Time division multiple access broadcasting, multipoint, and conferencing communication apparatus and method

Claim 3

Method according to claim 1, for selectively carrying out a point-to-point or broadcasting connection, comprising: buffering data for point-to-point communication in a first transmit burst buffer (54) location and buffering data for a broadcast transmission in a second transmit burst buffer location; buffering'a direct destination address in a first location in a transmit space signaling buffer (126) and buffering a second indirect broadcast address in a second location in said transmit space signaling buffer; appending said first data to said direct destination address and appending said second data to said indirect broadcast address and bursting in a TDMA mode said first and second data and addresses via said satellite (5) to a geographically remote second ground station (2); comparing said first and said second addresses at said second earth station with the second earth station's direct destination address; transferring.said first data (348) to the intended destination port (15 III ) at said second earth station in accordance with said first direct destination address; accessing a broadcast memory (375) with said second indirect broadcast address to determine a common buffering location (64') in said second earth station (2) for the transfer of said second data; transferring said data from said common buffering location in said second earth station to a plurality of data ports ( 15 IV , 15 ) at said second earth station each of which are switchably connected in common to said common buffering location; whereby both point-to-point and broadcasting connections can be simultaneously achieved.

Claim 4

Apparatus (Fig. 28) for conducting broadcast communication between a sending port and a plurality of receiving ports over a TDMA communication link while conducting point-to-point communication between other ports over said link, comprising: a first (126) and a second (335) buffer at a transmitting end of said link for appending a first type (direct) destination address to each point-to-point communication to directly address the intended destination port; and for appending a second type (indirect)destination address to each broadcast communication; a broadcast memory (375) at a receiving end (2) of said link, for storing correlated direct addresses which are accessed by said second type address to directly address the intended destination port (15 IV , 15 v ); whereby broadcast and point-to-point communications can be carried out during time intervals within a TDMA burst which are not predetermined.

