Patent ID: 7174179

Claim:
A method of communicating over a satellite communications link using information throughput adaptation to maintain link performance under varying signal attenuation conditions, comprising: (a) determining a signal reception parameter indicative of signal attenuation conditions affecting a signal received over the satellite communications link; (b) adaptively adjusting an information throughput rate of the signal by selecting a signal modulation scheme and an error correction coding rate of the signal in response to the signal reception parameter, such that the information throughput rate corresponds to the signal attenuation conditions indicated by the signal reception parameter, wherein the satellite communications link includes a static power margin sufficient to maintain communications at a predetermined maximum signal attenuation level using a minimum information throughput rate such that an excess power margin exists in the satellite communications link at lesser signal attenuation levels, wherein said adaptively adjusting comprises adjusting the signal modulation scheme and the error correction coding rate in accordance with the excess power margin in the satellite communications link to increase the information throughput rate with decreasing signal attenuation levels and to enhance the link margin by reducing required energy per bit to noise density power ratio of the link and to reduce data rate carried by the link with increasing signal attenuation levels; and (c) transmitting the signal over the satellite communications link using the selected signal modulation scheme and error correction coding rate.