Patent ID: 8218476

Claim:
A method for hub-spoke, bent-pipe satellite communication utilizing a satellite containing a plurality of pathways, comprising: specifying a first weight set and a first beam hop frame definition for a beam hopping frame, the beam hopping frame comprising a plurality of timeslots, the specified first weight set comprising a first plurality of receive weight vectors and a first plurality of transmit weight vectors for generating uplink beam signals and downlink beam signals in timeslots of the beam hopping frame, the specified first beam hop frame definition defining a first plurality of sequential dwell times and a first plurality of pathway gains, each timeslot associated with a dwell time; operating the satellite to generate the uplink beam signals and downlink beam signals for pathways in accordance with the specified first weight set and the specified first beam hop frame definition; specifying a second weight set and a second beam hop frame definition for a beam hopping frame, the specified second weight set comprising a second plurality of receive weight vectors and a second plurality of transmit weight vectors for generating uplink beam signals and downlink beam signals in timeslots of the beam hopping frame, the specified second beam hop frame definition defining a second plurality of sequential dwell times and a second plurality of pathway gains; and switching from operation of the satellite in accordance with the specified first weight set and the specified first beam hop frame definition to operation of the satellite to generate the uplink beam signals and downlink beam signals for pathways in accordance with the specified second weight set and the specified second beam hop frame definition, wherein the specified first weight set and the specified first beam hop frame definition support first targets of coverage area and capacity allocation based on a first time-based traffic estimate, and the specified second weight set and the specified second beam hop frame definition support second targets of coverage area and capacity allocation based on a second time-based traffic estimate.