Claim 5

Apparatus (Fig. 28) for conducting broadcast communication between a sending port and a plurality of receiving ports over a TDMA communication link while conducting point-to-point communication between other ports over said link, comprising: a first (126) and a second (335) buffer at a transmitting end of said link for appending a first type (direct) destination address to each point-to-point communication to directly address the intended destination port; and for appending a second type (indirect)destination address to each broadcast communication; a broadcast memory (375) at a receiving end (2) of said link, for storing correlated direct addresses which are accessed by said second type address to directly address the intended destination port (15 IV , 15 v ); whereby broadcast and point-to-point communications can be carried out during time intervals within a TDMA burst which are not predetermined.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 3 for selectively carrying out point-to-point or broadcasting connections in a TDMA satellite communications network between remote earth stations, with a transmit burst buffer (54) having a plurality of data partitions, each corresponding to a particular local transmitting port (15), with a first port (15) selectively transmitting point-to-point and a second port (15 ) selectively transmitting in a broadcast mode to destination ports at said second earth stations (2), and said transmit burst buffer (54) at said first station having an output connected to TDMA burst transmission means; wherein the first buffer (transmit space signaling buffer 126) at said first earth station (1) has a first partition storing a direct destination address corresponding to the data to be transmitted point-to-point from said first local port (15) to a first port (15 III ) in said second earth station and a second partition for storing an indirect broadcast address corresponding to the data stored in said second partition in said transmit burst buffer (54) from said second local port (15 ) for a broadcast connection, said transmit space signaling buffer (126) having an output connected to said TDMA burst transmission means (24); wherein the second buffer (transmit serializer 335) at said first station (1) has an input (45) connected to said transmit burst buffer (54) and said transmit space signaling buffer (126) for accessing said point-to-point data in said first partition of said transmit burst buffer (54) and appending to it said direct destination address from said first partition in said transmit space signaling buffer and for accessing said broadcast data stored in said second partition of said transmit burst buffer and appending to it said indirect broadcast address stored in said second partition of said transmit space signaling buffer and directing said data and addresses to said TDMA burst transmission means; the apparatus further comprising: a first comparison means (356) in said second (2) earth station having an input connected to a TDMA burst receiving means (337), for comparing the first direct destination address (346) from said first earth station (1) with the destination address of said second earth station (2) and routing said first point-to-point data (348) received from said first earth station to a first partition in a receive burst buffer (64') in said second earth station (2); a second comparison means (350, 398, 370, 382) comparing said second indirect broadcast address received from said first earth station with a stored broadcast address and routing said second broadcast data (348) received from said first earth station (1) to a second, common location in said receive burst buffer (64') in response to indirectly addressing a broadcast memory (375) in said second earth station (2) having an input connected to said second comparison means (350) and an output (386) connected to said receive burst buffer (64') for accessing said common location in said receive burst buffer; a plurality of ports (15 IV , 15 V ) at said second earth station (2) being switchably connected to said common location in said receive burst buffer (64') for receiving said second data from said first earth station in broadcast mode; whereby both point-to-point and broadcasting connections can be established.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 4, which further comprises: a transmit burst buffer (54) at said second station (2) having data partitions corresponding to each one of said broadcast destination ports (15 IV , 15 ) in said second station, for selectively transmitting point-to-point to said second port at said first station, having an output connected to second TDMA burst transmission means (335, station 2); a transmit space signaling buffer (126) at said second earth station (2) having partitions storing direct destination addresses corresponding to the data to be transmitted point-to-point from said each one of said broadcast destination ports (15 IV , 15 V ) to said second port (15 I ) in said first earth station, having an output connected to said second TDMA burst transmission means; whereby TDMA multipoint communication connections can be made.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 4, which further comprises: a transmit burst buffer (54) at said second station (2) having a plurality of data partitions, each corresponding to one of said broadcast destination ports (15 IV , 15 V ) in said second station, each selectively transmitting in a broadcast mode to other ports including said second port (15 I ) at said first earth station, said transmit burst buffer at said second station having an output connected to second TDMA burst transmission means; a transmit space signaling buffer (126) at said second earth station (2) having a plurality of partitions storing indirect broadcast addresses corresponding to the data stored in said partitions in said transmit burst buffer (54) at said second station for broadcast connections, having an output connected to said second TDMA burst transmission means; burst logic means (serializer 335) at said second station (2) having an input connected to said transmit burst buffer (54) and said transmit space signaling buffer (126) at said second station for accessing said broadcast data stored in said partitions of said transmit burst buffer and appending to them said corresponding indirect broadcast address stored in said partitions of said transmit space signaling buffer at said second location and directing said data and addresses to said second TDMA burst transmission means; whereby TDMA conference communication connections can be made.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said ports (15) are voice ports.

