In maintaining an active voice communications channel, however, information must be transmitted on a regular basis for synchronization between the satellite and the access terminal, e.g., for timing, frequency, and power parameters. During voice communications, periods of voice inactivity may occur approximately half of the time. Therefore, appropriate design of burst formats, combined with voice activity detection, may provide significant power reduction. A number of specific concerns are associated with the form of information communications necessary for maintaining a communications channel, including power control information transfer requirements, power level consistency in the presence of highly variable power amplifiers, background noise level and characteristic communication, support for frequency and timing parameter tracking, timeliness of information delivery, and robust communications. 
     Thus, there exists a need for a method and a system for performing Keep-Alive Burst (KAB) communications during periods of voice inactivity to maintain the integrity of the voice communication transmissions over a communications channel, and provide acceptable performance with a minimum amount of power being used by the satellite and access terminal systems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In the following description, a satellite communications system is described. As will be appreciated by a skilled artist, however, the teachings of the present invention apply to many communications systems, not just satellite-based systems. Thus, references herein to satellite systems should be understood as being directed to specific embodiments, as opposed to the invention generally. 
     Accordingly, the present invention, in particular embodiments, addresses a key opportunity for power savings at both the satellite and the access terminals to limit transmission of significant power to those times when voice communications is active. During periods of silence, which typically occur about sixty percent of the time, much less power may be transmitted. Nonetheless, for a variety of reasons discussed herein, some power continues to be required for transmissions during periods of voice inactivity in the form of bursts that are transmitted during such periods to maintain the integrity of the communications channel. Information transmitted during voice inactivity by such keep-alive bursts (KABs) may be categorized into two types of information, namely, explicit digital information and information implicit in the waveforms transmitted. By adopting a burst format which accounts for the necessary explicit and implicit information required for transmission during keep-alive bursts, a combination of various features in terms of power modulation in burst format results in reduced power and delay, and improves performance when compared with conventional techniques. 
     Briefly summarized, the present invention relates a system and method employing an access terminal for maintaining discontinuous communications including a gateway receiver for receiving the discontinuous information, a radio frequency (RF) communication link via geosynchronous earth orbit satellite for conveying multiple communication channels using time division multiple access (TDMA), the access terminal initiating information communication with the receiver via at least one of the multiple communication channels. The access terminal further includes a memory for storing protocol processing information and a transmitter for establishing the radio frequency communication link to the receiver of the terrestrial gateway system. The access terminal memory provides for storing of a signal pattern or protocol assigned to the access terminal by the gateway receiver or transmission of keep-alive bursts by the transmitter during periods of inactivity to maintain information communication with the receiver. 
     It will be understood that both the foregoing and general description in the following detailed description are exemplary and intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings provide an understanding of the invention as described in the preferred embodiments to illustrate the invention and serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a mobile satellite communication system in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a mobile access terminal for use in the mobile satellite communication system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 shows a keep-alive burst (KAB) structure timing diagram; 
     FIG. 4 illustrates KAB transmission allocation positions in active communications traffic; 
     FIG. 5 shows symbol position usage at the beginning of the KAB bursts; 
     FIG. 6 shows the power distribution for the keep-alive bursts at the beginning of each burst; 
     FIG. 7 is a table illustrating symbol utilization in the middle of channel TCH 2 ; 
     FIG. 8 is a power distribution graph showing the power use per symbol position in channel TCH 2 ; 
     FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the determination of keep-alive burst positions; 
     FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of keep-alive burst transmissions; and 
     FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the receive operation associated with the keep-alive burst transmissions of FIG.  10 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of a mobile satellite communication system  10  is illustrated. The mobile communication system  10 , herein a Geosynchronous Earth Orbit Mobile satellite system (GEM) includes several mobile access terminals  12  and one or more satellites  14 . One or more gateway stations  16  (GS) are coupled to public switch telephone networks  18  (PSTN). The access terminal  12  is typically a hand-held telephone or vehicle-mounted telephone, but, as described in the present embodiment, the access terminal  12  may provide operation both as a GEM access terminal and as an GSM cellular telephone. While being used with the satellite communication systems described herein, the access terminal  12  communicates over an L-band frequency with a particular spot beam  20  with the satellite  14 . Each spot beam  20  is associated with a predetermined geographic region. The terrestrial gateway  16  communicates with the satellite  14  over a Ku-band frequency. 
