Designing ATDMA Networks

20 Apr 2018

© 2008 VT iDirect, Inc.

 Introductions/Expectations

• Introductions
• Name/Role
• Why do you need to learn about ATDMA?

• Expectations
• What specifically are you hoping to get out of this class?
• How do you plan on applying it?

• Policy on Questions
• Ask as many as you need, whenever you need
• No question is an interruption
• Don’t get lost – ask clarifying questions before you do
Designing ATDMA Networks

Overview of Adaptive TDMA

© 2008 VT iDirect, Inc.

 Comparing
TDMA vs Adaptive TDMA
• Before ATDMA, inroute groups consisted of homogeneous
carriers
QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK
TDMA 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4

• With ATDMA, an inroute group can consist of heterogeneous

carriers*
Improved spectral efficiency
Differing peak rates

8P
ATDMA 8PSK
2/3
SK
2/3
QPSK
3/4
QP
SK QPSK
1/2
QP
SK BPSK
3/4 1/2 ½ SF4

• Different symbol rates

• Different MODCODs Improved fade margin Reduced ASI for
• Different SS factors Higher reliability mobile remotes

*FEC Block size must be the same (100, 170, or 438B)

 ATDMA Inroute Group Compositions (IGC)

Clear Sky Most terminals in clear sky • Up to three dynamic

“profiles” or
8PSK 8PSK 8PSK 8PSK
8P
QP
compositions
SK QPSK
2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3
2/3 3/4 SK • Optimize network
3/4
performance in any
Heavy fade Considerable number of terminals in fade
condition

Medium-term adaptivity:
8PSK 8PSK 8PSK
QPSK QP
QPSK
QP Selecting IGC every 60s
2/3 2/3 2/3 SK SK
3/4
3/4 1/2
1/2
(default, but configurable)

Hub-side fade All terminals impacted

• Benefits
QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK QP • Margin is converted to
QPSK BP
3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 SK
1/2 SK bandwidth efficiency
3/4
1/2 • Availability is maintained
via dynamic profiles
Short-term adaptivity: • Unprecedented control to
Frequency hopping - BW allocation fulfill SLAs
New Burst Time Plan every 125 ms
 ATDMA : Three Levels of Adaptivity

• Short Term Adaptivity

• UCP and fade detection
• TDMA time plan and frequency hopping within IGC
• Evaluate adaptive carrier selection every 125ms timeframe

• Medium Term Adaptivity

• IGC selection
• Evaluate IGC selection every 60 seconds (configurable)

• Long Term Adaptivity

• Based on monitoring / post-analysis to adjust IGC designs
• Evaluate adaptive design over weeks or months of
performance monitoring
 Adaptive TDMA Use Case:
Mitigating Various Levels of Rain Fade

ClearSky
Widespread
Hub Side Fade
Fade

 Frequency
Hopping
based on
Remote remote’s link
condition
Remote

 IRG MODCOD
Remote
changes
Remote
based on
wider fade
Remote
condition
iDirect Hub
 Uplink Control Process During Remote Fade:
Short Term Adaptivity

Legend
C1 = C/N threshold
C2 = C1 + M1
C3 = C2 + M2
C/No = C/N + 10*Log(Rs)
Δ = (C/N0)1 - (C/N0)2
H – Power Headroom
 ATDMA Return: Medium Term Adaptivity

Clear Sky

Hub Side Fade

Widespread Fade
 Uses of ATDMA Beyond Mitigating Rain Fade:
Maximizing Mobile Capacity

Beam Edge Intermediate Beam Center

 Uses of ATDMA Beyond Mitigating Rain Fade:
Adaptive IGC for Time Sharing Among Clusters

Many 1.2m VSAT Few 2.4m VSAT

Active Mostly Active Mostly
During the Evening During the Day
 Constraints on ATDMA Inroute Group Compositions

• Only upstream carriers assigned to ULC-R, DLC-R, XLC-M, eM0DM, or

receive-only eM1D1 line cards can be configured as adaptive
• All other upstream carriers must be static

• Payload Block Size must be the same for all carriers defined in all IGCs

• A maximum of three IGCs can be configured for an IG

• To define multiple IGCs, an IG must have at least one adaptive carrier

• For each carrier, center frequency and symbol rate must be the same for
all IGCs

• A different MODCOD can be selected for each adaptive carrier in each IGC

• Spread Spectrum carriers must be

static (the MODCOD must be the
8P
same for all IGCs) 8PSK QP QP
SK QPSK QPSK
2/3 SK SK
2/3 3/4 1/2 BPSK
3/4 1/2
• TRANSEC carriers can be adaptive ½ SF4
adaptive adaptive static static adaptive adaptive static
 Short Summary: Adaptive TDMA Benefits

Benefits of Adaptive TDMA

• Enables terminals to achieve their max
throughput capability in all link conditions
• No need to operate at worst case remote scenario

• Greater flexibility for optimized network design

• Different terminal sizes and throughput requirements across network
• Various beam contours across network
• Dynamically varying fade conditions across network

All serviced in an optimized fashion via

short-term and medium-term adaptivity
Designing ATDMA Networks

Key ATDMA Configuration Parameters

© 2008 VT iDirect, Inc.

 Some Preliminary Info First…
A Look at C/N vs C/N0

Carrier to Noise
Density Ratio
C = –53dBm
Symbol Rate ♦
Dependent

SR = 512 Ksps C/N

+11dB
C/No Used for UCP
in ATDMA; C/N0
Whereas C/N used
for UCP in TDMA +68 dBHz

♦
N = –64dBm
C/N0 = C/N + 10*log(Symbol Rate) (dBHz)
 Why C/N0 Is Needed
to Compare Adaptive Carriers
Difference in C/No between carriers
= difference in BUC power required by remote

C = –53dBm C = –53dBm
♦ ♦

SR C/N SR = 512 Ksps C/N

128Ksps +11dB +11dB

C/N0 C/N0
+62 dBHz +68 dBHz

♦ ♦
N = –64dBm N = –64dBm

ATDMA uses C/N0 to compare carriers

 Remote Configuration:
TDMA Reference Carrier
• Reference Carrier
• Operator defines one reference
carrier for each remote site
• Used in calculating Acquisition
Transmit Power and Maximum
Link Impairment

