Various arrangements for a satellite-based forward link overlay are presented herein. In some embodiments, broadband data is modulated at a particular frequency, phase, and/or timing to create a broadband data signal. The frequency, phase, and/or timing are used to modulate a low-bandwidth data signal. The low-bandwidth data signal can then be combined with the broadband data signal and transmitted via satellite to a geographic region. A low-bandwidth receiver unit may determine the frequency, phase, and/or timing from the embedded broadband signal and use such information to demodulate and despread the low-bandwidth data signal.

A communication terminal and its method of use are disclosed herein. In an embodiment, a communication terminal includes at least one of a transmitter or a receiver, a common reference device, a vibration sensor, and a controller. The at least one of the transmitter or the receiver is configured for transmission of communications. The common reference device is configured to provide a common reference for at least one of the frequency or timing of the communications sent or received by the at least one of the transmitter or the receiver. The vibration sensor is configured to detect vibrations. The controller is configured to adjust a control voltage applied to the common reference device based on the vibrations detected by the vibration sensor.

A communication apparatus includes: an antenna including a base having a dome shape, a first antenna element disposed in a first region including a zenith of the base, and one or more second antenna elements disposed in a second region surrounding the first region; and beam forming circuitry that controls, based on position information of a target satellite to communicate with, a beam formation of the first antenna element and the one or more second antenna elements.

Methods, systems, and devices for communication operations are described. A first satellite may be in a first orbit, and a set of second satellites may be in second orbits that are lower than the first orbit. The second satellites may detect signal components of a signal originating from a geographic area and relay the respective signal components to the first satellite. A beamformer coupled with the first satellite may form a beam associated with the geographic area. The beamformer may also obtain a beam signal based on he respective signal components and a return channel, where the return channel includes at least a channel component between the geographic area and the set of second satellites.

A network device for providing configurable reference frequencies in a satellite communication system is disclosed. The network device may be any of a satellite modem, satellite transceiver, or satellite router. The network device may receive information pertaining to a type of an Outdoor Unit (ODU), determine the type of ODU based on the received information, and provide a plurality of configurable reference frequencies based on the type of the Outdoor Unit (ODU) such that the plurality of configurable reference frequencies may be used with different combinations of low noise block converters (LNBs) and block-up converters (BUCs).

A system and method for transmitting a data stream between a server and a user terminal, comprises at least one satellite gateway associated with a satellite router communicating with at least one satellite terminal associated with a terminal router, wherein the terminal router is configured, when it receives a stream request from a user terminal, to search for it in its memory resources and, if appropriate, transmit it to the user terminal, the satellite router is configured to transmit the request to the server, estimate a popularity of the stream and transmit a message of correspondence between the stream and broadcasting parameters then convert the stream into a point-to-multipoint stream adapted to the broadcasting parameters, the terminal router is configured to convert point-to-multipoint streams into point-to-point streams and transmit them to the user terminals.

A method and apparatus for providing half-duplex communications for a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) operating on a continuous received stream is disclosed. The method includes: decoding the continuous received stream to establish synchronization with the continuous received stream; locating, in the continuous received stream, a time plan including a receiving timeslot and a transmitting timeslot; demodulating the continuous received stream by adapting to a timing and frequency variation of the continuous received stream in the receiving timeslot, freewheeling the adapting of the continuous received stream during the transmitting timeslot, and resuming the adapting of the continuous received stream when the transmitting timeslot ends; stopping a receiving of the continuous received stream during the transmitting timeslot; and transmitting from the VSAT during the transmitting timeslot. The freewheeling includes saving a signal acquisition parameter at the start of the transmitting timeslot and restoring the saved signal acquisition parameter at the end of the transmitting timeslot.

A satellite monitoring system is disclosed. The system may monitor various downlink signals of various satellites. In response to user queries, the system may provide diagnostic and other data related to the characteristics of the downlink signals. In this manner, an independent verification and validation of downlink signal characteristics may be performed. Moreover, the system may take various actions in response to detected anomalies related to the characteristics of the downlink signals, such as automatically generating alerts for users and/or activating an uplink facility, such as a backup uplink facility and/or providing control signals to user devices, such as antenna controllers, to reorient user antennas in response to the characteristics of the downlink signals.

A method comprises a preprocessing step consisting, in the gateway station, in pre-segmenting the data as a function of the carrier frequency which is dedicated to them on the downlink DL, in reassembling and in encapsulating the pre-segmented data in successive basic frames DL BB-Frames, that can be transmitted over the downlink, each basic frame DL BB-Frame of the downlink being encapsulated by addition of a specific transport header DL BB-TH on the downlink and a data field, and a step consisting, in the gateway station, in incorporating the different basic frames DL BB-Frames of the downlink in the data field of the different basic frames UL BB-Frames of the uplink.

A communication system, includes a satellite receiver in operable communication with a central server, a cellular node configured to operate within a proximity of the satellite receiver, and at least one mobile communication device configured to communicate (i) with the cellular node, (ii) within the proximity of the satellite receiver, and (iii) using a transmission signal capable of causing interference to the satellite receiver. The satellite receiver is configured to detect a repeating portion of the transmission signal and determine a potential for interference from the at least one mobile communication device based on the detected repeating portion.