System and method for allocating communication links

A communication system comprising:

• a communication network;
• one or more base stations;
• a plurality of remote terminal units;
• the one or more base stations and the plurality of remote terminal units having means for transmitting and receiving data over a plurality of communication links;
• and
• a communication manager that is configured to define and manage said plurality of communication links of the communication network;
• wherein:
• the plurality of communication links include a plurality of low bandwidth communication links and one or more high bandwidth communication links;
• the communication manager is configured for configuring the plurality of communication links with low bandwidth information and high bandwidth information that defines respective allocated communication resources, the low bandwidth information including a time slot to use for one or more of the plurality of low bandwidth communication links, and the low bandwidth information being initially allocated to and stored on each remote terminal unit prior to joining the communication network, and the high bandwidth information defining resources to use for the one or more high bandwidth communication links, which are allocated when requested over the communication network by one or more of the plurality of remote terminal units or the one or more base stations;
• and
• the communication manager is configured for defining a number of frequency and time slot tiles allocated to a communication link and a latency of any communication link, the number of tiles are grouped for transmission in a burst based on a location of the number of tiles in a frame, wherein the burst includes data which defines a burst type, the burst data is mapped to the communication link according to the burst type, and for at least one burst type the number of tiles are located in a frame that includes both an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission,
• wherein the low bandwidth information including a time slot to use for at least one of the plurality of low bandwidth communication links is stored on each remote terminal unit prior to the respective remote terminal unit joining the communication network as part of a boot process.