System and method for network allocation for improved spectral efficiency

Abstract

A method for network programming is disclosed. The method includes: providing a gateway; a plurality of channels assigned to a color reuse scheme, including colors, wherein part of the plurality of channels assigned to one of the colors comprises a co-channel set; associating the co-channel set with the gateway; generating a traffic pattern for the co-channel set for a future allocation slot; determining a channel state of each co-channel in the co-channel set by the traffic pattern; and defining a modulation and coding scheme (modcod) for each co-channel in the co-channel set based on the respective channel state.

Description

1 / 19 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NETWORK ALLOCATION FOR IMPROVED SPECTRAL EFFICIENCY FIELD

[0001] These teachings improve the throughput seen by user terminals by jointly optimizing allocation decisions and Modulation and Coding (MODCOD) selections through network allocation. In particular, these teachings exploit the non-uniform nature centered on burst data traffic and choose a MODCOD that is proportional to the instantaneous traffic load, for example, in satellite communications. FUNDAMENTALS

[0002] FIG. 1 illustrates a beam level programmer of the prior art.

[0003] In the prior art, allocation decisions are made at the beam level for satellite communications. A satellite communication system 100 includes a global resource manager 106 that managed the resources of a gateway 108 (resources associated per gateway) using a gateway 104. The resources of gateway 108 included beams assigned to gateway 104. A beam scheduler 102 managed a beam bandwidth allocation.

[0004] As shown in FIG. 1, the traditional approach is where global resources 108 in terms of frequency, power, and their mapping to beams are distributed through geographically distributed gateways 104 in the coverage area, and each gateway 104 manages its resources autonomously. Each gateway 104 implements a scheduler 102 per beam, since the user terminals (not shown) belonging to (receiving service from) a beam share the resources in that beam. For simplicity, FIG. 1 illustrates a scenario where each gateway 104 handles one beam for each reuse color in a 4-color reuse scheme and therefore implements four of these schedulers 102. The notation<fi,j> It is a doublet that represents Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, page 17 / 39 2 / 19 frequency i on beam j. Note that in such a structure, the programmer 102 associated with frequency i on a gateway has no knowledge of the allocation decisions made by a programmer 102 associated with frequency i on a different gateway 104.

[0005] The traditional implementation 100, therefore, uses an initial MODCOD that is based on offline calculations and link budgets and subsequently alters the MODCODs based on the reported channel quality. This channel quality indicator provides the average net effect of noise and interference seen by the user terminal (not shown). However, in data systems of an explosive nature, decisions based on channel quality reports may not be ideal. The delay and averaging associated with channel quality reports will be of such an order that they may not reflect the interference at the time transmission to a user terminal is scheduled over a direct link.Similarly, on the return link, the channel quality estimate for a given user terminal at a given point in time on gateway 104 is a function of how many other user terminals on the co-channel beams were simultaneously scheduled to transmit from other gateways. SUMMARY

[0006] This Summary is provided to present a selection of concepts in a simplified form which is further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential characteristics of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0007] Next-generation satellite systems are expected to provide enhanced data rates through a combination of physical layer enhancements, beamforming, interference cancellation, and wider spectrum use. The present teachings improve the throughput seen by user terminals, jointly optimizing decisions. Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, page 18 / 39 3 / 19 Allocation and Modulation and Coding Selections (MODCOD) via network allocation. Unlike traditional allocation mechanisms, where allocation decisions are made at the beam level, the present teachings disclose a programmer that makes allocation decisions across multiple co-channel beams. Resource allocation strategies across multiple gateways are also provided to aid this allocation concept. Additional teachings that enhance spectral efficiency based on user terminal location-aware allocation are also provided.

[0008] A method for network allocation is disclosed. The method includes: providing a gateway; a plurality of channels assigned to a color reuse scheme, including colors, wherein part of the plurality of channels assigned to one of the colors comprises a co-channel set; associating the co-channel set with the gateway; generating a traffic pattern for the co-channel set for a future allocation slot; determining a channel state of each co-channel in the co-channel set by the traffic pattern; and defining a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MODCOD) for each co-channel in the co-channel set based on the respective channel state.

