Method and apparatus for a multiple satellite cellular communication system with subscriber traffic prediction.

摘要

A method and apparatus for controlling operations of a cellular communication system (10) having multiple satellites (12), multiple subscriber units (26) which communicate through the multiple satellites (12), and a system control segment (28) which creates a subscriber traffic prediction and manages operation of the communication system (10). The method includes the steps of decomposing (974) a traffic prediction request into regional traffic requests; determining (976) a regional traffic prediction for each regional traffic request based on past regional traffic history; and combining (978) the regional traffic requests into a consolidated subscriber traffic prediction. The subscriber traffic prediction is then used to generate (908) a system operational plan which controls operations of the communication system (10). <IMAGE>