     The satellite  14  includes transponders for translating between the L-band spot beam  20  signals used by the access terminals  12  and the Ku-band  22  signals used by the gateway  16 . The gateway  16  interfaces with the terrestrial telephony carrier, such as PSTN  18 , and may also interface with a conventional cellular network such as GSM. Accordingly, users may place telephone calls using the access terminal  12  to either land line or cellular telephone users. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a plurality of gateways  16  may be employed, each providing similar functions and being employed to access, for example, respective public switched telephone networks  18 . 
     The satellite  14  provides L-band-to-L-band bent pipe single hop communications, as well as satellite switched communications to support communications between the users of the access terminals  12 . At satellite  14 , the L-band  20  uplink and downlink are transmitted via multiple L-band spot beams  20 . Subscribers to the system  10  have unique telephone numbers allowing them to receive telephone calls when they are registered to receive pages from either the GEM or the GSM cellular network. Registration is automatic when the access terminal  12  is turned on, such that a registration procedure locates the access terminal  12  within a particular spot beam coverage area. In addition to originating calls, the access terminals  12  can receive calls from any terrestrial facility by connecting the call through the gateway station  16 , at which the gateway  16  determines the location of the access terminal  12  and sends a paging message to the access terminal  12  to announce the incoming call. 
     The system  10  uses a low rate encoded or ciphered voice transmission. In the described embodiments, the access terminals  12  are provided with dual mode operation allowing for voice communications either via satellite or via the local cellular system, e.g., GEM and GSM as discussed herein. 
     The gateway  16  provides for user mobility as users travel with the access terminal  12  from spot beam to spot beam. Additionally, the communication channels carried via the satellite  14  provides space segment resources used for control functions, i.e., one or more channels in each L-band spot beam  20  are control channels, e.g., the gateway  16  may place a forward control signal in each L-band spot beam  20  to allow synchronization of the access terminals  12  and to carry network control information from the gateway  16  to the access terminals  12 . The forward control channels allow the access terminals  12  to acquire a satellite carrier and identify the L-band spot beam  20  and gateway station  16  which originates the signal. The gateway  16  uses the forward control channel to page access terminals  12  using unique addresses to announce mobile terminated calls. Each L-band spot beam  20  preferably contains a return direction signaling channel that access terminals  12  use to initiate and register calls with the gateway  16 . During a call, in-band low data rate control channels are preferably available between the access terminals  12  and the gateway  16  for call supervision, power control, and to initiate call termination. For example, during burst communication between the access terminal  12  and the satellite  14 , a threshold signal may be established relating to the strength of the transmitted burst for setting a power control bit based on a comparison of received signal strength with threshold values. In addition to such information being transmitted during active voice communications, certain information must also be transmitted during voice inactivity by keep-alive bursts (KABs) which can be categorized as one of two types, namely, explicit digital information, and implicit information in the waveforms transmitted. 
     Explicit digital information provided by the keep-alive bursts include a description of the background sounds present at the transmitter&#39;s microphone, and commands and status messages associated with power control. Information implicit in the waveforms transmitted include the power level of the signal, the signal quality as perceived by the receiver, and information used in tracking both carrier frequency offset and symbol timing error for synchronization between the transmitter and receiver. 
     The system  10  contains considerable operational flexibility both from the standpoint of network features and mobile terminal capabilities. The gateway  16  is a conventional gateway as understood in the art, which includes a mobile switching center (MSC), base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTS), and radio frequency units. As is understood by those skilled in the art, the MSC allows communications with the public switch telephone network or other mobile switching centers. The MSC is connected preferably with an A-interface such as a standard E 1  or E 3  line with the BSC. The BSC is then connected through a communications channel such as a T 1  line to one or more BTSs which may communicate via radio frequency (RF) communications to the access terminal  12 . Telephony communications may be originated with the access terminal  12  by transmitting initialization data to the satellite  14  of the space segment over a control channel which then communicates down to the gateway  16 . The control channel is transmitted over a time slot within a frequency assigned to the spot beam  20  having a coverage area surrounding the access terminal  12 . At the gateway  16 , the call is transmitted via a radio frequency channel to the BTS assigned to the spot beam  20  servicing the access terminal  12 . From the BTS the call is routed to the BSC and then to the MSC, from which the call is routed to either the PSTN or another MSC. Thereafter, a communications channel is established through the entire gateway  16  and a subscriber using the access terminal  12  may communicate over the established communications channel. Calls may also originate from either the PSTN or a GSM cellular network by entering the gateway  16  at the MSC which routes information to the BSC for paging the access terminal  12  via the appropriate BTS. After the access terminal  12  responds to the page from the BTS, a communications channel is then established. 
