Method and apparatus for multicast packet distribution in a satellite constellation network

摘要

A satellite network constellation employs a technique for multicasting packets through the network according to the present invention. The network comprises plural satellites in plural orbital planes with each satellite equipped with a plurality of high-speed point-to-point full duplex radio links for inter-satellite communications. A node intending to send a multicast packet to a multicast group or a set of destination satellite nodes initially sends the packet to the orbital planes that include the group members. Once reaching the plane, in-plane routing techniques are used to forward the packet to the intended group members. If there are broken or disabled links, an alternative path is taken to forward the packet without disrupting the functioning links.