Hughes Electronics Corporation

Viasat, Inc.

Sreenivas Ramaswamy

Anil K Agarwal

Robert James Torres

Stephanie Demers

Robert Jeff Heath

Ashok K Rao

William Walsh

Mark Abinante

Steven P Rempe

Antony Heatwole

An approach for allocating bandwidth in a satellite communication system is disclosed. The system includes a set of global queues that store bandwidth requests, which are received from a number of satellite terminals. The received bandwidth request include a high priority rate request, a low priority rate request, a high priority volume request, and a low priority volume request. A bandwidth control processor determines bandwidth request type and priority of the received bandwidth requests and places the bandwidth requests in the appropriate global queues based upon the determined bandwidth request type and priority. Each of the global queues corresponds to a data rate associated with of each a plurality of channels. The system also utilizes a set of local queues that correspond to the channels. The BCP moves the bandwidth requests from the global queues to the local queues. The BCP then allocates the transmission slots in response to the bandwidth requests stored in the local queues.

Method and system for providing satellite bandwidth on demand using multi-level queuing

An approach for allocating system capacity of a communication switching system for exchange of traffic is disclosed. The system includes multiple terminals that request allocations of system capacity. The capacity is partitioned into a provisioned portion and an unprovisioned portion, in which a portion of the terminals constitutes a pool having a plurality of sub-pools. According to one embodiment, a control computer communicates with the plurality of terminals and allocates the provisioned portion of the capacity to the plurality of sub-pools of the terminals. The provisioned portion of the capacity is arranged into sub-partitions, wherein one of the sub-partitions is not associated with the sub-pools of terminals. Remaining sub-partitions are associated with the sub-pools of terminals. The control computer selectively allocates available capacity from the sub-partitions to one of the sub-pool terminals to permit overflow of traffic from the one sub-pool terminal, and selectively allocates the unprovisioned portion of the capacity to the pool to permit overflow of traffic from a terminal within the pool and to a terminal that is not a part of the pool of terminals.

Apportioning bandwidth capacity in communication switching systems

A system and method for supporting Internet Protocol (IP) Multicast in mesh TDMA satellite networks using a centralized route server architecture, which conserves link bandwidth and minimizes delay. Individual satellite terminals perform forwarding of multicast IP traffic to destination terminals based on information provided by the route-server. Multicast routing protocols need to be supported only at the route server, thus minimizing the CPU and memory resources required at the end terminals. Channel capacity for multicast traffic can be statically or dynamically assigned and takes full advantage of the broadcast nature of the medium.

IP multicasting in mesh TDMA satellite networks

Growing community of inventors

Bethesda, MD, United States of America

Sreenivas Ramaswamy