[0009] A satellite communication system is disclosed. The system includes: a gateway; a plurality of channels assigned to a color reuse scheme, including colors, wherein part of the plurality of channels assigned to one of the colors comprises a co-channel set; a global resource manager to associate the co-channel set with the gateway; a scheduler to generate a traffic pattern for the co-channel set for an upcoming allocation slot; and a network scheduler to determine the channel state of each co-channel in the channel set by traffic pattern and to define a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MODCOD) for each co-channel in the co-channel set based on the respective channel state. Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, page 19 / 39 4 / 19

[0010] Additional features will be set forth in the description that follows and will in part be evident from the description or may be learned by practicing what is described. DESIGNS

[0011] In order to describe the manner in which the aforementioned and other advantages and features can be obtained, a more particular description is provided below and will be made by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the attached drawings. Understanding that these drawings represent only typical embodiments and, therefore, will not be considered as limiting their scope, implementations will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the attached drawings.

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates a beam level programmer of the prior art.

[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates a network architecture including an exemplary point-beam gateway association with an inter-gateway link.

[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates a multi-beam grid cochannel programmer according to various modes.

[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates a traffic pattern and a channel state for a set of co-channels according to various modes.

[0016] FIG. 5 illustrates the dependence of the Carrier / Interference (C / I) ratio on the location of an interferer according to various modalities.

[0017] FIG. 6 illustrates a method for network allocation according to various modalities.

[0018] Throughout the drawings and detailed description, unless otherwise stated, the same drawing reference numerals will be understood as referring to the same elements, features, and structures. The relative size and representation of these elements may be exaggerated for clarity, illustration, and convenience. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, p. 20 / 39 5 / 19

[0019] Modalities are discussed in detail below. Although specific implementations are discussed, it should be understood that this is done for illustrative purposes only. A person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter of this disclosure.

[0020] The terminology used here is to describe particular modalities only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms a, an, and the are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. does not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denotes the presence of at least one of the referenced items. The use of the terms “first,” “second,” and the like does not imply any particular order, but they are included either to identify individual elements or to distinguish one element from another.It will also be understood that the terms “comprises” and / or “comprising” or “includes” and / or “including,” when used in this descriptive report, specify the presence of declared features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. Although some features may be described in relation to individual exemplary modalities, aspects need not be limited to them, so that the features of one or more exemplary modalities may be combinable with other features of one or more exemplary modalities.

[0021] Communication satellites in Geosynchronous Orbits (GSO) (and soon also in non-GSO orbits) using High Throughput Satellite (HTS) technology provide broadband services to underserved and underserved populations. HTS systems can employ very high data rate links. Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, page 21 / 39 6 / 19 high, utilizing cutting-edge techniques such as Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) Forward Error Correction (FEC) codes close to theoretical limits and efficiency with, for example, roll-off factors of 5% specified by the DVB-S2X standard. For example, even current consumer terminals can use a gigabit link using carrier bandwidths of 250MHz. The aggregate capacity of HTS is an order of magnitude higher than that of traditional wide-beam satellites, due to the spectral reuse allowed by narrow-spot beams.

[0022] Increases in HTS data rates are possible using one or more of the following techniques: adding more spectrum and more power, further optimizations of the physical and data link layers with more precise control of transmitted power, use of higher frequency bands, and use of a user terminal with a higher Gain / Noise (G / N) ratio. While these techniques, in conjunction with higher-order modulation schemes, have the potential to provide improvements in noise-limited links, they fall short of addressing interference-limited links. The present teachings focus on improving data rates with optimized decision-making under interference constraints. Improvements in user traffic allocation and media access control decision-making are disclosed as a multidimensional trade-off between efficiency, fairness, and objective Quality of Service (QoS) for line-of-sight (LoS) satellite data links.

[0023] The innovations of the DVB and DVB-S2 waveform began with Ku-band wide-beam satellites and achieved their distinct gains in aggregate capacity and very high data rates in the Ka-band. The Ka-band has higher bandwidth allocation and can leverage low-cost narrow-spot beams even with smaller aperture sizes (due to the shorter Ka wavelength). Despite the additional atmospheric attenuation in the Ka-band (compared to Ku), GEO HTS satellite systems continue to be designed primarily for the Ka-band on user links for reasons. Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, page 22 / 39 7 / 19 of cost and capacity. Additional bandwidths for satellite systems may be available in higher bands (Q, V, and W), but they have significantly higher attenuation for use in user links. Furthermore, higher bands also require RF and antenna technology development for both space and ground segments for any feasible implementation.

