Patent ID: 8159992

Claim:
A communications device including a plurality of paths for use on a multi-beam satellite, the communications device comprising: a first modem unit, in communication with a first plurality of ground terminals within a first beam, the first modem unit including a routing table incorporating a first subset of a master routing table comprising routing paths for data packets to be transmitted through the first modem unit, the first modem unit configured to: receive a first signal comprising a first data packet and a second signal comprising a second data packet, the first and second signals received via the first beam; lookup a destination network layer address in a header of the first data packet using the first modem unit routing table to determine the first data packet is destined for one or more of the first plurality of ground terminals within the first beam; process the first data packet for transmission in a signal of the first beam; lookup a destination network layer address in a header of the second data packet using the first modem unit routing table to determine the second data packet is destined for one or more of a second plurality of ground terminals communicating with a second modem unit within a second beam; and forward the second data packet to the second modem unit; and the second modem unit, communicatively coupled with the first modem unit and in communication with the second plurality of ground terminals within the second beam, the second modem unit including a routing table incorporating a second subset of the master routing table comprising routing paths for data packets to be transmitted through the second modem unit, the second modem unit configured to: receive the forwarded second data packet; lookup the destination network layer address of the second data packet using the second modem unit routing table to determine the second data packet is destined for one or more of the second plurality of ground terminals within the second beam; and process the second data packet for transmission in a signal of the second beam.