Patent ID: 8646010

Claim:
A system for providing data content to a plurality of mobile platforms via at least one satellite having a plurality of radio frequency (RF) transponders, and for transmitting data content from said mobile platforms via said RF transponder to a remotely located control center, comprising: an independent mobile system associated with each said mobile platform and carried by each said mobile platform; an antenna system associated with said remotely located control center for transmitting encoded RF signals representative of said data content via one of said RF transponders to said mobile system; each said mobile system comprising: an on-board antenna system; a communications subsystem in communication with said on-board antenna system for generating baseband video signals and data signals from said encoded RF signals received by said on-board antenna system, and for producing encoded signals from data transmissions input by each of a plurality of occupants; a data content management system for filtering of portions of said data content not addressed to occupants on said mobile platform; a network for distributing said baseband video signals and said data signals output from said data content management system to said occupants, said network including a plurality of access stations, whereby individual occupants receive only specific subportions of said baseband video signals and said data signals relating to previous information selections made by said occupants; and said independent mobile system also operating to transmit said signals input by each of said occupants from each of said access stations, via said on-board antenna system of said mobile system and one of said RF transponders, over a return link transmission channel to said remotely located control center; and wherein said remotely located control center comprises a terrestrial based network operations center (NOC) configured to: assign specific individual return link transmission channels to each of the mobile systems, to thus form a plurality of point-to-point links over which each said mobile system transmits information to the NOC; and dynamically manage the individual return link transmission channels using a multiple access protocol to determine which ones of the mobile systems will be assigned to use which one of the plurality of available RF transponders.