[0024] Additional gains in spectral efficiency over Ku (which is used by a LEO HTS constellation for user links) and Ka (GEO HTS) are possible by increasing the SINR (Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise) ratio of the satellite links. HTS satellites have significantly more self-inflicted interference and optimal decision-making, while traffic code block allocation can reduce the power level of adjacent RF channels to improve the SINR of a given link. Interference considerations are generally addressed at system design time. However, explicit consideration of interference at the code block transmission level can systematically improve data rates, especially when traffic is not uniformly distributed across point beams.

[0025] These teachings extend the design of Multi-Frequency Time Division Multiple Access (MF-TDMA) for Line of Sight (LoS) links to include interference considerations as a multi-objective optimization, including efficiency, fairness, and defined QoS. In some embodiments, a layered scheme in an HTS satellite hub (gateway) included in an MF-TDMA traffic scheduler may be used. In some embodiments, a hierarchical allocation architecture and inter-gateway and inter-beam coordination from a gateway for effective interference mitigation may be used.

[0026] In exemplary modalities, layered bandwidth allocation executes allocation decisions at a higher, intermediate, and Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, page 23 / 39 8 / 19 lower. In exemplary modalities, higher-level allocations are performed with a higher-level programmer, intermediate-level allocations are performed by an intermediate-level programmer, and lower-level allocations are performed by a lower-level programmer.

[0027] At the highest level or at the optimized allocation level, running, for example, every few minutes, historical traffic and current environmental trends (available with data analysis) provide broad guidelines for power levels and spectrum usage possibilities in each beam. General information from the guidelines is disseminated to geographically distributed Gateways, responsible for one or more beams in the coverage area.

[0028] Intermediate-level optimized allocation or decision-making considers a subset of one or more beams to adjust the allowed spectrum collection based on demand. Dynamic modification of frequency assignments to beams is based on flexible frequency conversion at the payload. Intermediate-level decision-making can be performed every few seconds to better adapt to different traffic conditions and the environment (rain or interference from other systems).

[0029] The lowest-level allocation or fastest decision-making loop is executed every few milliseconds, similar to a traditional MF-TDMA media access and allocation scheme. In some modes, traditional allocation mechanisms where allocation decisions are made at the beam level are used as lower-level schedulers. In some modes, lower-level schedulers make allocation decisions across multiple co-channel beams to improve spectral efficiency and better meet the fairness and QoS objectives of individual streams. Resource allocation strategies for efficient allocation

[0030] Resource management and dynamic frequency planning are complemented by Media Access Control that maximizes the use of available system resources and prioritizes resources for Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, page 24 / 39 9 / 19 meet QoS requirements. Traditionally, the MAC and QoS scheduler operate at the beam level and rely on a link adaptation process to provide feedback on channel quality and Modulation and Coding Selection (MODCOD). Link adaptation and channel quality is the result of the service link channel quality, noise level, and average interference from all other sources, particularly co-channel beam sources. In exemplary embodiments, the system may take advantage of instantaneous co-channel interference information for greater system efficiency. In some embodiments, MODCOD selection may be based not only on the service link channel UT condition but also on instantaneous information from adjacent co-channel beam transmission information.

[0031] In some modes, coordination efforts between beam channels may be based on solutions in a terrestrial communication environment, for example, the Long Term Evolution (LTE) specification framework. MODCOD selection at transmission time may be based on adjacent beam transmission information from the same transmission frame, when available. However, the LTE process relies on Physical Waveform (PHY) design and the provisioning of Channel State Information (CSI), Reference Signals, and CSI Interference Measurement resources that assist in determining the co-channel interference that the user terminal should report.Line-of-Sight (LoS) satellite systems, on the other hand, do not require PHY waveforms and suffer from co-channel interference that is predominantly a function of beam responses, reuse factors, number of co-channel cells, activity in co-channel cells, and location of interferers relative to the user of interest.