• Reference Carrier Parameters

• Symbol Rate, MODCOD,
Spreading Factor, Payload Block Size, and TDMA Initial Power
• TDMA Initial Power should be set to the clear sky link budget estimate
• TDMA Initial Power too high: may cause interference during acquisition
• TDMA Initial Power too low: remote may fail to join network during a fade
• Actual TDMA Initial Power used is scaled from Reference Carrier
definition to that required for the actual acquisition carrier used
• The Reference Carrier does not have to be any of the carriers defined in
the assigned IGCs
 Remote Configuration:
TDMA Maximum Power

• TDMA Maximum Power

• Usable BUC power determined by 1dB compression test

• If TDMA Maximum Power is set too low:

• Remote may never be assigned bandwidth on upstream carriers
it should be capable of using

• If TDMA Maximum Power is set too high:

• Remote can saturate BUC, creating distortions due to nonlinearity
• May cause interference on upstream carriers during operation
• Will not provide dB-for-dB improvement in C/No vs commanded
Tx power increase

Remote’s Reference carrier, TDMA Initial Power and

TDMA Maximum Power need to be correctly configured
for ATDMA to work properly.
 Remote Configuration:
Carrier Constraints (1)

• Maximum Link Impairment (dB):

• Remotes are removed from the IGC selection algorithm when they
have faded in excess of their Maximum Link Impairment
• Otherwise, remotes in deep fade could cause the selection of a more robust IGC with
the consequence that Clear Sky remotes might not be able to fulfill their CIR and peak
rate commitments
• Impairment is relative to the reference carrier’s C/No + M1 + M2
• Removes remote from allowed dropout fraction calculation
• Maximum Link Impairment only affects IGC selection
• It does not affect the amount of bandwidth allocated to the remote
 Remote Configuration:
Carrier Constraints (2)

• Minimum Symbol Rate

• No slots allocated to remotes on carriers with symbol rates lower than
the configured Minimum Symbol Rate
• Old e8350 and e800 hardware (modems with serial numbers below 27,500) cannot
support symbol rates below 1 Msps (or 1Mcps for spread carriers)
• Higher symbol rates are needed for mobile remotes with sufficient velocity

• Maximum C/N
• No slots allocated to remotes on carriers that require bursts to be
received at C/N levels exceeding the configured Maximum C/N
• Example: Off axis regulatory limits will limit the remote’s EIRP
 Inroute Group Configuration:
Margins and Measurement Spacing
• ATDMA default (?)* margins:
• M1 = 1dB
• M2 = 0.6dB
• M3 = 2.0dB
• Measurement Spacing = 1 sec

• Measurement Spacing is the time between UCP adjustment calcs

• Bursts are measured, averaged, and power correction adjustments made
in this interval during steady-state (not fast fade) operation
• When fast fade detected, UCP algorithm shortens the update interval
• During fade, the number of bursts allocated to an idle remote may
exceed its configured MIR
• Allows remote to transmit more frequent bursts for measurement

• UPC in ATDMA
• The remote automatically adjusts its transmit power such that the power
matches what is required on the assigned carrier
*Why the question mark? – best settings vary by design objectives, see TRG
 Inroute Group Configuration:
More on Margins
• Fade Slope Margin (M1) - allows for incremental fade that can
occur during the reaction time of the UCP algorithm as well as
the uncertainty in the C/N0 estimations

• Hysteresis Margin (M2) - added to M1 to assure stability when

switching to a higher C/No carrier
• Prevents frequent switching between carriers by providing a
headroom “buffer”

• Acquisition Margin (M3) – subtracted from the received C/No

during acquisition to provide some margin for initial assignment of
nominal carrier
• Acq C/Norcv + (headroom in the remote during acquisition) - M3 will be
used to evaluate the best carrier in the IGC to assign as nominal
• Worst case is no headroom in remote during acquisition, so remote
will at least get headroom = M3 for initial nominal carrier assignment
 Inroute Group Configuration:
Update Interval, Dropout Fraction, Default IGC

• Configurable Parameters:
• IGC update interval (60 seconds by default)
• Allowed Dropout Fraction:
• If the percentage of remotes unable to sustain transmissions on the
most protected carrier of the IGC would exceed the configured
Allowed Dropout Fraction, then that IGC is not selected

• Default IGC:
• Defined by user, is the IGC used if Allowed Dropout Fraction is
exceeded for all IGCs
Designing ATDMA Networks

Levels of Adaptivity:
Short Term Adaptivity

© 2008 VT iDirect, Inc.

 Short Term Adaptivity

• Nominal Carrier
• A remote’s nominal carrier is the upstream carrier with the highest
threshold C/N0 the remote can currently sustain and is allowed to use
(recall carrier constraints configuration parameters)

Nominal carrier

• Burst Time Plan for every Carrier in current IGC

• Realtime resource management assigns time slots in current composition
to remotes, respecting constraints on the carriers they can use
• The time slot assignment algorithm attempts to allocate slots on the
remote’s nominal carrier, or - during contention - on carriers that are less
efficient or have lower peak throughput than the nominal carrier once all
slots matching the nominal carrier parameters have been assigned
 Short Term Adaptivity and Remote TX Power

• Frequency Hopping and Transmit Power

• A remote may transmit on several carriers within a single TDMA frame
within the C/No and fade limits
• Different carriers might require different remote Tx power
As an example,
this carrier requires twice the power of
that carrier to close the link if it has twice the symbol rate

8PSK 8PSK 8PSK QP QP

2/3 2/3 2/3 QPSK QPSK
3/4 SK SK
3/4 1/2
1/2

Frequency Hopping
• The remote calculates in real time the appropriate Tx power for each
carrier, taking into account UCP and TDMA Maximum Power setting
• TDMA Maximum Power and TDMA Initial Power for a reference
carrier need to be properly set
 Short Term Adaptivity Example:
A Remote Undergoes Fade

• C/No as measured at the hub drops

• First, the UCP uses all headroom to command the remote to increase it’s
Tx power
• After headroom exhausted and C/No continues to drop, the PP changes
the remote’s nominal carrier to a more protected carrier

• The set of upstream carriers on which the remote can successfully

transmit is reduced
• The bandwidth assignment algorithm only considers available slots on
the more limited subset of carriers; the remote is considered constrained
• Since the remote’s nominal carrier is set to a more protected carrier with
lower throughput, the remote is able to stay in the network at the
expense of bandwidth efficiency and/or peak rate

• When the fade passes, the remote’s nominal carrier is changed

back to the more efficient carrier
 Short Term Adaptivity

• ATDMA C/No “targeted” by UCP algorithm:

C/Notarget = C/Nothresh + M1 + M2

• The Fade Slope Margin (M1) allows for the incremental fade that can
occur during the reaction time of the UCP algorithm as well as the
uncertainty in the C/N0 estimations

