Adaptive constellation for transmodulation in satellite communication systems

A method performed by a gateway of a satellite communication system, the method comprising:

• receiving, by the gateway, (i) a first bitstream for transmission on a first forward link from a satellite to a first terminal and (ii) a second bitstream for transmission on a second forward link from the satellite to a second terminal;
• selecting, by the gateway, data to map to a symbol for transmission on a feeder link for transmissions from the gateway to a satellite, and wherein the selected data includes a portion of the first bitstream and a portion of the second bitstream;
• selecting, by the gateway, a symbol to represent the selected data in a transmission on the feeder link, the symbol being selected from among a subset of the symbols in a symbol constellation and the subset is determined based at least in part on a measure of signal strength for the feeder link, wherein the gateway is configured to use the symbol constellation to modulate data for transmission on the feeder link to achieve different numbers of bits per symbol, and wherein the gateway is configured to select symbols for transmission from among different subsets of the symbols in the symbol constellation to achieve different numbers of bits per symbol;
• and
• transmitting, by the gateway, the selected symbol on the feeder link from the gateway to the satellite.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that are operable, when executed be one or more processors of a gateway of a satellite communication system, to cause the gateway to perform operations comprising:

• receiving (i) a first bitstream for transmission on a first forward link from a satellite to a first terminal and (ii) a second bitstream for transmission on a second forward link from the satellite to a second terminal;
• selecting data to map to a symbol for transmission on a feeder link for transmissions from the gateway to a satellite, and wherein the selected data includes a portion of the first bitstream and a portion of the second bitstream;
• selecting a symbol to represent the selected data in a transmission on the feeder link, the symbol being selected from among a subset of the symbols in a symbol constellation and the subset is determined based at least in part on a measure of signal strength for the feeder link, wherein the gateway is configured to use the symbol constellation to modulate data for transmission on the feeder link to achieve different numbers of bits per symbol, and wherein the gateway is configured to select symbols for transmission from among different subsets of the symbols in the symbol constellation to achieve different numbers of bits per symbol;
• and
• transmitting the selected symbol on the feeder link from the gateway to the satellite.