Patent ID: 8159964

Claim:
A satellite communications system configured with distributed routing tables, the system comprising: a network control center, in communication with the satellite, and configured to: receive routing information from a plurality of ground terminals via the satellite; build a master routing table formatted to specify routing paths through the satellite; generate a first subset of the master routing table comprising routing paths for data packets to be transmitted through a first modem unit on the satellite; generate a second subset of the master routing table comprising routing paths for data packets to be transmitted through a second modem unit on the satellite; and transmit a set of data comprising the first subset and the second subset directed to the satellite via a wireless signal; and the satellite, in communication with the plurality of ground terminals, the satellite configured to: receive the transmitted set of data via wireless signal; incorporate the first subset into the first modem unit routing table; and incorporate the second subset into the second modem unit routing table.