[0032] To make the most of the adjacent information from the cochannel beam, the programmer collects and uses a channel metric that is a function of its states. In some embodiments, the state of a cochannel beam Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, page 25 / 39 The adjacent 10 / 19 provides an indication of whether active transmission exists and an associated power level. Channel metrics can also provide channel conditions, such as a Carrier-to-Noise plus Interference (C / N+I) ratio, SNIR, or similar. Channel metrics can provide MODCOD selection based on channel state, co-channel beams, and interferers. In some modes, the link budget can be calculated for various assumptions about the state of the co-channel beams. The states, for example, whether the co-channel beams were actively transmitting, do not need to be known by the UT; instead, a gateway can match the metrics to the appropriate states.

[0033] FIG. 2 illustrates a network architecture including an exemplary point-beam gateway association with an inter-gateway link.

[0034] In an HTS 200 communication system, there are usually several 202, 204, 206, 212, 214, 216 gateways deployed to provide communication through multiple point beams. Multiple gateways 202, 204, 206, 212, 214, 216 can provide geographically distributed stems of the HTS 200 communication system for an aggregate throughput of multiple point beams 222, 224, 226 and to overcome limitations, for example, in the bandwidth of one or more feeder links (not shown) connected to the HTS 200 communication system. Multiple point beams 222, 224, 226 may include light gray co-channel beams 226, medium gray co-channel beams 222, and dark gray co-channel beams 224.Multiple point beams 222, 224, 226 are provided by a satellite 210 communicating with multiple gateways 202, 204, 206, 212, 214, 216 to communicate with one or more user terminals (not shown) over a beam coverage area of ​​multiple point beams 222, 224, 226. Satellite 210 may include a line-of-sight satellite, a line-of-sight relay, a GEO satellite, a LEO satellite, a high-attitude platform (HAP), or similar. Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, p. 26 / 39 11 / 19

[0035] The deployment of multiple gateways 202, 204, 206, 212, 214, 216 multiplies the feeder link capacity required for the HTS 200 system. In the prior art, the association of the feeder link / gateway to the point beam is based on geographic decisions and satellite design and its carrier routing. By the present teachings, with coordinated allocation based on co-channel state information, in exemplary embodiments, the association of point beams to a gateway can be based on the frequency of the point beam carrier. For example, a gateway or group of gateways can be assigned to a plurality of point beams that have the same frequency. In some embodiments, a gateway or group of gateways can be assigned to a plurality of first point beams having the same frequency / polarization and a plurality of second point beams interfering with the frequency / polarization of the first point beams.Gateways assigned to the same point-beam frequency can be connected to a 230, 232 inter-gateway link to provide coordination between the gateways. The 230, 232 inter-gateway link can include a high-speed, low-latency link, for example, a terrestrial link. An example of a point-beam gateway association is illustrated in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2. Gateways 202, 204, and 206 are assigned to and handle (manage) medium gray co-channel beams 222 over intergateway link 230, and gateways 212, 214, and 216 are assigned to and handle (manage) dark gray co-channel beams 224 over intergateway link 232. An intergateway 234 can coordinate between gateways 202, 204, and 206 and gateways 212, 214, and 216.

[0036] With inter-gateway links 230, 232, 234, there are several approaches that gateways 202, 204, 206, 212, 214, 216 and their programmers (not shown) can employ to leverage the shared information. For example, each gateway 202, 204, 206, 212, 214, 216 can announce in a multicast message its activity on the next n frames, on which frames Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, page 27 / 39 12 / 19 It aims to transmit based on user demand and active QoS flow and similar. Based on received multicast messages and co-channel beam activity, a gateway with high demand can adjust the MODCOD selection and operate with higher MODCOD spectral efficiency while maintaining the same power level.

[0037] In some embodiments, one of the gateways 202, 204, 206, 212, 214, 216 may be designated as the master scheduler and receive information from the remaining gateways about traffic demand and QoS requirements using gateway interlinks 230, 232, 234. The master scheduler allocates resources to all gateways to optimize system throughput, considering QoS requirements. With the master scheduler, MODCOD selection and channel spectral efficiency can therefore be optimized based on resource allocations across all co-channel beams. In some embodiments, the master scheduler may prioritize certain high-demand, high-priority flows on certain beams at the expense of other very low-priority, delay-tolerant flows on other beams. For example, this may occur when beam capacity is reduced due to rain fading and guaranteed priority flow bitrates cannot be met under prevailing conditions.In some models, the priority of traffic flows may be determined by an associated customer's subscription plan, distribution guarantees, or the type of traffic (voice, video, data, or similar).

