Patent ID: 7975008

Claim:
A system for managing traffic in a two-way satellite communication system comprising: an upstream transmitter for transmitting via a multiple user multiple simultaneous access (MUMSA) upstream channel having true random access with more than one transmission present at the same time; a downstream transmitter for transmitting information as data on one of available virtual downstream channels in response to information transmitted on at least one of the upstream channels; an estimator for estimating channel load of multiple users in multiple simultaneous access in the upstream channels; a congestion threshold calculator for calculating on an ongoing basis a congestion threshold value using said estimate of channel load; a selector for selecting a current congestion threshold value and for directing the transmitting of the current congestion threshold value on a downstream channel to a plurality of subscriber terminals; a tester at each of the plurality of subscriber terminals for comparing the congestion threshold value with a random number to obtain a transmission value determinative of whether a packet is eligible to be transmitted by each said terminal; and a regulator for regulating the transmission of packets in the MUMSA upstream channels according at least in part to the transmission value so that the transmitted load from all said terminals has a rate of packet transmission that is less than the congestion threshold value times the offered load to the terminal, and the virtual downstream channels bear a more evenly distributed load.