A TECHNIQUE FOR EFFICIENT INTEGRATION OF INTEGRATED SERVICES DIGITAL NETWORK (ISDN) INTO SATELLITE SYSTEMS

An ISDN Satellite Switch (ISS) is disposed between ISDN user equipment (e.g., an ISDN PBX) and a satellite network, to extract and process the ISDN signaling information originated from the ISDN user equipment, allocate an appropriate satellite capacity for the user service request, generate signaling response messages to the originating user, generate messages to be transmitted over a satellite signaling channel to the corresponding ISS connected to the destination user, and provide an appropriate Protocol Conversion Function (PCF), when necessary for a certain class of data protocols. A destination ISS, after receipt of these messages, generates ISDN incoming call signaling messages to be sent to the called user.