[0038] Note that in global HTS systems, such as LEO satellite systems, where all traffic to a given satellite can be handled by a single gateway at any given time, there is no need for inter-gateway communication. In this case, only one scheduler per reuse color is needed, where the scheduler has visibility of the traffic carried by all co-channel beams belonging to that reuse color. Therefore, this case becomes a special case of the multiple gateway handling described above. Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, pp. 28 / 39 13 / 19 Network allocation

[0039] This disclosure surpasses the ideal MODCOD selection by (i) having visibility into what programmers associated with cochannel beams are allocating and (ii) making programming allocations on cochannel beams so that MODCOD selection is ideal and spectral efficiency is maximized.

[0040] FIG. 3 illustrates a multi-beam grid cochannel programmer according to various modes.

[0041] As illustrated in FIG. 3, a satellite communication system 300 may include a global resource manager 306 to manage the resources of a gateway 308 (resources associated per gateway) using a gateway 304. Gateway resources 308 may include beams assigned to gateway 304. The system 300 may include a network scheduler 302 that analyzes traffic demand on multiple (best-case) co-channel beams and makes allocation decisions for co-channel beams to minimize the number of simultaneous transmissions. The network scheduler 302 maximizes the overall Carrier to (Noise plus Interference) ratio (C / (N+I)) seen by a user terminal (not shown), thus allowing a more spectrally efficient MODCOD to be used.System 300 can be implemented using control plane interaction between network programmers 302 and gateways 304 on a demand 310 seen by gateways 304 in an intermediate layer slot, for example, every few milliseconds. To minimize delays due to this control plane interaction, FIG. 3 illustrates another optimization consistent with the network architecture of the HTS 200 communication system of FIG. 2. In exemplary embodiments, gateways 304 are allocated to beams that are co-channel beams. In some embodiments, gateways 304 handling co-channel beams of the same color can be geographically closer to each other. This can, without limitation, minimize the number of gateways with which the network programmer interacts. Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, pp. 29 / 39 14 / 19 302 interaction, as well as the delay in interaction. In exemplary embodiments, individual beams must carry control traffic in addition to user data. It is also understood that there may be a need to transmit certain reference symbols to each burst in some systems. The 302 network programmer may be aware of this and may take into account this control and / or provisioning of information to transmit a portion of the burst data.

[0042] FIG. 4 illustrates a traffic pattern and a channel state for a set of co-channels according to various modes.

[0043] A network programmer can schedule transmissions to user terminals in a set of co-channel beams. In FIG. 4, a table 400 illustrates an example of allocating direct link transmissions to a set of eight co-channel beams at different time instants in a frame. The exemplary allocation is illustrated in the upper half 402 of table 400. A lower half 410 of table 400 illustrates exemplary co-channel states for each allocation in slots 404 (here, for example, numbered 0 to 9) in a frame. In FIG. 4, a CCX-Y co-channel beam notation is used, where X represents the reuse color and Y represents the beam number belonging to that reuse color. In FIG. 4, CC1-1 to CC1-8 (in a first column of the upper half 402) represents, for example, the eight cocanal bundles belonging to the dark gray reuse color 224 of FIG. 2.

[0044] In an exemplary embodiment, an air interface design may be such that each instant corresponds to slots in a TDMA frame structure, where, for example, each 404 slot is 100 microseconds long and the network programmer makes allocation decisions every 1 millisecond (ms), i.e., 10 slots at a time. In FIG. 4, this is illustrated as 10 404 slots numbered from 0 to 9. Assuming that the links are designed so that the Carrier / Noise (C / N) ratio is 17 dB. The calculations of the ratio Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, pp. 30 / 39 15 / 19 Carrier / Interference (C / I) beamwidths can be realized for the beam layout shown in FIG. 2 assuming a 17.5 cm antenna per feed element on a satellite operating at 12.7 GHz.

