Understanding packet reception of gateway

Hi all,

I have a question depending on the maximum number of receivable messages at a SX1301-gateway.
In the documentation of the SX1301 it is stated, that the gateway can demodulate 8 packets in parallel. This includes 6 packets with different SFs on the same channel as well as 8 packets in separate channels.

Now, I have two quesitons:

  1. What does channel mean? Is a channel a fixed frequency (e.g. 878.1 MHz)? Or is each channel be able to demodulate on each channel each frequency?

  2. What happens if more than 8 packets are received at the same time (e.g. 9 packets)? Are they dropped or are they queued?

Best regards,
DeHi