Method and system for sending and receiving satellite digital radio programming information for multiple channels

A method for transmitting and receiving satellite channel information, comprising the steps of:

• transmitting at least a first RF satellite signal at a first RF frequency and a second RF satellite signal at a second RF frequency;
• transmitting multiple data frames in each of the first and second RF satellite signals;
• transmitting frame synchronization symbols within the multiple data frames to indicate a reference position in the multiple data frames, the frame synchronization symbols of the first RF satellite signal being offset in time from the frame synchronization symbols of the second RF satellite signal, such that the frame synchronization symbols of the first RF satellite signal occur at a different time than the frame synchronization symbols of the second RF satellite signal;
• transmitting data slots within the multiple data frames that are positioned within the multiple data frames of the first and second RF satellite signals relative to the frame synchronization symbols of the first and second RF satellite signals in which they occur;
• transmitting satellite channel information in at least one designated data slot of the multiple data frames of the first RF satellite signal and second RF satellite signal, such that the at least one designated data slot containing channel information in the first RF satellite signal occurs at a different time than the at least one designated data slot containing channel information in the second RF satellite signal, wherein the satellite channel information transmitted in the at least one designated slot is in the form of an erasure code and transmitted in multiple data packets, such that a receiver can reconstruct a message sent using said erasure code in said multiple packets regardless of an order in which said multiple packets are received;
• and
• transmitting the first and second RF satellite signals containing the satellite channel information to at least one satellite receiver.

A method for transmitting and receiving satellite channel program information, comprising the steps of:

• transmitting at least four RF satellite signals, each at its own RF frequency;
• transmitting multiple, periodically repeating, data frames in each of the RF satellite signals, each data frame including multiple data slots configured to contain data;
• transmitting frame synchronization symbols in each of the multiple, periodically repeating data frames of the at least four satellite signals to indicate the beginning position of each frame, wherein the frame synchronization symbols of the multiple, periodically repeating data frames of each of the four satellite signals are offset in time from the frame synchronization symbols of the multiple, periodically repeating data frames of each of the remaining RF satellite signals, such that the frame synchronization symbols of each of the RF satellite signals occur at a different time than the frame synchronization symbols of the remaining RF satellite signals;
• transmitting satellite channel information in information data slots immediately following the frame synchronization symbol of each of the multiple data frames of each of the at least four RF satellite signals, such that the information data slots in each of the at least four RF satellite signals occur in non-overlapping timeslots, wherein the satellite channel information provided in the at least one designated slot is in the form of an erasure code and transmitted in multiple data packets, such that a receiver can reconstruct a message sent using said erasure code in said multiple packets regardless of an order in which said multiple packets are received;
• and
• transmitting the at least four satellite signals including the offset frame synchronization symbols to at least one RF satellite receiver.