A feedback adaptive variable rate meteor burst communication system

Meteor burst communication (MBC) channels are known for their intermittent nature and large variations of received signal power. For optimum utilization of such channels, a feedback adaptive variable rate (FAVR) system is proposed in which the transmitted bit rate is proportional to channel transmittance (or received signal power). Based on well accepted channel models for low-density meteor bursts, the expected improvement in throughput is significant: approximately five times that of constant-bit-rate systems, and ten times that of constant-bit-rate systems with ARQ (automatic-repeat request). The system adapts automatically to give optimum throughput for both high- and low-density bursts. Considering the occasional presence of high density bursts, the improvement of throughput over a constant rate system is even higher. Two other advantages are: (i) it requires minimum waiting time among MBC systems, and (ii) the transmitted bits can be readily formulated into packets with only minimal loss of the throughput rate. Thus the FAVR-MBC systems can be readily incorporated into any existing communication network