Patent ID: 7266095

Claim:
A method of sending data packets in an access network or satellite infrastructure network supporting virtual sub-networks, combining different terminal stations of the network and being allocated one or more labels, in which method a data packet is associated with an addressing header and each terminal station of the network is associated with a satellite terminal or a ground station located in the coverage of a particular spot of a particular satellite, said method comprising sending said data packets in the access network or satellite infrastructure network, wherein the addressing header of the data packet further contains a “label” field containing a label allocated to one virtual sub-network to which a target terminal station, to which the packet is addressed, belongs and characteristic of at least one spot associated with the label, said at least one spot including the spot in which the satellite terminal or the ground station, with which said target terminal station is associated, is located, wherein at least one satellite uses the label contained in the header of the data packet to transmit the data packet to the at least one spot associated with said label, and wherein a satellite terminal or ground station located in said at least one spot has a list of authorized labels used as a reception filter, so that the satellite terminal or ground station processes the data packet only if the label contained in the header of the data packet is in the list of authorized labels of said satellite terminal or ground station.