Patent ID: 8351383

Claim:
A method for allocating bandwidth resources in a multi-beam satellite communications network having a plurality of terminals in each of a plurality of beams, the bandwidth resources defined in resource units, the method comprising: receiving a resource request from each of at least a subset of the plurality of terminals in a beam of the plurality of beams, wherein at least a subset of resource requests identify an amount of requested resource units and a requested carrier group for the requesting terminal; identifying an amount of allocatable resource units for the beam for a defined time duration, the amount of allocatable resource units for the beam determined responsive to the received resource requests for the beam relative to other beams of the plurality of beams; and allocating the amount of resource units for the beam for the defined time duration among a plurality of carrier groups for the beam using a prioritization scheme corresponding to a set of resource obligations to generate a carrier group allocation associated with each of the plurality of carrier groups, the allocating responsive to the requested carrier groups for the at least the subset of the plurality of terminals in the beam.