Dynamic power allocation system and method for multi-beam satellite amplifiers

The new signal amplifiers dynamically adjust based on the signal's power level. When used on multi-beam satellites (2), increased signal power indicates an increase in traffic on the channel. The power level of the input signal (4) is sensed and converted to a DC signal (step 38), which is applied (step 50) to a control terminal (26) of a power supply (28) that regulates DC power supplied to the amplifier (22). During periods of increased traffic, an increase in system power is allocated to the channel. By monitoring traffic on a plurality of channels, available onboard power is allocated based upon the relative channel requirements. The sensed power of multiple channels is summed and scaled (steps 46 and 48 respectively) to determine the power requirement of the channel relative to the other channels. A command voltage received (step 60) from a ground station (6) may be switched in place of the summed voltage to allow amplification levels to be controlled from the ground station (6).