• The Hysteresis Margin (M2) is added to M1 to assure stability when

switching to a higher C/No carrier
• Prevents frequent switching between carriers by providing a headroom “buffer”

M1 + M2 need to be taken into account as system margin

when carrying out a link budget for an ATDMA design
(in other words, the link budget design estimate must close with C/Notarget)
 Short Term Adaptivity
The Mechanics of Carrier Hopping

Legend
C1 = C/N threshold
C2 = C1 + M1
C3 = C2 + M2
C/No = C/N + 10*Log(Rs)
Δ = (C/N0)1 - (C/N0)2
H – Power Headroom
 The Results of Short Term Adaptivity:
Comparing Equivalent TDMA and ATDMA Designs

TDMA QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK

Payload block
size 170B
3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4
Total
Symbol rate 995 995 995 995 995 995 995 6965
Info rate 1492 1492 1492 1492 1492 1492 1492
IP rate 1216 1216 1216 1216 1216 1216 1216 8512
C/No 65.98 65.98 65.98 65.98 65.98 65.98 65.98

ATDMA
8PSK 8PSK 8PSK 8PSK 8PSK Less Space segment
Higher Peak Rate 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 QPSK QPSK
3/4 3/4
Total

Symbol rate 857 857 857 857 857 840 840 5965
Payload block
Info rate 1714 1714 1714 1714 1714 1260 1260 size 170B
IP rate 1295 1295 1295 1295 1295 1028 1028 8531
IP Capacity 75.9% 24.1%
C/No 67.73 67.73 67.73 67.73 67.73 65.24 65.24
Designing ATDMA Networks

Levels of Adaptivity:
Medium Term Adaptivity

© 2008 VT iDirect, Inc.

 Medium Term Adaptivity Automatically Solves
Transient Problems in Short Term Adaptivity
• Selecting the best IGC for the current network conditions
• For every 125ms timeframe, the IGC selection algorithm calculates
the following for each IGC:
• Total number of slots assigned (Maximizing capacity)
• Number of slots that could not be allocated due to lack of capacity (Minimizing
bandwidth contention, or enforcing QoS fairness)
Highest number
of time slots
During significant fade, it could happen that
this IGC has less time slots assigned (vs time
slots available) to remotes than if another IGC
was used. Contention among faded remotes
will have increased.

This is when one of the other IGCs would have

been more effective.

By applying the selection algorithm to all

configured IGCs, the best one will be chosen,
i.e. with the best compromise between total
capacity and the accepted level of contention
on the most protected carriers.
Smallest number
of time slots
 Steps in Populating the Slots (“Scheduling”)
of IGC Carriers

• Demand:
• Provided to PP by each remote

• Allocation (QoS):
• Response of PP to Demand based on configured QoS rules

• Distribution (Scheduling Part 1):

• Assignment of allocated slots to remotes within the limits of the total resource
pool (the total number of slots available in the IGC per 125ms timeframe)

• Painting (Scheduling Part 2):

• The assignment of distributed slots to specific slots on carriers
• Attempts to ensure all distributed slots can be painted onto actual carrier slots in
a manner where no time/frequency discrepancies would occur
• Frequency hopping when necessary
 Slot Assignment in Short Term Adaptivity

Step 1 – hand out slots purely based on QoS rules

(“Allocation” in response to “Demand”)
 How Slots are Assigned - Distribution

Slots distributed to individual

carriers, but not yet painted

Step 2 – Assign Slots to Carriers (“Distribution”)

Assign slots to highest C/No carrier each remote can use (nominal carrier)
 How Slots are Assigned – Distribution:
Congestion in High Rate Carriers

Slots distributed to individual

carriers, but not yet painted
 How Slots are Assigned – Distribution:
Congestion in Low Rate carriers

Slots distributed to individual

carriers, but not yet painted
 How Are Slots Assigned?
Congestion in Low Rate carriers

• When low rate carriers are congested, slots

may go unassigned
• Slots are not painted onto carrier
• traffic remains in queue

• Terminals will get less slots than QoS assigned

• Unpainted slots makes IGC look worse to IGC
selection process
• The more unpainted slots, the worse it looks
• This triggers IGC switch
IGC Selection
IGC Selection
 Key Take-Away Points

• QoS rules are applied without regard to terminal

restrictions
• Except to lower any MIR that exceeds largest carrier capacity

• Slot painting attempts to avoid congestion of low rate

carriers
• IGC selection acts to balance maximizing total slots
painted vs. minimizing number of slots that couldn’t be
painted due to conflicts

Preserves “Fairness” of QoS Algorithm through

Congestion/Constrained Conditions
Designing ATDMA Networks

Multiple Access Algorithm Details:

Assigning Timeslot Resources vs Demand
for ATDMA

© 2008 VT iDirect, Inc.

 Multiple Access for iDirect’s Return Channel

• The assignment of
 specific payload blocks from
 specific remotes to
 specific timeslot bursts on
 specific carriers
• Works mostly the same for both TDMA and ATDMA
• QoS:
• Receive traffic Demand from remotes (virtual remotes)
• Provide Allocation of timeslots to carry payload blocks (from total
timeslot pool) in response
• Time Plan Generation (“Scheduling”) for all IGC carriers:
• Distribute allocation of timeslots to carriers
• Paint timeslots onto bursts of all carriers
 The 5 Levels of iDirect’s Quality of Service Hierarchy

Allocation Pool = 200 slots

BW
Pool

Priority = 2 Priority = 1
BW BW
Group Group

Cost = 1 Svc Svc Cost = 0.5

Group Group

IP throughput capacity (BW) is requested from CIR = 50 slots CIR = 100 slots
and then assigned to each node in the hierarchy. Apps Apps

Priority = 1 Priority = 2
Every node in the QoS hierarchy has four
characteristics used to resolve BW contention. Physical
VR VR
Physical
VR VR
Remote Remote
1. Committed Information Rate (CIR)
2. Maximum Information Rate (MIR)
Virtual Remotes are also known as queues
3. Priority
4. Cost
 Group QoS: Demand