     The access terminal  12  as shown in FIG. 2 includes a satellite module  40 , a satellite antenna  42 , a cellular module  44 , and a user interface module  46 . The satellite module  40  is coupled to the user interface module  46 , the cellular module  44 , and the satellite antenna  42 . Preferably, the satellite antenna  42  is a physically small antenna, such as a helix type antenna. The satellite module  40  includes a modem and TDMA unit  48 , an RF coder and decoder (codec)  50 , a burst transmitter  52 , a receiver  54 , and a transmit or receive (T/R) switch  56 . In the preferred embodiment, the modem  48  is connected to the RF codec  50 , and the RF codec  50  is connected to the burst transmitter  52  and to the receiver  54 . The T/R switch  56  is connected to the burst transmitter  52 , the receiver  54 , and the satellite antenna  42 . 
     Within the satellite module  40 , the modem  48  converts speech or data samples to and from channel symbols using quadrature phase shift key modulation (QPSK). QPSK is preferably performed digitally by an application-specific integrated circuit or alternatively on a commercial available digital signal processor. The RF codec  50  converts channel symbols from the modem  48  into baseband I and Q signals that are transmitted to the burst transmitter  52 . In the receive direction, the RF codec  50  processes an IF signal  53  from the receiver  54  for input to the modem  48 . 
     The burst transmitter  52  converts the I and Q signals from the RF codec  50  up to a desired frequency, preferably an L-band frequency, for transmission by the first antenna  42 . The receiver  54  converts a received L-band signal from the first antenna  42  into the IF signal  53  sent to the RF codec  50 . 
     The T/R switch  56  allows the access terminal  12  to either transmit data or receive data. The access terminal  12  also includes a synthesizer  58  that provides a fixed local oscillator (LO) signal for the RF codec  50 . The synthesizer  58  includes a variable local oscillator for channel tuning within the satellite module  40  and generates data clock signals for the modem  48 . Both the fixed local oscillator and the variable local oscillator within the synthesizer  58  may be adjusted based on commands from either the gateway  16  or from another access terminal  12 . In the preferred embodiment, the synthesizer  58  is connected to the receiver  54  and to the cellular module  44 . 
     The user interface module  46  includes an audio and codec unit  59 , a voice processing unit  60 , a controller  62 , an input/output (I/O) interface  64 , and a memory  66 . Preferably, each element within the user interface module  46  communicates with the other user interface elements. The voice processing unit  60  includes a voice transcoder that performs source coding to compress the digital 64 Kb/s PCM signal. Specifically, an encoder running on a programmable digital signal processor, such as a low delay CELP encoder, compresses the 64 Kb/s PCM signal into approximately a 3.6 Kb/s encoded signal. Alternatively, the encoder may be a multiband excited (MBE) type 3.6 Kb/s encoder that is well known to those skilled in the art. 
     The controller  62  preferably provides a multitasking firmware environment for monitoring and controlling the mobile terminal hardware. The controller  62  may occupy the same processor as the voice transcoder or may optionally be disposed on a separate processor. Preferably, the controller  62  includes an I/O interface  64  that provides a communication interface with a user. The I/O interface  64  includes a keypad for data entry such as a phone number, a display, a data port for digital communication such as a facsimile transmission, and a smart card interface as specified for GSM. 
     The cellular module  44  allows the access terminal  12  to communicate with a cellular system over a second antenna  61 . The second antenna is a linearly polarized whip meeting cellular system standards and the cellular module  44  uses standard components, such as a GSM chip set, known to those skilled in the art. Preferably, the access terminal  12  operates in a first mode where the access terminal  12  functions as a conventional cellular phone. In a second mode, the access terminal  12  preferably operates so that the access terminal  12  communicates with the satellite  14 . A battery  68  is provided for portable operation of the access terminal  12 . 
     The preferred access terminal  12  has many advantages. For example, the access terminal  12  provides dual-mode operation, either cellular or satellite. Also, the access terminal  12  is mobile and provides high quality digital voice. Further, the access terminal  12  allows for paging and messaging, transmission at a 2400 or 4800 bps data rate via the data port, and provides a convenient cellular-like interface. Also, the access terminal  12  may transmit on a single channel using a single time slot within a carrier signal allowing many other access terminals  12  to transmit over the same carrier. Thus, the access terminal  12  efficiently transmits over L-band spot beam  20  frequency resources. 
     The following description relates the requirements to individual design aspects of the keep-alive bursts. Note that the specific implementation defined centers around a framing design with the following features. Note that this burst arrangement is similar to that used in the Geosynchronous Earth Orbit Mobile system, but that the durations etc. have been selected to simplify the explanation while retaining the essential issues (i.e., active voice is transmitted in “traffic” bursts.) Traffic bursts are transmitted once every 40 mS and are 5 mS in duration. This 5 mS period is referred to as a slot, and the 40 mS period is a frame. Traffic bursts are transmitted using Coherent-QPSK modulation. One hundred symbols are transmitted in each traffic burst, with additional time within the 5 mS slot duration for waveform ramping, and guard time. FIG. 3 shows a KAB structure timing diagram having content and structure simultaneously satisfying the requirements for voice communications, as set forth in the following table. 
     
