communication systems using various payload designs such as a low profile array a surface mount antenna or a digital design while the present invention is described with respect to a method and apparatus for digitally controlling a received signal for a multiple beam high altitude communication device the following sampling method is capable of being adapted for various purposes and is not limited to the following applications a ground based base station mobile terminal mobile satellite or any other electronic or communication device in the following figures the same reference numerals are used to refer to the same components also in the following description various operating parameters and components are described for one constructed embodiment these specific parameters and components are included as examples and are not meant to be limiting referring now to fig4 a communication system 50 is shown including a total service geographic area 52 covered by a relatively large number of uplink and downlink spot beams having individual foot prints 54 high gain uplink and downlink beams are preferably utilized to support mobile terminals 56 with high data rate transmission more importantly the combination of uplink and downlink beams provides for multiple reuse of the same limited frequency spectrum by a high altitude communication device 58 thus creating a high capacity mobile communication system 50 which can serve mass markets for numerous communication services high altitude communication device 58 may be a satellite a stratospheric platform or other communication device the uplink and downlink spot beams may be generated or radiated from the high altitude communication device 58 or by a cell tower 59 a network control center ncc 60 provides overall transmission control.