Demand = 100 slots Allocation Pool = 200 slots

BW Demand = 260 slots
Pool

Priority = 2 Demand = 100 slots Priority = 1

BW BW Demand = 160 slots
Group Group

Cost = 1 Svc Svc Cost = 0.5

Group Demand = 60 slots Group Demand = 100 slots

CIR = 50 slots CIR = 100 slots

Apps Apps

Upstream Carriers’ C/No (dBHz) Priority = 1 Priority = 2

70 70 70
Physical Physical
Remote
VR VR Remote
VR VR
65

60
 Group QoS: Allocation
Round 1: Fill CIR Demand; Round 2: Demand beyond CIR

Demand = 100 slots Allocation Pool = 200 slots

BW Demand = 260 slots
Allocation = 0 slots Pool Allocation = 200 slots

Priority = 2 Demand = 100 slots Priority = 1

BW Allocation = BW Demand = 160 slots
Group 67 slots Group Allocation = 133 slots

Cost = 1 Svc Svc Cost = 0.5

Group Demand = 60 slots Group Demand = 100 slots
Allocation = 50 slots Allocation = 83 slots

CIR = 50 slots CIR = 100 slots

Apps Apps

Upstream Carriers’ C/No (dBHz) Priority = 1 Priority = 2

70 70 70
Physical Physical
Remote
VR VR Remote
VR VR
65

60

Allocation = 0 slots
Multiple Access: Distribution
The Assignment of Specific Slots to Specific Carriers
Allocation = 200 slots
BW
Pool Allocation = 200 slots

Priority = 2 Priority = 1
BW Allocation = BW
Group 67 slots Group Allocation = 133 slots

Cost = 1 Svc Svc Cost = 0.5

Group Group
Allocation = 50 slots Allocation = 83 slots

CIR = 50 slots CIR = 100 slots

Apps Apps

Upstream Carriers’ C/No (dBHz) Priority = 1 Priority = 2

70 70 70
Physical Physical
Remote
VR VR Remote
VR VR
65
Priority “1.5.1.6” “1.5.2.6” Priority “1.5.1.6” “1.5.2.6”
60

Distribution

Allocation = 0 slots
Multiple Access: Painting
The Time Sequencing of Slots within Carriers
Allocation = 200 slots
BW
Pool Allocation = 200 slots

Priority = 2 Priority = 1
BW Allocation = BW
Group 67 slots Group Allocation = 133 slots

Cost = 1 Svc Svc Cost = 0.5

Group Group
Allocation = 50 slots Allocation = 83 slots

CIR = 50 slots CIR = 100 slots

Apps Apps

Upstream Carriers’ C/No (dBHz) Priority = 1 Priority = 2

70 70 70
Physical Physical
Remote
VR VR Remote
VR VR
65
Priority “1.5.1.6” “1.5.2.6” Priority “1.5.1.6” “1.5.2.6”
60

Painting
 Distribution is the Only Difference Between
TDMA and ATDMA Scheduling Algorithms

• TDMA always distributes upstream bursts

based on the order of allocation size

• ATDMA distributes bursts based on…

• Order of allocation size to unconstrained remotes
• Priority to constrained remotes
 TDMA Slot Assignment – Slots in an Inroute Group

• Homogeneous set of carriers

• All slots carry the same amount of data
• All slots have the same duration
 TDMA Slot Assignment - Allocation

• A number of slots is allotted to each virtual

remote, based upon configured GQoS rules

• Per-VR limitations
• MIR
• Available bandwidth (QoS VR limitation)

• Per-remote limitations
• MIR
• Number of slots in a carrier (physical carrier limitation)
 ATDMA Slot Assignment – Slots in an Inroute Group

• Heterogeneous set of carriers

• All slots still carry the same amount of data
• Slots can have different duration, so carriers can contain different
numbers of slots
 ATDMA Slot Assignment - Allocation

• A number of slots is allotted to each virtual

remote, based upon configured GQoS rules
• Per-VR limitations
• MIR
• Available bandwidth (QoS VR limitation)
• Per-remote limitations
• MIR
• Number of slots in a remote’s nominal carrier
• Note: The nominal carrier is not always the carrier with the most
slots for any given maximum C/No

• This hasn’t changed in going from TDMA to

ATDMA except per-remote limitation
 ATDMA Slot Assignment Example - Allocation

• Inroute group contains 6 carriers, 2 with 16 slots, 2 with 12 slots, 2

with 8 slots, yielding 72 slots
• 8 remotes in the network, each remote consisting of 2 virtual
remotes, each getting same allocation as with TDMA
 ATDMA Slot Assignment - Distribution

• What can become competing goals:

• Minimizing frequency hopping

• Honoring VR priority

• Honoring each remote’s carrier constraints

 ATDMA Slot Assignment - Distribution

• Preparation:
• Rank VR’s by global priority, then split by carrier
constraints
• Global priority set by walking through the GQoS tree
• Unconstrained separated from constrained
(Unconstrained VR’s sit in remotes that can access all carriers in their IG)

• Rank carriers by MODCOD groups, then by C/N0

• 8PSK & QPSK
• BPSK
Slots are distributed to carriers in the
• SF2 order of this list, starting with remote’s
Nominal carrier
• SF4
• SF8
• SF16
 ATDMA Slot Assignment - Distribution

Order in Which Slots Are Distributed to Specific ATDMA Carriers

Slots for Slots for

Constrained Remotes Unconstrained Remotes
(in order of priority) (in order of allocation size)

Slots to Meet CIR 1 2

(Distribution Round 1)

Slots Beyond CIR 3 4

(Distribution Round 2)
 ATDMA Slot Assignment - Distribution

• Distribution (start with CIR allocation):

• Distribute to constrained first, in order of priority and then allocation size
• For each VR, descend ranked list of carriers, starting with VR’s nominal carrier
• Rationale:
• Constrained are the most difficult to distribute, so distribute to them first
• Constrained are the most likely to experience contention, so distribute to the
highest priority first
Note: While Priority initially used by QoS in allocation, it is also needed here for slot distribution

• Distribute to unconstrained second, in order of allocation size

• Use same approach as TDMA distribution (match largest allocation with largest
available space)
• Rationale:
• Just as with TDMA distribution, minimizes frequency hopping while providing
efficient packing into remaining space
Note: Priority used by QoS in allocation; no longer needed here for slot distribution
 ATDMA Slot Assignment Example - Distribution

• Rank VRs by global priority

• Arbitrarily set odd-numbered VR’s to be high-priority

• In the example that follows, physical remotes R2 and R5 are

constrained while all other physical remotes are unconstrained
 ATDMA Slot Assignment Example - Distribution

• First, distribute to constrained remotes in order of VR’s

global priority

*R2 & R5 will be hopping

Odd VRs high priority
R2, R5 constrained
 ATDMA Slot Assignment Example – Distribution
Animated Procedure

