Satellite ATM modem

A new concept in the satellite ATM network architecture is presented. The salient features of both the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technology and the bandwidth on demand satellite networks are considered in the development of the resultant architecture and the underlying protocols. Multi-carrier demultiplexer and demodulator (MCDD) technology is applied to create a mesh satellite communication network interoperable among different sized Earth terminals capable of transmitting at widely different rates e.g. From 8 kbps to 8 Mbps. Dynamic coding and interleaving techniques are used to provide high quality of service in a bandwidth and cost efficient manner. Even though the network is designed for ATM traffic, it is easily extensible to the Internet and frame relay traffic.