       
         
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 Requirement 
                 Implementation Approach 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 Data transmission for voice 
                 100 bps, requiring 4 bits per frame 
               
               
                 background sounds 
               
               
                 Data transmission for power 
                 100 bps, requiring 4 bits perframe 
               
               
                 control 
               
               
                 Insensitivity to poor calibration 
                 Transmission of KAB&#39;s occurs at the 
               
               
                 of the linearity of power 
                 same power level as the traffic. That 
               
               
                 amplifiers 
                 is, power savings arise due to a 
               
               
                   
                 reduction in the duration of trans- 
               
               
                   
                 missions, not instantaneous power. 
               
               
                 Bursts must be very short. 
                 Synchronization or training infor- 
               
               
                   
                 mation cannot be lengthy. The key 
               
               
                   
                 implication of this is that coherent 
               
               
                   
                 modulation cannot be supported 
               
               
                   
                 (efficiently). 
               
               
                 Equal or better communications 
                 Differential Binary Phase Shift Keying 
               
               
                 performance (Bit Error Rates) 
                 (DBPSK) provides suitable perfor- 
               
               
                 than that achieved with traffic. 
                 mance. Approximately 2.5 dB is lost 
               
               
                   
                 in performance, while 3 dB is gained 
               
               
                   
                 in Energy-per-Bit. Hence, a slight 
               
               
                   
                 performance improvement (˜0.5 dB) 
               
               
                   
                 arises. 
               
               
                 Support for tracking of Carrier 
                 Short bursts provide very weak refer- 
               
               
                 Frequency Offset by the 
                 ences for frequency estimation. 
               
               
                 receiver. 
                 Hence, KAB&#39;s consist of two short 
               
               
                   
                 bursts, separated in time to ensure 
               
               
                   
                 good frequency estimation without 
               
               
                   
                 ambiguity. Transmission of the two 
               
               
                   
                 short bursts must be coherently 
               
               
                   
                 related. 
               
               
                 Support for tracking of Symbol 
                 Timing estimation is relatively easy 
               
               
                 Timing by the receiver 
                 (compared with frequency). Ongoing 
               
               
                   
                 transmission of short bursts is 
               
               
                   
                 sufficient. 
               
               
                 Minimal delay in transmission of 
                 Transmit data once every frame. 
               
