System and method for satellite communication in a helicopter

1. A method for receiving a radio communication suffering from a periodic blockage, the method comprising:

in a receiver:

receiving a burst as RX signals;

generating, for each of the RX signals, a burst SNR, soft decision symbols and a packet;

weighing each of the soft decision symbols with a respective burst SNR to calculate soft combined symbols that are used to generate a Maximal-Ratio Combining (MRC) packet; and

selecting, from the packets and the MRC packet, a packet as an output.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the burst is encoded with a robust bearer using a robust Modulation and Coding Scheme (MC S) coupled with a low code rate Low-density parity-check code (LDPC).

3. The method of claim 1 , where each of the packets is generated by separately Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) checking a demodulation and decoding of a respective one of the RX signals.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the selecting selects from the packets that passed the CRC checking.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the MRC packet is generated by CRC checking a decoding of the soft combined symbols and a decoding rate of the MRC packet is less than a decoding rate of the burst.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the RX signals comprise antenna signals received by spatially diverse antennae.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising reconstructing the burst by combining the RX signals with a Space Time Block Code (STBC) decoding.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the burst is transmitted along different paths having different lines of sight to one or more antennae receiving the RX signals, and the RX signals comprise a first signal comprising an antenna signal and a second signal comprising the antenna signal delayed by a delta of transmission times for the different paths.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein a redundant version of the burst is received as a later burst after a hopping delay has elapsed from a transmission of the burst.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the RX signals comprise a first signal comprising an antenna signal and a second signal comprising the antenna signal delayed by the hopping delay.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the hopping delay is based on a duration and a periodicity of the periodic blockage.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the later burst is transmitted with a generator matrix different from a generator matrix associated with the burst.

13. A receiver to receive a radio communication suffering from a periodic blockage, the receiver comprising:

receiving RX signals comprising a burst;

demodulators to generate, for each of the RX signals, a burst SNR, soft decision symbols and a packet;

a combiner to weigh each of the soft decision symbols with a respective burst SNR to calculate soft combined symbols that are used to generate a Maximal-Ratio Combining (MRC) packet; and

a packet selector to select, from the packets and the MRC packet, a packet as an output.

14. The receiver of claim 13 , wherein the RX signals comprise antenna signals received by spatially diverse antennae.

15. The receiver of claim 13 , wherein the burst is transmitted along different paths having different lines of sight to one or more antennae receiving the RX signals, and the RX signals comprise a first signal comprising an antenna signal and a second signal comprising the antenna signal delayed by a delta of transmission times for the different paths.

16. The receiver of claim 13 , wherein a redundant version of the burst is received as a later burst after a hopping delay has elapsed from a transmission of the burst, the hopping delay is based on a periodicity of the periodic blockage, and the RX signals comprise a first signal comprising an antenna signal and a second signal comprising the antenna signal delayed by the hopping delay.

17. A method for adaptive dual burst transmitting, the method comprising:

transmitting a packet as a burst over a path; and

sending, after a hopping delay, the packet as a later burst over the path,

wherein the path is subject to a periodic blockage.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein each of the burst and the later burst comprise a burst header comprising an order of transmission.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein a transmission of the later burst is enabled based on scheduling information.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the hopping delay is based on a periodicity of the periodic blockage.

21. The method of claim 17 , wherein the transmitting is enabled based on a heading of a terminal, a location of a helicopter and a satellite direction from the antenna.