Frame relay protocol-based multiplex switching scheme for satellite mesh network

For use with a satellite communication network having a communication satellite and a plurality of earth stations, each earth station being coupled to a plurality of terminal devices, a method of providing full mesh connectivity between any two terminal devices of said network comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing, at each of said earth stations,
• a transceiver unit which is operative to transmit, via an up-link communication channel to said communication satellite, messages which are broadcast by said communication satellite over downlink communication channels to respective earth stations of said network, and which is operative to receive, via a respective downlink communication channel from said communication satellite, messages which are broadcast by said communication satellite over said downlink communication channels to respective earth stations of said network,
• a modulator/demodulator unit, which is coupled with said transceiver unit and is operative to modulate uplink-directed messages, supplied by one or more terminal devices that are coupled to said earth station, in accordance with a prescribed modulation format for transmission by said transceiver unit over said uplink channel, and to demodulate downlink-directed messages received by said transceiver unit from said communication satellite and destined for one or more terminal devices that are coupled to said earth station, and
• a frame relay protocol-based switch having a plurality of physical terminal device ports coupled to communication links for interfacing messages to and from terminal devices served by said earth station, and a plurality of uplink/downlink ports, coupled to said modulator/demodulator unit;
• (b) at a first earth station sourcing a message from an associated calling terminal device, causing the frame relay protocol-based switch of said first earth station to connect a selected one of multiple virtual ports associated with at least one of said physical terminal device ports to a selected one of said uplink/downlink communications ports, and thereby connect uplink-directed message signals from said calling terminal device to an uplink port of said plurality of uplink/downlink ports;
• and
• (c) at a second earth station terminating a message to an associated destination terminal device, causing the frame relay protocol-based switch of said second earth station to controllably connect downlink-directed message signals, that are coupled to a downlink port of said plurality of uplink/downlink ports, to a selected virtual port to which said destination terminal device is coupled.