[0045] The upper half illustrates a 402 traffic pattern including bandwidth allocations for each slot in a next frame for a co-channel beamset. The 402 traffic pattern illustrates an allocated next slot 406 in a dark gray color and an unallocated (unallocated) next slot 408 is a light gray color. The 402 traffic pattern informed by the allocations can be based on backlog information 310 from FIG. 3. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the 402 traffic pattern is such that there are multiple instances of slots where all co-channel beams are unallocated. Therefore, most co-channel metrics for the co-channel set should improve and indicate less interference. For example, an average C / I will be much better for a sparsely allocated co-channel set in a specific slot than the average C / I of a densely or fully allocated co-channel set.Therefore, the C / (N+I) experienced by the user terminals on active beams will improve as shown in the lower half of FIG. 4, for example, the C / (N+I) of slots 0-5 and 7-9.

[0046] The network programmer 302 in FIG. 3 calculates the channel state in the lower half 410 for each slot (next allocation slot) and is therefore able to allocate a MODCOD proportional to the C / (N+I) that will be experienced by users on the active beams. In this example, the MODCOD selection and associated spectral efficiencies were based on the DVB-S2 specification. A similar methodology can also be used using the DVBS2X specification. The associated spectral efficiency is therefore higher than a traditional programmer that would have allocated based on the assumption that all beams would be active simultaneously or would use a conservative filtered average based on measurements from previous links that included co-channel interference. This percentage improvement is shown in row 412 of table 400. As Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, pages 31 / 39 16 / 19 illustrated on line 412, there is no improvement when there is simultaneous transmission on all co-channel beams for a slot, for example, slot 6 on line 412.

[0047] When there is no network connectivity between the network scheduler and a gateway, the strategy of having a gateway handle beams of the same reuse color still offers an improvement in spectral efficiency, as the scheduler at that gateway will have visibility into co-channel beams under the gateway's jurisdiction. Allocation decisions can take into account the QoS requirements associated with the traffic being scheduled. After allocation decisions are made for the individual beams, QoS differentiation on each beam can be performed using techniques such as Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ).

[0048] Although the description above focuses on the forward link, the same process can be applied to a return link to take advantage of C / I improvements. Improvements can be achieved because the network programmer will determine or decide the return link allocations.

[0049] In some embodiments, the present disclosure, of having a gateway co-channel manipulation beam of the same color reuse, may be used to select and apply pre-coding techniques to aid in interference cancellation and mitigate a co-channel C / I impact. By current teachings, a gateway or a neighboring gateway cluster, co-channel beam manipulation allows the use of pre-coding to further mitigate the deleterious effects of co-channel interference between the active transmission beams. Pre-coding is a way of manipulating the signals transmitted from the gateway to mitigate the C / I impact. Pre-coding is most practical when the signals transmitted in the co-channel beams are known. Pre-coding can reduce the C / I impact on the co-channel beams, allowing the selection of an even more aggressive MODCOD. Location-aware allocation Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, pp. 32 / 39 17 / 19

[0050] These teachings disclose spectral efficiency enhancements that utilize knowledge of C / I beam-level statistics. In exemplary embodiments, the network programmer can utilize location recognition of user terminals within a coverage area. When a user terminal location is known to the programmer, spectral efficiency can be optimized. This is because the C / I experienced by a user terminal within a beam is different at different locations for a given set of interferers. On the return link, for a given location of interest, the C / I is a function of where the interferers are located.

[0051] FIG. 5 illustrates the dependence of the Carrier / Interference (C / I) ratio on the location of an interferer according to various modes.

[0052] In FIG. 5, an azimuth cutoff of the satellite antenna gain for the beam of interest is shown on a return link in graph 500. FIG. 5 illustrates a response of an exemplary satellite antenna at various co-channel beam locations. Assume that the user of interest is at the center 504 of a 502 beam of interest with an antenna gain of approximately 38.5 dBi. An interferer at Location 506 in the co-channel beam is interfering about 18 dB below the user of interest; however, if the interferer is located at Location 506 in the co-channel beam, the interference level is more than 30 dB below the signal of interest.When the programmer allocates the return link allocation to the user of interest on the beam of interest and another user on a co-channel beam simultaneously at Local 502, the MODCOD used must be more robust compared to the case when the return link allocation on the co-channel beam is at Local 508. In other words, the spectral efficiency of a user of interest can be increased when the location of the interferer is known. By the present teachings, knowledge of the location of the user of interest and of the... Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, pp. 33 / 39 18 / 19 interference allows for the optimization of simultaneous allocations, so that overall spectral efficiency is improved. Improved Spectral Efficiency Through Flexible Power Allocation