• Second, distribute bursts to unconstrained remotes in order of

allocation size
Distribution with Non-Constrained

VR15 VR15 VR15 VR15 VR16 VR16 VR16 VR16

C1
VR16 VR16 VR16 VR13 VR13 VR13 VR14 VR14

VR5 VR5 VR5 VR5 VR5 VR5 VR5 VR5

C2
VR6 VR6 VR11 VR11 VR11 VR11 VR11 VR11

VR1 VR1 VR1 VR1 VR1 VR2

C3
VR2 VR2 VR2 VR14 VR14 VR14

VR7 VR7 VR7 VR8 VR8 VR8

C4
VR8 VR8 VR8 VR11 VR12 VR12

VR3 VR3 VR3 VR3

C5
VR9 VR9 VR9 VR4

• Priority for unconstrained remotes not C6

VR4 VR4 VR4 VR10

considered in distribution; this was used VR10 VR10 VR10 VR14

by QoS during allocation

*R2 & R5 will be hopping, and now
Odd VRs high priority R6 & R7 will also be hopping
R2, R5 constrained
 ATDMA Slot Assignment Example – Distribution
Result

• Second, distribute bursts to unconstrained remotes in order of

allocation size

• Priority for unconstrained remotes not

considered in distribution; this was used
by QoS during allocation
*R2, R5, R6 & R7 will be hopping
Odd VRs high priority
R2, R5 constrained
 ATDMA Slot Assignment Example – Painting
Animated Procedure

Paint hopping remotes first in order of ranked carriers, allowing time

to switch frequencies, then finish with non-hopping

C1

C2

C3

C4

C5

C6

Hopping Remotes:
• R6, R7 unconstrained
• R2, R5 constrained to C5, C6
Odd VRs high priority
R2, R5 constrained
 ATDMA Slot Assignment Example – Painting
Hopping Result First

Paint hopping remotes first in order of ranked carriers,

allowing time to switch frequencies

C1

C2

C3

C4

C5

C6

Hopping Remotes:
• R6, R7 unconstrained
• R2, R5 constrained to C5, C6
Odd VRs high priority
R2, R5 constrained
 ATDMA Slot Assignment Example – Painting
Add Non-Hopping Result

Finish painting with non-hopping remotes

Hopping Remotes:
• R6, R7 unconstrained
• R2, R5 constrained to C5, C6
Odd VRs high priority
R2, R5 constrained
ATDMA Slot Assignment Example – Underutilization

• Some slots couldn’t be assigned – What

happened?
• High percentage of the remotes on lowest carriers
were frequency hopping
• Contributing factors:
• Low number of slots in carrier
• Relatively large allocations (relative to the carrier size)
• Priority-based distribution for constrained remotes split
distribution for remotes having multiple VRs at different priorities
• Frequency hopping prevented painting of some of VR4’s
slots
 ATDMA Slot Assignment – Limited Carrier Access

• Carrier access constraints are new for ATDMA

• GQoS rules govern network-level contention
but not carrier-level contention
• Rules are defined to allocate total network bandwidth
across all groups in the network
• Rules don’t scale down to subgroups created by
carrier-level contention
• Carrier-level contention treated as limitation on
distribution
• Result: Slot assignment doesn’t completely adhere
to QoS rules when resolving carrier-level contention
(limited to use of global priority)
 Conclusions

• Hopping remotes decrease packing efficiency

• Constrained remotes frequency hop more often
• Because constrained remotes distribute slots in the
order of the priority of virtual remotes
• While unconstrained remotes distribute slots in order
of each physical remote’s allocation size
• To help maximize the performance of ATDMA:
• Minimize the number of constrained remotes
• Design Carriers with large # timeslots/frame (>50)
• Minimize the number of carrier types
 Designing ATDMA Networks

Guidelines for Designing ATDMA Return Channels

© 2008 VT iDirect, Inc.

 Guidelines to Get ATDMA to Work

1. When there are CIR’s for a return channel to honor…

a) Every carrier must run fast enough for the single fastest CIR,
preferably faster when link budget constraints permit
b) The sum of the upstream capacities should exceed the sum of the
CIR’s (CIR oversubscription is typically not a good idea)
c) An IG’s rain faded capacity recommended to be twice the amount
calculated by iNPT’s Rain Population Predictor
 Helps ensure QoS fairness when disadvantaged remotes have high demand 

2. Use M1 + M2 = 1.6dB as margin in all links budgets

a) Except the lowest C/No carrier used by rain faded remotes
b) The last resort carrier can use any system margin the network
designer deems fit for unknown contingencies

3. Configure the same FEC block size for all upstream

carriers in each IGC
 Guidelines to Get ATDMA to Work

4. Ratio of remotes to TDMA carriers should exceed 2:1

a) AGC in TDMA demodulator at the hub needs to see energy all the time
to function properly
b) Having few remotes relative to the number of carriers occasionally
leaves times when a demod sees no energy
5. Carrier C/N changes from one IGC to the next should
not exceed 5dB
a) AGC settling in response to C/N change
b) This rule can be ignored if transient errors are tolerable while AGC
settles to larger C/N change during a carrier change
6. Max 15dB difference in C/No between carriers of an IGC
a) Remote transmit power control limited to 15dB range
 Subtle Guidelines to Maximize ATDMA Performance

1. Configure at least 50 time slots per TDMA frame for

every ATDMA US carrier
a) 50+ time slots per TDMA frame affords the painting algorithm enough
flexibility to avoid unpaintable time slots
b) 100Byte block size maximizes the number of time slots for any given
symbol rate
a) 100Byte block size particularly useful for maximizing time slots in low
symbol rate carriers

2. Make US carriers as homogeneous as possible,

limited by the needs of different clusters
a) For each US cluster, minimize the number of carrier types used to
send upstream traffic under clear sky
b) For upstream traffic under fade, add one or more rain faded recovery
carrier type(s)
 Subtle Guidelines to Maximize ATDMA Performance

3. Minimize Frequency Hopping in General

a) Why?
i. A remote cannot use the first few slot(s) on a new carrier after hopping
because the oscillator needs 700-1500 ms to settle
ii. Skipping slot(s) decreases packing efficiency; the “skip slot” casts its
shadow across other carriers to decrease painting flexibility
iii. Constrained remotes have limited painting freedom to begin with
b) How?
i. Use QoS scheme with as few priority differences as possible to come as
close as possible to allocation-based distribution when constrained
ii. Use lower order MODCODs when feasible to create higher slot count,
higher burst rate carriers
iii. For all US carriers, maximize carrier size relative to expected allocations per
remote
iv. Invest in larger BUCs/Antennas at remotes to maximize upstream
bandwidth efficiency or offset disadvantaged locations when possible
 Subtle Guidelines to Maximize ATDMA Performance

