Patent ID: RE41218

Claim:
A method of providing satellite communication network connectivity between communication devices coupled to geographically distributed earth stations comprising the steps of: (a) at each remote earth station of a plurality of remote earth stations, coupling a modulator, having a transmission carrier frequency associated with said each remote earth station, to an uplink port of a frame relay protocol-based switch with which one or more communication devices served by said each remote earth station are interfaced, and coupling a tunable demodulator to a downlink port of said frame relay protocol-based switch; (b) installing, at a hub earth station of said plurality of earth stations, a plurality of demodulators, which are operative to demodulate messages modulated on respectively different carrier frequencies transmitted from said remote earth stations, and coupling respective ones of said plurality of demodulators to respectively different downlink ports of a frame relay protocol-based switch of said hub station; (c) in response to a request, from a communication device coupled to an originating remote earth station of said plurality of remote earth stations, for communication connectivity with a communication device coupled to a destination remote station of said plurality of remote earth stations, causing the modulator of said originating remote earth station to transmit a communication connectivity request message to said hub earth station; and (d) at said hub earth station, in response to said communication connectivity request message, transmitting to said originating remote earth station an originating remote earth station demodulator tuning message that is effective to tune the tunable demodulator at said originating remote earth station to the transmission carrier frequency associated with said destination remote earth station, and transmitting to said destination remote earth station a destination remote earth station demodulator tuning message that is effective to tune the tunable demodulator at said destination remote earth station to the transmission carrier frequency associated with said originating remote earth station.