ALL DIGITAL TDMA DYNAMIC CHANNEL ALLOCATED SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

摘要

ALL DIGITAL TDMA DYNAMIC CHANNEL ALLOCATED SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD Inventors: Kap S. KIM William R. H. Tisdale Bruce S. Andrews T. Randolph Nash Kathleen J. Kolodgie Steven S. Eiserike An all digital TDMA dynamic channel allocated satellite communications system and method provides a satellite communications network between geographically separated nodes. The topology of the network is controlled by an on-line master node in accordance with user demands and operator commands received from the nodes in the network. A frame communication format is employed where each node in the system is allocated a burst within each frame. The length of the bursts is controlled by the on-line master node to provide the communications channels in the network. Control information to and from the on-line master node is conveyed in the network via the satellite link in selected frame bursts. In this way, the on-line master node dynamically controls the topology of the satellite communications network.