[0053] With the proposed multi-beam networked co-channel programmer, power allocation can be flexible and more efficient. Having visibility of which co-channel beams will be transmitting, the proposed programmer can reallocate power from non-transmitting co-channel beams to transmitting beams using a multi-port amplifier. As an example, assuming power is evenly distributed among the co-channel beams, 6 dB more power could be reallocated to the beams with active transmission (CC1-5 and CC1-6) from time instance 0 of FIG. 4. The increased power would improve the overall spectral efficiency and the C / (N+I) experienced by the user terminals to 19.96 dB.

[0054] FIG. 6 illustrates a method for network allocation according to various modalities.

[0055] A 600 method for network allocation can be implemented using the modules and processes described above. The 600 method can include a 602 operation to configure a network. The 600 method can include a 604 operation to provide multiple gateways. The 600 method can include a 606 operation to provide multiple channels in a color reuse scheme. The 600 method can include a 608 operation to assign co-channel beams to gateways.

[0056] Method 600 may include an operation 610 to generate traffic patterns for the next allocation slot. Method 600 may include an operation 612 to collect backlog / demand for co-channels. Method 600 may include an operation 614 to receive backlog from gateways for co-channels. Method 600 may include an operation 616 to allocate a slot.

[0057] Method 600 may include a 620 operation to determine the channel state by traffic pattern. Method 600 may include a 622 operation. Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, pp. 34 / 39 19 / 19 to calculate co-channel metrics (C / I, C / (N+I), etc.). Method 600 may include an operation 624 to calculate spectral efficiency of co-channels. Method 600 may include an operation 626 to calculate interference based on the location of an interferer. Method 600 may include an operation 628 to adjust C / (N+I) based on the calculated interference. Method 600 may include an operation 630 to calculate power allocation by traffic pattern.

[0058] Method 600 may include an operation 640 to set the MODCOD of a co-channel by channel state. Method 600 may include an operation 642 to adjust the co-channel calculated MODCOD based on QoS requirements. Method 600 may include an operation 644 to adjust the co-channel calculated MODCOD based on QoS differentiation. Method 600 may include an operation 646 to transmit to a user terminal according to the co-channel calculated MODCOD. Method 600 may include an operation 648 to receive from a user terminal according to the co-channel calculated MODCOD.

[0059] Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it will be understood that the subject matter in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Instead, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims. Other configurations of the embodiments described are part of the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, implementations consistent with the subject matter of this disclosure may have more or fewer acts than those described or may implement acts in a different order than shown. Consequently, the appended claims and their legal equivalents should only define the invention, rather than any specific examples given. Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, pp. 35 / 39

Claims

1 / 5 CLAIMS 1.A method for network allocation, the method characterized in that it comprises: providing a gateway (202); a plurality of channels assigned to a color reuse scheme comprising colors, wherein part of the plurality of channels assigned to one of the colors comprises a co-channel set; associating the co-channel set with the gateway (202); generating a traffic pattern (402) indicating one or more active co-channels for the co-channel set for a next allocation interval in an allocation slot (406); determining, after generation, an expected channel metric for each of the active co-channels; defining, after determination, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MODCOD) for each of the active co-channels in the co-channel set based on the respective expected channel metric; wherein the determination coordinates interference mitigation in the next allocation slot in all active co-channels, and wherein the co-channel set has a common frequency and orthogonality.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the gateway comprises a plurality of gateways (202, 204, 206, 212, 214, 216) and the method further comprises interconnecting the plurality of gateways with a high-speed, low-latency link.

3. Method, according to claim 2, characterized in that one of the colors is assigned to a plurality of co-channel sets, each set of the plurality of co-channel sets being assigned to one of the plurality of gateways that communicate with each other over the high-speed, low-latency link.

