Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation

Trw Limited

Gefferie H Yee-Madera

Darren R Gregoire

Scott M Takahashi

Lisa A Moy-Yee

Roland Y Wong

Stuart T Linsky

Jaime L Prieto, Jr

David A Wright

Donald C Wilcoxson

Vincent Nguyen

Esmaell Yousefi

Zoltan Zvi Stroll

Mark E Bever

Fred C Tramm

A power gating module () for a downlink beam frame signal () includes a power amplifier () for amplifying for transmission frame signals that include at least a first header signal (), a first payload signal (), a second header signal (), and a second payload signal (). The power gating module () further includes a power gating circuit () coupled to the power amplifier (). The power gating circuit () includes a power gate input () and is responsive to a power gating signal to remove power from at least one of the first header signal () and first payload signal () in combination, and the second header signal () and second payload signal () in combination before amplification by the power amplifier ().

Gated power for a satellite hopped downlink with multiple payloads per frame

A method and apparatus for implementing multicast in a space-based communication system is disclosed. The present invention allows for the use of a buffer in which to store data packets prior to replication in a multicast application. The present apparatus includes a buffer ( ), a header memory ( ), and an ASIC ( ) to store and extract received data packets and replicate them as required. The ASIC ( ) includes a switch interface ( ), a queue manager ( ), a header processor ( ), a holding buffer ( ), and a arbitration interface ( ). The switch interface ( ) is connected to the queue manager ( ). The queue manager ( ) is connected to the buffer ( ), the header processor , the holding buffer ( ), and the arbitration and switch interface ( ). The header processor ( ) is connected to the header memory ( ). The header processor ( ) and the holding buffer ( ) are connected to an arbitration and switch interface ( ), whose output, in turn, is fed back through the switch matrix routing fabric ( ) for routing and eventual downlink transmission. The method includes the steps of receiving data packets from the switch matrix routing fabric ( ); storing the information payload and the header in the buffer( ); and extracting the information payload and header from the buffer ( ). The method further includes the steps of buffering the information payload to the holding buffer ( ); provisioning the header to the header processor ( ); addressing the header memory ( ); merging the new header obtained from the header memory with the information payload ( ); and performing subsequent processing on the assembled cell ( ). The latter two steps are repeated until all replicated cells are assembled and sent on for routing and eventual downlink transmission.

Method and apparatus for serial cell replication for multicast in a cell switch

A satellite communication system which performs multicast switching on data cells. A switch receives the data cells at a set of input ports IP and directs those including a multicast routing code to a first set of output ports OP or OP . The switch also directs data cells effectively omitting the multicast routing code to a second set of output ports OP . One or more multicast replication modules are coupled to the first set of output ports and replicate data cells requiring multicast processing. During the processing, the multicast routing code is effectively omitted and the replicated cells are coupled to input ports IP or IP so that the replicated data cells are transmitted to the second set of output ports OP . An outbound processing module is coupled to output ports OP for processing the data cells for transmission over a satellite downlink transmitter

Satellite communication multicast processing techniques using multicast replication and outbound processing

The present invention is a method and apparatus for processing data packets in the outbound module of a space-based cell switch. The present invention uses an expanded set of queuing parameters to determine an output queue in which to store each data packet. The method includes the steps of selecting an expanded set of queuing parameters ( ), establishing several output queues ( ) based on combinations of the expanded set of queuing parameters, receiving data packets in a communications uplink ( ), examining the header portion of each received data packet ( and ), determining an appropriate output queue in which to store the data packet ( and ), and switching the received data packets to that appropriate output queue ( ). The present apparatus includes several input modules ( ), a switch control output ( ) connected between the input module ( ) and a switch fabric ( ), and a several output modules ( ) connected to the switch fabric ( ). The input modules ( ) each include a discriminator circuit ( ) distinguishing among several combinations of queuing parameters from an expanded set of queuing parameters, and the output modules ( ) each include several output queues ( ) and a cell selector ( ) for selecting the destination output queue in which to store each data packet.

Queue segmentation and addressing method and apparatus for a cell switch in a processing communications satellite

The method allocates ( ) subclass entries in an ordered list ( ) (which may be organized as a table, for example). Each entry ( ) generally corresponds to one of several predetermined cell subclasses, and the allocation reserves a total number of each subclass entry in the ordered list according to a predetermined amount of bandwidth desired for each cell subclass. The subclasses may be associated with factors such as coding rate, downlink beam area, virtual paths or virtual circuits, quality of service parameters, and the like. The method then examines ( ) each subclass entry in the ordered list and selects ( ) a cell from a cell memory (which may be a queue) that matches the subclass entry. The matched cell is then transmitted ( ). The method may also allocate sets of subclass entries in groups corresponding to a frame size and dynamically update ( ) the ordered list during operation of the cell switch.

Table based scheduling algorithm for downlink bandwidth allocation

Information is transmitted in an uplink to a satellite by applying an outer code to an information block to form an outer coded block. The outer coded block is then inner coded when a short block code is applied, thereby producing a concatenated coded block.

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San Gabriel, CA, United States of America

Gefferie H Yee-Madera