System and method for handling timing in a satellite communication system

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

• receiving, at a gateway, protocol data units (PDUs) to be transmitted to a terminal via a satellite;
• computing, by a traffic adapter of the gateway, a release time at which a baseband frame containing the PDUs is to be released from a digitizer of the gateway for transmission to the terminal via the satellite, the release time being computed based on a transmission and processing delay between the traffic adapter of the gateway and the digitizer of the gateway;
• generating, by the traffic adapter of the gateway, the baseband frame containing the PDUs and a timing packet, the timing packet including a reference time for use at the terminal for synchronizing a terminal clock with a gateway clock;
• tagging, by the traffic adapter of the gateway, the release time to the baseband frame to produce a tagged baseband frame;
• generating a digital intermediate frequency (IF) packet containing a modulated baseband frame and the release time by:
• modulating the baseband frame;
• and
• inserting the release time from the tagged baseband frame into a header of the digital IF packet;
• and
• releasing, by the digitizer of the gateway, the modulated baseband frame at the release time for transmission to the terminal via the satellite.

A system comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
• receive, at a gateway, protocol data units (PDUs) to be transmitted to a terminal via a satellite;
• compute, by a traffic adapter of the gateway, a release time at which a baseband frame containing the PDUs is to be released from a digitizer of the gateway for transmission to the terminal via the satellite, the release time being computed based on a transmission and processing delay between the traffic adapter of the gateway and the digitizer of the gateway;
• generate, by the traffic adapter of the gateway, the baseband frame containing the PDUs and a timing packet, the timing packet including a reference time for use at the terminal for synchronizing a terminal clock with a gateway clock;
• tag, by the traffic adapter of the gateway, the release time to the baseband frame to produce a tagged baseband frame;
• generate a digital intermediate frequency (IF) packet containing a modulated baseband frame and the release time by modulating the baseband frame and inserting the release time from the tagged baseband frame into a header of the digital IF packet;
• and
• release, by the digitizer of the gateway, the modulated baseband frame at the release time for transmission to the terminal via the satellite.