4. Configure QoS rules to prevent or minimize congestion

among constrained remotes
a) Why?
i. If QoS rules allocate more slots to constrained remotes than the number of
slots in the carriers accessible by the constrained remotes, some of the
allocated slots can never be distributed to any carrier
ii. QoS cannot be honored if allocated slots cannot be painted

b) How?
i. Configure twice as much rain faded capacity than is predicted as needed
ii. Design tiered sets of carriers for small upstream bandwidth pools serving
dissimilar remotes
 Group remotes with similar normalized uplink EIRP under clear skies (or the maximum
C/No that a remote can possibly access) into their own bandwidth group, service group,
or application group - whichever is most convenient for the QoS scheme being used
 The Simplest Possible ATDMA Design

IGC1: TDMA QPSK

3/4
QPSK
3/4
QPSK
3/4
QPSK
3/4
QPSK
3/4
QPSK
3/4

Same Symbol Rate

Different MODCOD

IGC2: ATDMA 8PSK

2/3
8PSK
2/3
8PSK
2/3
8PSK
2/3
8PSK
2/3 QPSK
3/4

Higher peak rate Same fade margin

Improved spectral efficiency Preserves network availability requirement
Higher throughput
 Steps to Design Simplest ATDMA Return Channel

1. Design network assuming homogenous return channels

a. Use homogenous design if better than any ATDMA design
b. Save a second copy of iNPT model for the ATDMA design step

2. Use DS carrier Rain Population Predictor

a. Calculate number of US carriers to convert to clear sky carriers
a. Or, just assume 10% of remotes for rain carrier!
b. Split VSATs proportionally between clear sky and rain carriers

3. Find best US MODCOD for clear skies

a. Lower uplink availability to model clear skies (lowers rain fade budgeted)
a. Adjust UPC accordingly
b. While keeping block size constant, increase MODCOD until required
BUC > available BUC power, or until PEB limit exceeded
a. Adjusting UPC further in each step may be required
c. Decrement MODCOD 1 step to get back to optimal MODCOD
Designing ATDMA Networks

Return Channel Design Patterns

© 2008 VT iDirect, Inc.

 Six Common Return Channel Design Patterns

No ATDMA Few Many

1 VSAT VSAT

Δ --- Small
No
2 3

C
Δ --- Large
No
4 5

6
 ATDMA Design Pattern 1:
Static CCM Return Channel

QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK

3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4
 ATDMA Design Pattern 1:
Static Homogenous Return Channel Design

• Design Pattern Characteristics

• One upstream cluster for all remotes
• One rain faded carrier type for all remotes
• All remotes frequency hop across all upstream carriers
• Worst case remote represents all remotes in link budgets

• Design Pattern Effects

• All QoS configurations are enforced all the time, even in rain
• Avoids 1.6 dB extra upstream interference in PCMA designs
• Small number of remotes
• Highly concentrated population of remotes
• Homogeneous remotes with no rain fade
 ATDMA Design Pattern 2:
One Cluster with Some Rain Fade

• Small Network
• Small D C/No

Inroute Group 8PSK 8PSK 8PSK 8PSK 8PSK

2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 QPSK QPSK
Composition 1
3/4 3/4

Inroute Group QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK QPSK

Composition 2 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4
 ATDMA Design Pattern 2:
One Cluster with Some Rain Fade

• Design Pattern Characteristics

• One upstream cluster for all remotes
• Two types of upstream carriers - clear sky and rain faded
• Most upstream traffic is carried by fast or efficient clear sky carrier set
• A little upstream traffic is carried by more accessible low C/No carrier set
• All remotes frequency hop across all upstream carriers

• Design Pattern Effects

• Few constrained remotes to hinder Group QoS enforcement
• Simplest ATDMA design pattern to upgrade existing networks
• Use Rain Population Predictor to quantify percentage of clear sky traffic
• Clear sky link budgets define max MODCOD to upgrade some carriers to
• Delivers faster burst rates, greater BW efficiency than homogenous design
• Most useful when upstream traffic is similar among all remotes
or when the total volume of upstream traffic is relatively small
 ATDMA Design Pattern 3:
One Cluster for MIR >> CIR

• Large Network
• Small D C/No

1X ≥ 4X ≥ 4X ≥ 4X ≥ 4X ≥ 4X ≥ 1X
MIR CIR CIR CIR CIR CIR CIR
8PSK
2/3
8PSK 8PSK 8PSK 8PSK 8PSK
or
2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3
QPSK QPSK
1/2 3/4

33% of upstream capacity 67% of upstream capacity

Similar (But Slightly Decreasing) C/No

 ATDMA Design Pattern 3:
One Cluster for MIR >> CIR
• Design Pattern Characteristics
• One upstream cluster for all remotes
• Three types of upstream carriers - 2 clear sky and 1 rain faded
• 33% clear sky capacity on fastest MIR carriers featuring highest C/No
• 67% clear sky capacity on efficient CIR carriers using slightly lower C/No
• A little upstream traffic is carried by a most accessible low C/No carrier set
• CIR and rain fade carriers can be the same, or use the same symbol rate
• All remotes frequency hop across all upstream carriers

• Design Pattern Effects

• Few constrained remotes to hinder Group QoS enforcement
• Maximizes US BW efficiency, especially for clusters with
enough traffic to justify 2 clear sky carrier types
• Most useful when MIR is much greater than CIR or when there
is a large range of different CIR’s among different remotes
 ATDMA Design Pattern 4:
Frequency Hopping Among Multiple Clusters

BW
Pool
• Small Network
• Large D C/No

BW BW
Group Group

Service
Group A Service
MIR=5+2+1 Group B
=8Mbps MIR=2+1 Service
=3Mbps Group C
MIR=1
=1Mbps
2.4m/8W VSAT
get to 80 dBHz C/No 1.8m/4W VSAT
per Carrier get to 70 dBHz C/No
per Carrier 1.2m/3W VSAT
get to 60 dBHz C/No
per Carrier 50 dBHz C/No
8PSK Heavy Fade
6/7 8PSK 8PSK 8PSK
Carriers
2/3 2/3 2/3 QPSK QPSK
3/4 3/4 QPSK QPSK
1/2 1/2

