Patent · US Expired

Demand-based connection management integrated services access terminal (ISAT) for satellite communication system

US6097706A · kind A · utility

19Cited by
6References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 12, 1998
Grant dateAug 1, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 12, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04B7/18584
  • WIPO fieldTelecommunications
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A demand-based connection management satellite communication network includes a plurality of geographically distributed earth stations, each earth station having a frame relay protocol-based switch for interfacing message signals between terminal devices and modem unit. One of the earth stations is a hub station whose modem unit includes plural demodulators tuned to carrier frequencies transmitted from other, remote stations. Each remote station has at least one hub-programmable demodulator and/or a programmable modulator. When an originating station receives a request from a terminal device for connectivity with a terminal device at a destination station, it transmits a connectivity request message to the hub station. In response, the hub station checks a demodulator and/or modulator frequency assignment database for demodulator availability. If each originating and destination station has an available demodulator and modulator pair, the hub transmits tuning messages to the two stations, which tune their programmable modem components to each other's carrier frequency, and thereby provide bidirectional connectivity between the two remote stations.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.