Patent ID: 6912075

Claim:
A node for a satellite system for communications between a ground station and a satellite comprising: an RF uplink receiving a first RF signal from the ground station and converting said first RF signal to a first electrical signal; an RF downlink for generating a second RF signal and transmitting the second RF signal to the ground station; a receiving telescope; an optical bus coupled to said receiving telescope, said optical bus having a plurality of optical signals from said receiving telescope: an optical interface coupled to said optical bus, said optical interface resolving a predetermined optical signal from said optical bus that is associated with the satellite, said optical interface converting said predetermined optical signal into a second electrical signal; and a router coupled to said optical interface, said RF uplink and said RF downlink, said router identifying said first electrical signal and routing said first electrical signal to said optical interface or said RF downlink, said router routing said second electrical signal from said optical interface to said RF downlink.