5 Mbps 2 Mbps 1 Mbps

Decreasing C/No Making Carriers Easier to Access

 ATDMA Design Pattern 4:
Frequency Hopping Among Multiple Clusters
• Design Pattern Characteristics
• Many upstream clusters with carrier hopping across all clusters
• Many different types of US carriers
• Rain faded traffic from all clusters is carried by one low C/No carrier type
• Each cluster has one clear sky carrier type to maximize BW efficiency while
meeting MIR and CIR requirements as well as other constraints
• All remotes frequency hop across all upstream carriers

• Design Pattern Effects

• Potentially many constrained remotes to hinder QoS enforcement
• Maximum theoretical upstream BW efficiency may be impaired by
packing inefficiency inherent in priority-based distribution
• Useful to aggregate small bits of traffic from multiple clusters with
wide range of C/No’s into one sufficiently large bandwidth pool
• Especially when disadvantaged remotes cannot upgrade ODU to get all
remotes into one upstream cluster with a narrow range of C/No’s
 ATDMA Design Pattern 5:
Multiple Independent Clusters

• Large Network
• Large D C/No
• Design Pattern 3 Reiterated
over Common C/No Clusters

1X ≥ 4X ≥ 4X ≥ 4X 1X ≥ 4X ≥ 4X
MIR CIR CIR CIR MIR CIR CIR

8PSK 8PSK 8PSK

QPSK QPSK
QPSK 2/3 2/3 2/3
QPSK 3/4 3/4
2/3
1/2

Frequency Hopping Group 1 for Cluster 1 Frequency Hopping Group 2 for Cluster 2
Where C/No = 60 dB/Hz Where C/No = 50 dB/Hz
 ATDMA Design Pattern 5:
Multiple Independent Clusters
• Design Pattern Characteristics
• Multiple upstream clusters
• Each cluster has 2-3 types of upstream carriers
• A little upstream traffic is carried by more accessible low C/No carrier set
• Many most efficient clear sky carriers with high C/No satisfy CIR
• If and only if MIR is much greater than CIR, there can be some less efficient
clear sky carriers to satisfy MIR using the same C/No as CIR carriers
• Each remote hops only among the carriers for its cluster

• Design Pattern Effects

• Few constrained remotes to hinder Group QoS enforcement
• Maximizes US BW efficiency when each of multiple clusters has
many remotes and a large total traffic volume
• Most useful for very large networks spanning entire beams,
especially spot beams on high throughput satellites
 ATDMA Design Pattern 6:
Mobile Network with Moving Clusters
• Cluster Throughput Varies over Time
• Large D C/No

Beam Edge Intermediate Beam Center

 ATDMA Design Pattern 6:
Mobile Network with Moving Clusters

• Design Pattern Characteristics

• Up to 3 UpS clusters, throughput needs in each cluster varies over time
• Up to 3 rain faded carrier types, all using the same symbol rate
• Each cluster has its own best rain faded MODCOD for the given symbol rate
• Vary # of carriers using each MODCOD to move capacity among 3 clusters
• 1st IGC for when remotes concentrate in cluster 1
• 2nd IGC for when remotes concentrate in cluster 2
• 3rd IGC for when remotes concentrate in cluster 3
• All remotes frequency hop across all upstream carriers

• Design Pattern Effects

• Maximizing efficiency for a few remotes in the best cluster hinders QoS
enforcement by constraining most remotes in other clusters
• More efficient than homogenous design, albeit with less certain QoS
• Most useful in mobile networks where most remotes move together as a
group through different clusters
Designing ATDMA Networks

End of Presentation
Questions?

© 2008 VT iDirect, Inc.

 Designing ATDMA Networks

Appendix I
Guidelines for Designing ATDMA Return Channels
Multi-Cluster Analysis

© 2008 VT iDirect, Inc.

 The Concept of Multi-Cluster Analysis
as Applied to ATDMA
• Remote terminals (and their traffic) should be separated
into clusters
• In the US direction, a cluster is a group of remotes with roughly
the same maximum achievable clear sky C/No
• Contrast this to DS ACM design, where a cluster is a group of remotes with
roughly the same clear sky C/N
• C/No = C/N + 10*log(symbol rate)
Sounds Complicated: How Can This Be “Easily” Estimated?
(C/No)rcv = EIRP + G/T – k – L
 EIRP is influenced by the remote BUC and antenna size
 G/T is influenced by the G/T contour, mostly the gain “G” in G/T
Take a 2.4m/3W (EIRP = 54dBW) remote in a 2dB/K contour and a 1.8m/3W (EIRP =
51.5dBW) remote in a 5dB/K contour:
DG/T = 2 - 5 = -3 dB
DEIRP = 54 – 51.5 = 2.5 dB
D(C/No)rcv = DG + DEIRP = (-3) + 2.5 = 0.5 dB  close enough to cluster
C/No Normalizes VSAT EIRP (dBW) + Satellite G/T

G/T = -2 dB/K
1.2m/30W VSAT
or 3.8m/3W VSAT
QPSK ¾
1024 ksps

G/T = +5 dB/K
1.2m/3W VSAT
QPSK ¾
512 ksps

G/T = +8 dB/K
1.2m/3W VSAT
QPSK ¾
1024 ksps
 Clear Sky vs. Rain Faded Upstream Carriers

• Traffic within each cluster should be proportionately split

between clear sky carrier(s) and rain faded carrier(s)
• iNPT’s Rain Population Predictor quantifies the maximum
percentage of traffic expected to experience rain fade
• In a large network, each cluster should have its own unique
clear sky carriers and its own unique rain faded carriers
• In a small network, a few (possibly one) upstream carrier(s) can
carry rain faded traffic upstream for all clusters
• Each cluster needs 1 or 2 sets of homogeneous clear sky
carriers and 1 set of homogeneous rain faded carriers
• 1 or 2 link budgets optimize the MODCOD and symbol rate to
carry traffic upstream from remotes under clear sky
• Another link budget optimizes the MODCOD and symbol rate to
carry traffic upstream from remotes under a rain fade
 Clear Sky vs. Rain Faded Upstream Link Budgets

• Run rain faded LBA for cluster as done before ATDMA

• To run the clear sky link budget for a cluster...
• Pick the most disadvantaged site within a cluster (not a typical
site as in an ACM cluster) to represent the cluster as a whole
• Assume ATDMA is only used to compensate for rain fade over
the remotes, not rain fade over the hub
• Use a low uplink availability as a proxy for clear sky conditions
• 80% availability at Ka-band
• 95% availability at Ku-band
• 99% availability at C-band
• Choose any proxy, but higher proxy requires more rain margin in clear sky
LBA
• Set high (99.9%+) availability on the downlink to the hub due to…
• a large hub reflector,
• hub site diversity, or
• location of the hub in a low rain zone
 Designing ATDMA Networks

Appendix II
Guidelines for Designing ATDMA Return Channels
The Process of Designing ATMDA Return Channels

© 2008 VT iDirect, Inc.