Claim 10

The apparatus of claim 3 having a plurality of input/ output ports at a first station for transferring n i channels of m data uhits each per TDMA frame from respective, local data users to a TDMA transmit burst communication link, with a first port (15) transmitting a point-to-point message at a rate R j and a second port (15 I ) transmitting a broadcast message at a rate R and having a plurality of input/output ports (15 15 IV , 1 5 ) at a second station for transferring n i of said channels of data from a TDMA receive burst communication link to respective local users on a time interleaved basis during periodic TDMA frames, with a third port (15 III ) receiving said point-to-point message at said rate R j and a plurality of fourth ports (15 IV , 1 5 V ) receiving said broadcast message at said rate R k , comprising: a transmit burst buffer (54) at said first station (1) having a data input connected to a transmit bus (44a) common to the data outputs of said first (15) and second ports (15 I ) and a data output connected to said TDMA transmit burst communication link, for storing n partitions of data from said first port and n k partitions of data for said second port in selected ones of a plurality of addressable storage locations arranged into a plurality of rows; a first buffer (transmit signaling buffer 126) at said first station having an output connected to said transmit burst'link, with a plurality of storage locations for storing n j direct destination addresses corresponding to ones of said locations in said transmit burst buffer (54) storing first partitions of data from said first (15) port to be transmitted point-to-point and for storing n k indirect destination addresses corresponding to other ones of said locations in said transmit burst buffer storing second partitions of data from said second port to be transmitted in broadcast mode; a burst mechanism (74, Fig. 14) at said first station (1) having an output (125) connected to an address input to said transmit burst buffer (54) and also connected (123) to an address input to said transmit signaling buffer (126), for accessing corresponding ones of said locations in said transmit burst buffer and in said transmit signaling buffer, to append each accessed partition of data to a destination address and transmit them in a TDMA burst over said transmit link; the comparison means (356, 350) at said second station having an input connected to said TDMA receive burst communication link, for detecting said direct destination addresses and outputting a first control signal (358) and for detecting said indirect destination addresses and outputting a second control signal (352); a receive burst buffer (64') in said second station (2) having a row address input (47a) gatably connected by said first control signal (358) to said TDMA receive burst communication link, a data input (47b) connected to said receive link and a data output (44b) connected to a receive bus common to the data inputs of said third (15 III ) and fourth (15 IV ) ports, with a plurality of addressable storage locations arranged into rows and m juxtaposed columns, for storing said n j first partitions of data at ones of said rows accessed by said direct destination addresses; a scanner (70, Fig. 14) at said second station (2) having a periodic cycle of m scans per TDMA frame, there being a frame rate of f frames per second, with a scan count output (77) connected as a column address input to said receive burst buffer (64'); a switch control memory (50') at said second station (2) having an address input (75) connected to a scan output of said scanner, a port select output (78') connected to a control input to each of said third and fourth ports and a stored address output (82') connected to a row address input to said receive burst buffer, (64') for storing n j control words for said third port, each of said n j control words issuing a port select signal to said third port and issuing a distinct row address to said receive burst buffer when scanned by said scanner, where n j = R j/ mf; a broadcast memory (375) at said second station (2) having an address input (372) gatably connected by said second control signal (352) to said TDMA receive burst communication link (346) and an output (386) connected to said row address input (47a) to said receive burst buffer, (64') for storing n k correlated direct addresses which are accessed by said n k indirect destination addresses; said broadcast memory (375) outputting said n k correlated direct addresses to said'receive burst buffer row address input (47a) for storing said n k second partitions of data at ones of said rows so accessed; said switch control memory (50') storing n k second control words for each of said fourth ports (15 IV , 15 V ), each of said second control words issuing a port select (78') to a corresponding one of said fourth ports and a row address to said receive burst buffer (64') which is common to all of said fourth ports and which stores one of said n k second partitions of data, when scanned by said scanner, where n k = R k / mf ; whereby both broadcast and point-to-point communications can be carried out at different data rates during time intervals within the TDMA burst which are not predetermined.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 8, wherein each of said ports further comprises: means (224, Fig. 19) for transferring n i channels of ( q i + a i )m data units each per TDMA transmit frame from said respective local data sources (15 ) to said TDMA transmit burst communication link on a time interleaved basis during periodic TDMA transmit frames, each port operating at a data rate R i = (q i + a i )mf, where q i is a positive integer of zero, m is a positive integer and a i is a fraction between zero and one; whereby data from local data sources having data rates R i which are not an integral multiple of the scan count rate (77) mf of said scanner, can be transmitted.

Claim 12

The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said ports (15) further include: data activity compression means (218, Fig. 19) for deleting the transmission over said link of repetitive data in consecutive TDMA frames; whereby said broadcasting connections can be made while data activity compression operations take place.

