| 摘要 |
A system and method are disclosed for bidirectionally coupling a first satellite communication system to a second satellite communication system, wherein the first and second systems operate with different protocols. In a presently preferred embodiment of this invention the first system uses a spread spectrum (SS), code division multiple access (CDMA) technique wherein the satellites serve as simple 'bent pipe' repeaters for relaying communications between a user and a gateway. The second satellite communication system may be any other type of system having at least one characteristic that precludes direct communication between the first and the second systems. In an exemplary embodiment the second system uses a time division multiple access (TDMA) technique, and furthermore enables direct satellite-to-satellite communication links. A ground-based protocol conversion unit (70) is positioned for receiving a communication from a satellite of either the first or the second system, and includes circuitry for converting the transmission into a transmission that is suitable for transmission into the other system. For example, a SS-CDMA transmission is received from the first system, is translated into a TDMA format, and is transmitted into the second system. The communication may then be relayed between at least two satellites of the second system before being transmitted to a ground station of the second system for connection to the local public switched telephone network (PSTN). A hybrid communication system in accordance with this invention is formed by placing the protocol converter between two dissimilar satellite-based communication systems, thereby linking the two dissimilar systems for bidirectional voice and/or data communications.
|
