Hughes Electronics Corporation

Hughes Aircraft Company

Hughes Network Systems, LLC

Andrew W Barnhart

Michael I Parr

Kalyan Ganesan

Anders A Eklof

Ranjan Pant

Gregory Federline

Neville Mathews

Lawrence R Kreeger

An approach for controlling bandwidth allocations for a switching system with transmission constraints is disclosed. A scheduler within a switching system generates bandwidth metrics for a destination site. A traffic control processing logic receives the bandwidth metrics. The traffic control processing logic includes a utilization module that determines utilization associated with the destination site based upon the received bandwidth metrics, and an error calculation module that computes the difference between the determined utilization and a target utilization. A gain and filtering module, which is also a part of the traffic control processing logic, computes a correction value based upon the difference between the determined utilization and the target utilization, in which the correction value being associated with the destination site. Further, the traffic control processing logic includes an adder that outputs a control value based upon a reference control value and the correction value. A bandwidth control processor assigns bandwidth allocation based upon the control value.

Available bandwidth control mechanism

A system for controlling/conserving signal transmission power in a communications system is disclosed. The system generally includes a first unit having a transmitter and a receiver, a second unit having a transmitter and a receiver, a forward communications channel between the first unit transmitter and the second unit receiver, and a reverse communications channel between the second unit transmitter and the first unit receiver. In operation, the system determines the received signal power needs of the second unit receiver. It then generates a reverse channel explicit-power-request command based on the determination of the received signal power needs of the second unit receiver. The reverse channel explicit-power-request command represents an absolute power level at which the first unit transmitter should transmit signals over the forward communications channel. In general, this reverse channel explicit-power-request command communicates the absolute power level in a manner that is independent of the power level at which the first unit transmitter had previously been transmitting with. The system also generates a forward channel explicit-power-notification message based on a determination of the transmitted signal power from the first unit transmitter. The forward channel explicit-power-notification message represents an absolute power level at which the first unit transmitter is transmitting signals over the forward communications channel.

Power control system for communications channels

A method of routing Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) connections in a network. A Virtual Path Index (VPI) and a Virtual Channel Index (VCI) identify connections in the network. The bits of the VPI and VCI are selectively allocated, allowing for an increased number of paths in the network. Fractional paths are thereby created, increasing the routing capabilities of the network. Multiplexing of paths in the network further enhances the network routing capability. Cells containing data are switched on the connections in the network. A plurality of tables in the ATM hardware stores a VPI value and a value representing the number of significant bits allocated to the VPI for the purpose of switching cells. Cells with the same VPI are routed over the same paths as dictated in part by the values in the corresponding tables.

Method of providing fractional path service on an ATM network

A multimedia codec for a frame relay network. Multiple information media from different sight equipment is converted to a standard packet for transmission over said frame relay network. Incoming frames are processed on a priority basis and stored in an elastic buffer. Tests of pointers are kept for each media type identifying the location in the elastic buffer of the various packets for the different media. Applications running in the frame relay processor retrieve the stored media data and forward it to a digital signal processor connected to respective terminal equipment.

Multimedia frame relay codec

A distributed, demand access local loop telephone system is disclosed. An optical fiber, or fibers, connect a central office and a plurality of remote units which are located near subscriber populations. Communications on the fiber is by high speed digital data stream which is comprised of a plurality of bit multiplexed PCM channels, each of bandwidth equivalent to a VF channel or greater. The remote units are connected to the subscriber equipment (e.g. telephones or other data sources/sinks) by subscriber dedicated links (e.g. wire pairs or other cabling), and the remote units may be added, subtracted, or moved along the fiber path to reconfigure the overall system. Because of the demand access nature, the fiber bandwidth can be dynamically redistributed among the remote access units at high speed and controlled at the central office. The topology of the system can also be reconfigured, within limits, from a central site. The system is T1 compatible, the data stream being the resultant of a plurality of T1 streams, and means is provided at the remote units for extracting and inserting one or more VF equivalent channels in any desired number up to and including an entire T 1 equivalent group.

Growing community of inventors

Gaithersburg, MD, United States of America

Andrew W Barnhart