Patent ID: 6987741

Claim:
A method for managing return channel bandwidth in a two-way satellite communication system, the method comprising: receiving backlog information from at least one of a plurality of transceivers, the backlog information specifying an amount of queued traffic for the respective transceivers; allocating a minimal amount of return channel bandwidth to each of the plurality of transceivers; selectively setting a bandwidth level associated with the return channel bandwidth that is available based upon one of a plurality of predetermined bandwidth levels according to a predetermined criteria; and selectively allocating additional return channel bandwidth based upon the bandwidth level to the transceivers that require additional return channel bandwidth in excess of the allocated minimal amounts; and wherein the plurality of predetermined bandwidth levels are based upon traffic statistics of the plurality of transceivers; and wherein the predetermined criteria in the step of selectively setting the bandwidth level specify that one of the plurality of bandwidth levels corresponds to a next largest backlog.