               
                 power control information. 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     The contents of the keep-alive bursts include: 
     1. 4 bits (symbols) of power control information; 
     2. 4 bits of background noise information; and 
     3. 2 differential reference symbols (one per burst), generating a total of 10 transmitted symbols, spread equally over the two bursts. 
     The separation between the bursts should be about half the length of the traffic bursts. Selection of this time depends on the following factors: Longer burst separations improve the accuracy of frequency error estimates; and shorter burst separations ensure that probability of ambiguity in the estimate of the phase difference between the two bursts is reduced. For example, with a 100 Hz error, and 2.5 mS between bursts, a phase change of 90° will occur between the bursts. Assuming that the phase relationship between the transmitted differential reference symbols is known, and that the Signal-to-Noise Ratio is reasonable, the 90° phase change is unlikely to get mistaken for the −270° phase change that would accompany a −300 Hz frequency error. 
     The burst separation should permit location of the bursts to enable even distribution of power in time, as viewed by the satellite. The “Adjustable Time Offset” is randomly assigned to each terminal, such that the keep-alive bursts are approximately evenly spread in time when the cumulative power reaches the satellite. 
     If the keep-alive bursts are fixed in time, then all carriers transmitting keep-alive bursts during a particular time slot will always be transmitting during the same instant and during that instant the power required of the satellite transponder will be higher than desired because every single carrier (both those transmitting voice bursts and those transmitting KABs) will be on simultaneously. There may be no benefit from the voice deactivation during that instant. Therefore, the KABs are distributed over time so that not every carrier transmitting KABs will transmit simultaneously. The randomly-assigned “Adjustable Time Offset” remains fixed during a call. Over all terminals, the offset is uniformly distributed between about 0 and 45 symbol periods. For this example, five periods would be an appropriate quantization of this setting. 
     In some specific applications (differing number of bits in the keep-alive burst or different number of bits in the traffic burst), the numbers of bits do not divide evenly. For example, if the number of traffic bits were 99 instead of 100 in the previous example, there would be seven unique potential locations for the KABs (with Adjustable Time Offsets of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 bits; the offset of 45 bits would not allow the second KAB to fit within the traffic burst allocation). In this case, there will be 4 bits in the middle and at the end of the traffic burst allocation which will not have anything transmitted. Therefore, it is desired that the method used for distributing the KABs accommodate these possibilities. Some useful ways are: 
     1. Use Adjustable Time Offset values of 0, 1, 2, . . . , 44. This solution evenly distributes the KAB energy throughout the assigned time slots throughout the system, except that the first and last 4 bit frames have increasing/decreasing amounts of power (since there are five ways to assign the KAB offsets in the middle but only one way to assign them at the beginning and end). 
     2. Distribute the extra bits between the bursts as in these possible Adjustable Time Offsets as illustrated in FIG. 4, wherein the X&#39;s indicate possible locations of KAB burst energy, i.e., each X represents one bit. This distribution is even more uniformly spread than for option 1 above. Locations 0-3 are occupied {fraction (9/10)}th of the time; location 4 100% of the time, locations 5 through 8 {fraction (9/10)}ths of the time, etc. 
     3. Many other arrangements may be made that provide even more uniform distributions, such as distributing the 4 extra bits in all combinations of 1, 2, 3, and 4 extra bits in a row, scattered among the bursts. 
     4. The preceding approaches can use known, but varying, time offsets. For example, a pseudo-random sequence could be applied. The position of the transmission of the first KAB is derived from a 16 bit pseudo-random number. The eight least significant digits of the frame number (FN) of the original RACH transmitted by the AT  12  comprise the eight most significant bits of this pseudo-random number and eight least significant digits of either the telephone number called for mobile originated calls or the TMSI (IMSI) for all other cases (call termination, registration, detach, etc . . . ) include the eight least significant bits of this pseudo-random number. The resulting 16 bit number modulo  35  and modulo  54  points to the start of the transmission of the first KAB respectively for TCH 2  and TCH 3 . For TCH 4 , TCH 6  and TCH 9  the pointer is derived using the 16 bit number respectively modulo  70 ,  108 , and  162 . 
