Communication systems and methods for delivering data selectively over unicast paths and multicast paths

1. A satellite ground station, comprising:

a multicast server configured to:

access a receive signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) measured for a forward link (FL) between a satellite and a satellite modem;

select one of a unicast mode or a multicast mode for the FL based upon the receive SNR; and

configure the FL in the selected one of the unicast mode or the multicast mode.

2. The satellite ground station of claim 1 , further comprising:

a protocol processor, wherein the multicast server is configured to, when the multicast mode is selected:

determine a unique Internet protocol port address for the satellite modem;

add a static policy based route to the local router to configure the local router to divert virtual local area network data addressed to the satellite modem to the multicast server;

modify a destination address for the data to the unique Internet protocol port address for the satellite modem to form modified data; and

direct the modified data to the protocol processor.

3. The satellite ground station of claim 1 , further comprising a protocol processor, wherein the multicast server is configured to, when the multicast mode is selected, configure the satellite ground station to:

route data addressed to the satellite modem to the multicast server; and

route the data from the multicast server to the protocol processor.

4. The satellite ground station of claim 3 , further comprising an edge router, wherein configuring the satellite ground station to route data addressed to the satellite modem to the multicast server includes configuring the edge router with a route to the multicast server.

5. The satellite ground station of claim 1 , wherein the multicast server is configured to configure the satellite ground station to route incoming data for the satellite modem over a multicast path to an Internet protocol port address unique to the satellite modem.

6. The satellite ground station of claim 1 , wherein the multicast server is configured to confirm an aircraft control processing unit located in the vehicle supports multicast mode using a multicast fast path prior to selecting the multicast mode.

7. The satellite ground station of claim 1 , wherein the multicast server is configured to select one of the unicast mode or the multicast mode by comparing the SNR to a pre-determined threshold SNR.

8. The satellite ground station of claim 1 , wherein the multicast server is configured to:

when the multicast mode is selected, configure a first set of modulation and coding parameters to the satellite modem for the FL; and

when the unicast mode is selected, configure a second set of modulation and coding parameters to the satellite modem for the FL.

9. The satellite ground station of claim 1 , wherein the multicast server is configured to, when the multicast mode is selected:

select a multicast group from a plurality of multicast groups by comparing the SNR to a plurality of pre-determined threshold SNRs;

when the multicast group is a first of the plurality of multicast groups, configure a first set of modulation and coding parameters to the satellite modem for the FL; and

when the multicast group is a second of the plurality of multicast groups, configure a second set of modulation and coding parameters to the satellite modem for the FL.

10. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

accessing, by one or more processors, a receive signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) measured for a forward link (FL) from a satellite to a satellite modem; selecting, by one or more processors, one of a unicast mode or a multicast mode for the FL based upon the receive SNR; and

when the multicast mode is selected:

routing data addressed to the satellite modem to the multicast server, and

routing the data from the multicast server to a protocol processor.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising:

comparing the receive SNR to a first pre-determined SNR threshold to determine whether to select the multicast mode; and

comparing the receive SNR to a second pre-determined SNR threshold to determine whether to select the unicast mode.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising routing the data from the protocol processor to the satellite modem using an Internet protocol port address unique to the satellite modem.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein routing data addressed to the satellite modem to the multicast server includes adding a static policy based route to a local router in a satellite ground station to configure the router to direct virtual local area network data addressed to the satellite modem to the multicast server.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein routing the data from the multicast server to the protocol processor includes:

determining a unique port address for the satellite modem; and

modifying a destination address for the data to the unique Internet protocol port address.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein determining the unique port address for the satellite modem includes computing a hash of an Internet protocol address assigned to the satellite modem.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising confirming an aircraft control processing unit of the satellite modem supports multicast mode prior to selecting the multicast mode.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein determining the unique port address for the satellite modem includes selecting a port address that indicates which other satellite modems are to ignore the data.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising selecting the one of the unicast mode or the multicast mode by comparing the SNR to a pre-determined threshold SNR.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising comparing a decrease rate for the SNR to a pre-determined threshold to determine when to switch from the multicast mode to the unicast mode.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising, when the multicast mode is selected:

selecting a multicast group by comparing the SNR to a plurality of pre-determined threshold SNRs;

when the multicast group is a first of the plurality of multicast groups, configuring a first set of modulation and coding parameters to the satellite modem for the FL; and

when the multicast group is a second of the plurality of multicast groups, configuring a second set of modulation and coding parameters to the satellite modem for the FL.