Claim 13

ll. The apparatus of claim 8, comprising an intranodal buffer (56) at said first station (1) having a data input (44a) connected to said transmit bus and a data output connected to said receive bus (44b), for storing data units from said first (15) and second (15 ) ports in selected ones of a plurality of addressable storage locations arranged into rows and two juxtaposed columns; a scanner (70) at said first station (1) having a periodic cycle of m scans per TDMA frame, there being a frame rate of f frames per second, with a scan count output (77) connected as a column address input to said intranodal buffer (56), addressing a first one of said columns during even numbered scans and addressing the second one of said columns during odd numbered scans; a switch control memory (50) at said first station (1) having an address input connected to a scan output (75) of said scanner (70), a port select output (78) connected to a control input to each of said ports (15, 15 I , 15 ) and a stored address output (82) connected to a row address input to said intranodal buffer (56), for storing n i control words for said first, second, third and fourth ports; said first (15) and third (15 II ) ports having the same data rate R j having n j pairs of said control words in said switch control memory (50), each of said pairs having a first control word in the q-th pair issuing a port select signal (78) to said first port (15) and a row address to the p-th row in said intranodal buffer (56) in even scans of said switch control memory (50) and to the p+l ST row in said intranodal buffer (56) - during odd scans and a second control word in said q-th pair issuing a port select signal (78) to said third port (15 II ) and a row address to the p+1 ST row in said intranodal buffer (56) in even scans of said switch control memory (50) and to the p-th row in said intranodal buffer during odd scans to transfer said point-to-point message from said first to said third port at said rate R j = n j /mf; said second (15 ) and fourth ports having the same data rate R k having n k pairs of said control words in said switch control memory (50) each of said pairs having a first control word in the q-th pair issuing a port select signal (78) to said third port (15 III ) and a ro w address to the r-th row in said intranodal buffer (56) in even scans of said switch control memory (50) and to the r+1 ST row in said intranodal buffer (56) during odd scans and a second control word in said q-th pair issuing a port select signal (78) to each of said fourth ports and a row address to the r+1 ST row in said intranodal buffer in even scans of said switch control memory and to the r-th row in said intranodal buffer during odd scans, to transfer said broadcast message from said second port to each of said plurality of fourth ports at said rate R k = n k /mf.

Claim 14

The apparatus of claim 11, wherein each of said ports further comprises: means (224, Fig. 19) for transferring n i channels of ( q i + a i )m data units each per TDMA transmit frame from said respective local data sources to said TDMA transmit burst communication link on a time interleaved basis during periodic TDMA transmit frames,.each port operating at a data rate R. = (q i +a i )mf, where q i is a positive integer or zero, m is a positive integer and a i is a fraction between zero and one; whereby data from local data sources having data rates R i which are not an integral multiple of the scan count rate mf of said scanner, can be transmitted.

Claim 15

The apparatus of claim 11, which further comprises: a transmit burst buffer (54) at said first station(lJ having a data input (44a) connected to said transmit bus and a data output (45) connected to a TDMA transmit. burst communication link, for storing partitions of data from said first (15) and second (15 I ) ports in selected ones of a plurality of addressable storage locations arranged into rows and m juxtaposed colunns, with said scan count output (77) from said scanner (70) connected as a column address input and said stored address output (82) of said switch control memory (50) connected as a row address input; a transmit signaling buffer (126) at said first station (1) having an output (334) connected to said transmit burst link, with a plurality of storage locations for storing direct destination addresses corresponding to ones of said locations in said transmit burst buffer storing first partitions of data from said first port to be transmitted point-to-point and for storing indirect destination addresses corresponding to other ones of said locations in said transmit burst buffer storing second partitions of data from said second port to be transmitted in broadcast mode; a burst mechanism (74) at said first station (1) having an output (125) connected to an address input to said transmit burst buffer (54) and connected to an address input to said transmit signaling buffer (126), for accessing corresponding ones of said locations in said transmit burst buffer (54) and in said transmit signaling buffer, to append each accessed partition of data to a destination address and transmit them in a TDMA burst over said transmit link.

Claim 16

The apparatus of claim 11, comprising a burst detector (396) supressing echoes by rejecting port broadcasts contained in that earth stations own burst and by blocking the intranodal buffer (56) as a source if the port was active on the previous scan.

Claim 17

The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a switch control memory (50) entry includes an intranodal conference bit indicating that two or more parties associated with the same conference are in the same node, for sharing the same intranodal buffer (56) partition.

Claim 18

The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the intranodal buffer (56) partition shared by each of the conferencing ports will store information from the last active voice port (20) scanned so that whenever two or more ports are talking at the same time, the last port scanned will be recorded.