4. Method, according to claim 1, characterized in that one of the colors is assigned to a plurality of cochannel sets.

5. Method, according to claim 1, characterized in that the determination comprises calculating, based on the traffic pattern (402) for Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, page 7 / 39 2 / 5 the next allocation slot (406), one or more active transmission indicators, spectral efficiency, interference, pre-coding and power level.

6. Method, according to claim 1, characterized in that the determination comprises calculating, for each of the one or more active cochannels, an interference based on the location of the interferer.

7. Method, according to claim 1, characterized in that the determination is based on one or more of a projected physical waveform, a provision of Channel State Information (CSI), a reference signal, a spectral efficiency of the CSI interference measurement feature, a beam response, reuse factors, number of cochannel cells and activity in cochannel cells.

8. Method, according to claim 1, characterized in that the generation comprises collecting demand for the next allocation slot based on instantaneous beam transmission information.

9. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the generation comprises demand collection with a top-level allocation scheduler, an intermediate-level allocation scheduler and a lower-level allocation scheduler.

10. Method, according to claim 1, characterized in that the generation comprises collecting demand for the next allocation slot (406) based on beam transmission information from the same transmission frame.

11. Method, according to claim 1, characterized in that the configuration is based on Quality of Service, fairness and efficiency requirements associated with the traffic being allocated in the next allocation slot (406).

12. Satellite communication system, characterized in that it comprises: a gateway (202); Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, page 8 / 39 3 / 5 a plurality of channels assigned to a color reuse scheme comprising colors, wherein part of the plurality of channels assigned to one of the colors comprises a set of co-channels; a global resource manager (306) for associating the set of co-channels with the gateway (202); a scheduler for generating a traffic pattern (402) indicating one or more active co-channels for the set of co-channels for a next allocation slot based on allocations for the set of co-channels;and a network programmer (302) to determine the metric of each or more active cochannels and to configure, for the next allocation slot (406), a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MODCOD) of each or more active cochannels compatible with the respective channel metric expected to increase the spectral efficiency of the next slot, where the network programmer (302) determines and coordinates the interference mitigation between one or more active cochannels, and where the set of cochannels has a common frequency and orthogonality.

13. System according to claim 12, characterized in that the gateway comprises a plurality of gateways (202, 204, 206, 212, 214, 216) and the system further comprises a high-speed, low-latency link for interconnecting the plurality of gateways.

14. System, according to claim 13, characterized in that one of the colors is assigned to a plurality of co-channel sets, each set of the plurality of co-channel sets being assigned to one of the plurality of gateways that communicate with each other via the high-speed, low-latency link.

15. System according to claim 12, characterized in that one of the colors is assigned to a plurality of cochannel sets.

16. System, according to claim 12, characterized in that the network programmer is further configured to calculate, based on the traffic pattern for the next allocation slot, one or more indicators of active transmission, spectral efficiency, interference, pre-coding and power level.

17. System according to claim 12, characterized in that the network programmer is further configured to calculate, for each one or more co-channels, an interference based on the location of the interferer.

18. System according to claim 12, characterized in that the network programmer determines the expected channel metric based on one or more of a projected physical waveform, a provision of Channel State Information (CSI), a reference signal, a spectral efficiency of the CSI interference measurement feature, a beam response, reuse factors, number of cochannel cells and activity in cochannel cells.

19. System according to claim 12, characterized in that the networked scheduler is further configured to collect demand for the next allocation slot based on instantaneous beam transmission information.

20. System according to claim 12, characterized in that the network scheduler is further configured to collect demand with a top-level allocation scheduler, an intermediate-level allocation scheduler, and a lower-level allocation scheduler.

21. System, according to claim 12, characterized in that the network programmer is further configured to collect demand for the next allocation slot based on beam transmission information of the same transmission frame.

22. System, according to claim 12, characterized in that the network scheduler defines the MODCOD based on the Quality of Service (QoS), fairness and efficiency requirements associated with the traffic being scheduled in the next allocation slot.

23. System, according to claim 12, characterized in that the network programmer is additionally configured to adjust the MODCOD scheme of each co-channel in the co-channel set based on the traffic pattern of other channels in the co-channel set.

24. Method according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising adjusting the MODCOD scheme of each co-channel in the co-channel set based on the traffic pattern of other channels in the co-channel set. Petition 870260032211, dated 07 / 04 / 2026, p. 11 / 39

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