Patent ID: 7054322

Claim:
A communications system for providing broadband access to passengers of mobile platforms, comprising: a router located on said mobile platform; a network connected to said router; user communication devices (UCDs) connected to said network, said UCDs establishing point-to-point over Ethernet (PPPoE) sessions with said router; a transmitter on said mobile platform, said transmitter being connected to said router; a receiver on said mobile platform, said receiver being connected to said router; a satellite in communication with said transmitter and said receiver of said mobile platform; a ground station in communication with said satellite; a distributed communications system connected to said ground station; a virtual private network (VPN) connected to said distributed communications system; a first address manager connected to said ground station, said first address manager leasing use of public Internet Protocol (IP) addresses by said mobile platform; said router including a second address manager communicating with said first address manager to lease said public IP addresses for said mobile platform.