Method for allocating resources by anticipated reservation in an integrated service satellite network

Claim 1

In a satellite asynchronous time-division telecommunication network, a method for allocating resources to earth stations by a central station, said earth stations receiving bursts of data cells transmitted by user stations during respective sporadic connections after set-up of said connections, said sporadic connections being defined by respective average lengths of bursts being transmitted, sporadicnesses and maximum bit rates, said method comprising the following steps: in said central station, deciding between an acceptance and a refusal of a request for a sporadic connection to be set up, said request being transmitted in the form of a request message for sporadic connection in a signalling sub-frame of a time-division multiple access periodic frame from one of the earth stations to said central station, said decision being determined as a function of an algorithm in which said average lengths of bursts and sporadicnesses are considered as predetermined constants and which depends on maximum bit rates and average bit rates of sporadic connections in process and said to-be-set-up sporadic connection, a maximum bit rate and an average bit rate relating to said to-be-set-up sporadic connection being included in said request message for sporadic connection, subsequent to an acceptance of said to-be-set-up sporadic connection thereby defining a sporadic connection being set up, transmitting a resource allocation request message in said signalling sub-frame from said one of the earth stations to said central station in response to the beginning of reception and storing in said one of the earth stations each one of the bursts of said sporadic connection being set up which are transmitted by a user station connected to said one of the earth stations, in said central station, anticipatory reserving a resource in the form of a time interval in a data sub-frame of said time-division multiple access periodic frame, for said each one of the bursts as soon as a time interval of said data sub-frame is released so that said one of the earth stations can begin transmitting said each one of the bursts while continuing to store said each one of the bursts, and after said one of the earth stations has completely received said each one of the bursts, transmitting an end message in said signalling sub-frame from said one of the earth stations to said central station, said message including a length indication of said each one of the bursts, thereby releasing said resource allocated to said each one of the bursts when the whole of said each one of the bursts has been transmitted by said one of the earth stations.