SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SECTOR-BASED ROUTING

摘要

A communication system (10) has multiple satellites (20) communicating with ground stations (30) and with base stations (40). The satellites (20) are in non-geosynchronous orbit around the earth (52). A first ground station (30) transmits a data packet to a satellite (20). The data packet includes a sector number which represents an area on the earth (52) where the destination ground station (31) is located. The satellite (20) transmits the data packet to another satellite (20) if the satellite (20) is not serving an area identified by the sector number. This step is repeated until the data packet reaches a most likely satellite (20) that is most likely to be serving the area identified by the sector number. The most likely satellite (20) transmits the data packet to the destination ground station (31) if it is still serving the area identified by the sector number.