Intersatellite communications systems
US5825325A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 17, 1996 |
| Grant date | Oct 20, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 17, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04B7/18521
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An improved multi-beam bent-pipe communications satellite system and method includes a subchannel switching processor for extracting and switching subchannels of information to and from a plurality of uplink and downlink beams and an intersatellite link for routing certain of the extracted subchannels to another satellite in the system. The subchannel switching processor preferably employs a partial subchannelization processor that combines a coaxial switching network for switching some of the uplink channels at the channel level with an analog or digital transparent subchannel switching network connected to a portion of the uplink channels for extracting and switching at the subchannel level. The switched subchannels are combined to form channels, and then routed to either the downlink beams (where they are combined with other switched channels), or to the intersatellite link for transmission to another satellite. The system of the present invention could be a constellation of satellites, each satellite in the constellation connected to a plurality of other satellites using a plurality of intersatellite links.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.