Method of dynamic allocation of shared resources in a time-frequency plan and associated device

A computer-implemented method of dynamic allocation of shared resources in a communication network including a plurality of receivers, the computer-implemented method being executed by a resource allocation device at a satellite station associated with a return link between the plurality of receivers and the satellite station, the computer-implemented method comprising:

• defining, at a resource allocation device of the satellite station, in a time-frequency plan, a superframe of a given duration ΔT and a given spectral width Δf, including at least one frame,
• defining, at the resource allocation device of the satellite station, a regular time-frequency grid, of which one square, referred to as a time-frequency unit, constitutes the smallest time and frequency interval allocatable to a user at the at least one receiver of said communication network within said frame,
• reserving, at the resource allocation device of the satellite station, on each carrier frequency of a frame, at least one block of a number K, greater than or equal to 1, of time-frequency units which can be dynamically allocated to a user for communication or for synchronization,
• allocating, at the resource allocation device of the satellite station, to a user, a time-frequency unit reserved for synchronization within a block of a carrier frequency, said allocating including:
• calculating, for each user connected to said communication network, the ratio between the frequency variation between the carrier frequency of said block and the last carrier frequency on which the user has communicated and the time interval between the last time-frequency unit used by the user for communication and the time-frequency unit reserved for synchronization to be allocated, and
• allocating said time-frequency unit reserved for synchronization is allocated to the user for whom said ratio is the lowest, and
• transmitting, by the resource allocation device from the satellite station, to at least a receiver an information regarding the allocation of at least one time-frequency unit for communication and at least one time-frequency unit for synchronization to the receiver.

A resource allocation device for dynamic allocation of shared resources for communication and synchronization of a plurality of user terminals in a communication network, the resource allocation device being configured to:

• define, at the resource allocation device, in a time-frequency plan, a superframe of a given duration ΔT and a given spectral width Δf, including at least one frame,
• define, at the resource allocation device, a regular time-frequency grid, of which one square, referred to as a time-frequency unit, constitutes the smallest time and frequency interval allocatable to a user at the at least one receiver of said communication network within said frame, and
• reserve, at the resource allocation device, on each carrier frequency of a frame, at least one block of a number K, greater than or equal to 1, of time-frequency units which can be dynamically allocated to a user for communication or for synchronization,
• wherein the number of time-frequency units per frame allocated for synchronization is at least equal to the minimum number Nu of time-frequency units per frame required to provide the synchronization of all connected users, this minimum number Nu being equal to the rounded value of the ratio of the duration of a superframe to the synchronization period of the user, multiplied by the number of users connected to the communication network, and
• transmit, by the resource allocation device, to at least a receiver an information regarding the allocation of at least one time-frequency unit for communication and at least one time-frequency unit for synchronization to the receiver.

A resource allocation device for dynamic allocation of shared resources for communication and synchronization of a plurality of user terminals in a communication network, the resource allocation device being configured to:

• define, at the resource allocation device, in a time-frequency plan, a superframe of a given duration ΔT and a given spectral width Δf, including at least one frame,
• define, at the resource allocation device, a regular time-frequency grid, of which one square, referred to as a time-frequency unit, constitutes the smallest time and frequency interval allocatable to a user at the at least one receiver of said communication network within said frame, and
• reserve, at the resource allocation device, on each carrier frequency of a frame, at least one block of a number K, greater than or equal to 1, of time-frequency units which can be dynamically allocated to a user for communication or for synchronization,
• allocate, at the resource allocation device, to a user, a time-frequency unit reserved for synchronization within a block of a carrier frequency including:
• a calculation, at the resource allocation device, for each user connected to said communication network, the ratio between the frequency variation between the carrier frequency of said block and the last carrier frequency on which the user has communicated and the time interval between the last time-frequency unit used by the user for communication and the time-frequency unit reserved for synchronization to be allocated,
• an allocation, at the resource allocation device, said time-frequency unit reserved for synchronization is allocated to the user for whom said ratio is the lowest, and
• transmit, from the resource allocation device, to at least a receiver an information regarding the allocation to the receiver of at least one time-frequency unit for communication and at least one time-frequency unit for synchronization.