Abstract: A technique for optimizing throughput on a communications channel shared by multiple users. A communications channel that must be shared by a large number of devices has the potential of being very inefficient because of collisions or overlapping of transmissions by the various devices. The system combines a carrier sense, multiple access (CSMA) mode with a time division multiple access (TDMA) mode to achieve a channel utilization greater than 90 percent. The remote units send a poll request to a base station using the CSMA mode and receive a poll signal from the base station with a poll sequence. The remote units send their data in their assigned time slot. The remote units do not have to all be in radio contact with each other to maintain synchronization. Each remote unit selects the base station that it wishes to communicate with based on signal strength of various base stations.

Abstract: A meteor burst communication system utilizing a master station and a large number of remote stations. A master station transmits a probing radio signal which, when reflected from a suitably positioned meteor trail, is received by a remote station. The remote station verifies that the received signal is being transmitted by a master station and then decides whether to respond to the probing signal, depending upon an a number of internal factors, including whether it has data available to send and when it last transmitted data to the master station. The master station can also address specific remote stations or transmit messages to all remote stations simultaneously.