Patent ID: 8320299

Claim:
A method of establishing distributed leadership for a satellite communication network, the method comprising: assigning a unique identifier to each of a plurality of remote sites in a communication network, each remote site configured for communication with at least one satellite; storing one or more bandwidth allocation parameters associated with each of the plurality of remote sites in memory at each of the plurality of remote sites, the one or more bandwidth allocation parameters comprising at least one of a dedicated information rate, a committed information rate, and a maximum information rate; wherein for each of the plurality of remote sites the method further comprising: automatically searching for a communication network to join when the remote site is not actively participating in any communication network; if the remote site finds a communication network to join, downloading a network table from a current network leader of the communication network identifying all of the remote sites of the plurality of remote sites expected to participate in the communication network and determining whether the remote site is to assume leadership of the communication network and assuming leadership if the unique identifier for the remote site is lower in a leadership hierarchy than the unique identifier for all other remote sites participating in the communication network; and automatically assuming leadership to form a new communication network if the remote site cannot find any communication network to join.