SATELLITE PACKET NETWORK FOR CELLULAR BACKHAUL OF ACCESS POINT DEVICES

Communication services can be provided through utilization of wireless access points that are connected to the core network (e.g., evolved packet core (EPC) of a Long Term Evolution LTE cellular system) via a set of satellite links. The efficiency of the satellite space segment is increased by employing an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) and a scheduling scheme based on traffic demand, satellite channel conditions, and/or Quality of Service (QoS) requirement of a data flow. The satellite space segment is shared between all the wireless access points in the satellite's footprint, in a time and spectrally efficient manner, wherein the spectrum is used by a given wireless access point only when the wireless access point needs to transmit or receive packet data but otherwise is available to other wireless access points.