     The first KAB pointer is returned by the gateway in the Immediate Assignment Message. The pointer to the second KAB is implemented by the gateway and the AT  12  according to the traffic channel size. The pointer to the first KAB and the separation are selected to optimize toward a uniform power distribution per symbol position over time. Excluding duplication, each symbol slot except for the first and the last 4 next to the guard times, may be selected 5 times. FIG. 5 depicts the usage for the beginning of the burst. This is the same at the end. 
     The keep-alive burst symbol position usage described herein provides a power distribution over time as illustrated in FIG.  6 . The power distribution is typically flat over the traffic time slots except for the symbol slot at the center. In the middle, the separation from the first pointer to the last pointer is illustrated in FIG. 7, which shows symbol utilization in the middle of channel TCH 2 . Thus, an elevated power usage over time is shown for the symbol position employed in the power distribution as illustrated in FIG.  8 . The same type of situation does not occur for channel TCH 3 . The derivatives have multiple power distribution symbol bumps in the half boundaries of the basic traffic channels (TCH 2  and TCH 3 ). 
     FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the determination of keep-alive burst positions during the course of voice communications over a traffic channel, and particularly the positioning of keep-alive bursts during periods of voice inactivity. Initially, the user initiates the call via access terminal  12  by transmitting a random access channel request (RACH) at step  100 . In the terminal to terminal call, the immediate assignment procedure provides that the access terminal  12  which originates the call, sends a channel request on the RACH with the called party number and GPS position. The access terminal  12  then waits for immediate assignment on the access grant channel (AGCH) of the corresponding, control channel (CCCH). Thus, at the same time, the gateway station  16  assigns the keep-alive burst position to the access terminal  12  via the AGCH at step  102 . The access terminal  12  and the gateway station  16  calculate the keep-alive burst positions, herein at least two keep-alive burst positions (SKAB 1  and SKAB 2 ) at step  104 . Thereafter, at step  106  the access terminal  12  uses the calculated keep-alive burst positions, SKAB 1  and SKAB 2 , to determine when to transmit keep alive bursts. At the same time, the gateway station  16  looks for the keep-alive bursts (KABs) at the calculated position. The same calculated positions are used in the opposite direction as well. 
     With reference to FIG. 10, the transmit operation used by the access terminal  12  is illustrated as a program flow chart, wherein step  108  is used to wait for the beginning of a transmit time slot in the described time division multiplex access telephony system. Step  110  then determines whether voice communications is active or inactive. During periods of voice inactivity, step  112  is indicated from step  110 , step  112  causing the access terminal  12  to wait for SKAB 1 . Step  114  then transmits a keep-alive burst, and step  116  waits for the symbol indicating SKAB 2 . Step  118  is then used to transmit the second keep-alive burst, and program flow returns from step  120  to wait for the next frame, and returns the transmit operation to step  108 . 
     Alternatively, if voice communications is active in the time slot, step  110  identifies voice activity and step  122  is used to transmit the voice burst, after which the access terminal  12  waits for the next frame at step  120  and waits for the beginning of the transmit&#39;s time slot at step  108 . The above-described transmit operation is illustrated for two keep-alive burst positions during periods of voice inactivity, as shown in FIG.  3 . 
     The gateway station  16  performs a keep-alive burst receive operation as illustrated in the program flow chart of FIG. 11, wherein the gateway station  16  waits for the beginning of a receive time slot at step  124 . At step  126 , the gateway station  16  samples and stores the signal contained in the entire time slot received. The operation performed at step  128  determines if there exists a voice burst, a keep-alive burst, or other in the received time slots. Where a voice burst was received at step  128 , step  130  then demodulates the voice transmission, and the gateway station  16  waits for the next frame at step  134 , from which program flow returns to wait for the beginning of the receive time slot at step  124 . Where a keep-alive burst was received at step  128 , step  132  demodulates the keep-alive burst beginning at positions SKAB 1  and SKAB 2 , and upon completion of the keep-alive burst demodulation, program flow returns via step  134 . If nothing has been received in the receive time slots, a step  128  does not demodulate transmissions, but rather returns to wait for the next frame at step  134 , returning program flow as described above to wait for the beginning of the received time slot at step  124 . 
     It should be appreciated that a wide range of changes and modifications may be made to the preferred embodiments as described herein. Thus, it is intended that the foregoing detailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting and that the following claims, including all equivalents, are intended to define the scope of the invention.