Patent ID: 6975837

Claim:
A communications system, comprising a first communications system having a plurality of substantially geosynchronous satellites broadcasting a first set of information signals to a first plurality of terrestrial receiver stations; the first communication system satellites including first communication system satellite having a first plurality of transponders transmitting a first subset of information signals on a first subset of the first plurality of broadcast bands at a first polarization and a second communication system satellite having a second plurality of transponders transmitting a second subset of the first set of information signals on a second subset of the first plurality of broadcast bands at a second polarization substantially isolated from the first polarization; a second communications system having a plurality of terrestrially-based transmitters transmitting a second set of information signals to a second plurality of terrestrially-based terrestrial receiver stations, wherein the first set of information signals each have independent content from and are spatially and polarizationally diverse from the second set of information signals; wherein the first set of information signals are broadcast via one or more of a first plurality of broadcast bands having guard bands therebetween; and wherein the second set of information signals are broadcast on one or more of a second plurality of broadcast bands, each of the second plurality of broadcast bands associated with and substantially spanning one of the first information signal guard bands.