 Preparations to Set Up the ATDMA Analysis

1. Design the network assuming rain protected

homogenous TDMA carriers
Use this design if it is better than any ATDMA design

2. Group remotes into similar max possible clear sky

C/No clusters

3. For each cluster, use the percentage recommended by

iNPT’s Rain Population Predictor to separate remote
terminals and upstream traffic into…
a. Rain faded carrier(s)
b. Clear sky carrier(s)
 Run Link Budgets for 1st IGC

4. Run link budgets for rain faded carrier(s)

a. Set uplink availability to achieve the desired link availability
assuming a rain fade over the remotes
b. If the lowest possible Eb/No fails to achieve the required CIR
when it rains, try a bigger antenna/HPA combination
c. Size every rain faded carrier to meet or exceed the maximum
CIR required among all remotes across all upstream clusters
5. Run clear sky link budgets for the remaining upstream
traffic in each upstream cluster
a. Set uplink availability to achieve the appropriate proxy for
clear sky conditions
b. Use M1+M2 = 1.6 dB for system margin
c. Design each clear sky carrier to maximize BW efficiency while
satisfying the highest MIR required for its cluster
 Construct 2nd and 3rd Inroute Group Compositions

6. Provision more rain faded upstream carriers

a. Rename & save 2nd copy of primary IGC’s iNPT model
b. In the 2nd copy of iNPT, transform some clear sky carriers to
additional rain fade carriers:
i. Keep symbol rates constant
ii. Change availabilities to model rain
iii. Change MODCOD to appropriate rain carrier MODCOD
iv. Modify Oversubscription and/or per remote throughput to keep carrier
count the same as in primary IGC case

7. Plan for dual rain fade/hub side fade

a. Rename the 2nd IGC’s iNPT model and save a 3rd copy
b. In the 3rd copy of the iNPT:
i. Toggle from a single rain fade to a dual rain fade assumption
ii. Increase clear sky carriers’ uplink availability to rain faded availability
iii. Lower MODCOD until upstream link budgets close
iv. Modify all oversubscription ratios to keep number of carriers constant
 Extra Work in Steps 2 and 6 for Mobile Networks

8. Plan for uncertainty in the throughput of each cluster

a. Mobile remotes move among upstream clusters, changing
the IP throughput requirement of each cluster over time
b. Remotes moving to a higher C/No cluster A from a lower
C/No cluster B bring their upstream capacity with them
i. When remotes move to higher G/T, kbps reallocation among clusters is
not needed since the remotes can still access their original upstreams
ii. Capacity reallocation is only needed when remotes move to lower G/T
c. Extra rain faded capacity in a higher C/No cluster A can
serve as extra clear sky capacity for a lower C/No cluster B
i. This happens when the C/No of the rain faded capacity in cluster A is
less than or equal to the C/No of the clear sky capacity in cluster B
ii. When defining upstream clusters in Step 2, ensure that the clear sky
C/No of adjacent clusters are within the rain fade margin of each other
iii. When defining the 2nd IGC in Step 6, convert more clear sky carriers to
rain faded carriers for each upstream cluster as more upstream traffic
is expected to shift among upstream clusters
Designing ATDMA Networks

Appendix III
Multiple Access Algorithm Details:
Assigning Timeslot Resources vs Demand
for TDMA

© 2008 VT iDirect, Inc.

 Distribution is the only real time difference between
TDMA and Adaptive TDMA

• TDMA always distributes upstream bursts

based on the order of allocation size

• Adaptive TDMA distributes bursts based on…

• Order of allocation size to unconstrained remotes
• Priority to constrained remotes
 TDMA Slot Assignment – Slots in an Inroute Group

• Homogeneous set of carriers

• All slots carry the same amount of data
• All slots have the same duration
 TDMA Slot Assignment - Allocation

• A number of slots is allotted to each virtual

remote, based upon configured GQoS rules

• Per-VR limitations
• MIR
• Available bandwidth (QoS VR limitation)

• Per-remote limitations
• MIR
• Number of slots in a carrier (physical carrier limitation)
 TDMA Slot Assignment Example - Allocation

• Inroute group contains 6 carriers, each with 12 slots, yielding 72

slots
• Total of 8 remotes in network, each remote consisting of 2 virtual
remotes
 TDMA Slot Assignment - Distribution

• Allocations are associated with carriers

• Goal: minimize frequency hopping
• Distribute from largest to smallest allocation
• Match large allocations to large available space
• Steps:
• Group virtual remotes with their parent remote
• Loop through the following steps (start with CIR allocation):
• Rank remotes by size of undistributed allocation
• Rank carriers by size of available space
• Distribute largest allocation to largest available space
• If whole allocation won’t fit, distribute as much as will fit
 TDMA Slot Assignment Example - Distribution

• Sort the allocations

 TDMA Slot Assignment Example - Distribution

• Distribute largest allocations to largest spaces

 TDMA Slot Assignment Example - Distribution

• Break up allocation to distribute as much of

largest allocation that fits into largest space
 TDMA Slot Assignment Example - Distribution

• Break up allocation to distribute as much of

largest allocation that fits into largest space
 TDMA Slot Assignment Example - Distribution

• Break up allocation to distribute as much of

largest allocation that fits into largest space
 TDMA Slot Assignment Example - Distribution

• Complete distribution
 TDMA Slot Assignment - Painting

• Position each distribution within the frame

• Goals:
• Control jitter
• Allow remotes time to hop between frequencies
• Preparation:
• Group VRs by remote, then group remotes by hopping and non-
hopping
• Within each remote, separate jitter-sensitive VRs from others
• Steps:
• Start with hopping remotes (allow remotes time to hop between
frequencies)
• Within each remote, start with jitter-sensitive VRs, spreading their
slots evenly across the frame
• Then, within each remote, paint slots for other VRs
• Repeat with non-hopping remotes
 TDMA Slot Assignment Example - Painting

• From result of distribution, R2 & R5 are hopping

 TDMA Slot Assignment Example - Painting

• Paint hopping remotes first, allowing time to

switch frequencies
 TDMA Slot Assignment Example - Painting

• Paint non-hopping remotes next, starting with

any jitter sensitive VRs
 TDMA Slot Assignment Example - Painting

• Finish painting non-hopping remotes