Coherent power combining via wavefront multiplexing on deep space spacecraft
First Claim
1. A ground-based system for communicating with a spacecraft, comprising:
- a demultiplexing device to provide N signals from a data stream, the demultiplexing device comprising;
a time-division demultiplexer to demultiplex the data stream into M signals, M being a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, anda pilot signal generator to generate P pilot signals, P being a positive integer greater than or equal to 1;
a processor comprising N input ports and N output ports, N being a positive integer equal to P+M, receiving concurrently N signals at the N input ports, performing an N-to-N wavefront multiplexing transform on the N signals and outputting concurrently N wavefront multiplexed signals at the N output ports such that the N wavefront multiplexed signals are orthogonal to one another and each of the N wavefront multiplexed signals is a unique linear combination of the N signals;
a set of Q time division multiplexers coupled to the processor to generate Q sequences embedding the N wavefront multiplexed signals, each of the Q time division multiplexers being an R-to-1 multiplexer, Q and R being positive integers such that Q*R is greater than or equal to N; and
a set of Q subarrays coupled respectively to the set of Q time division multiplexers to process the N wavefront multiplexed signals embedded in the Q sequences and radiate respectively and concurrently the processed N wavefront multiplexed signals toward the spacecraft.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A communication system and method for a deep space spacecraft receiver to perform post-processing to dynamically combine received signal power coherently for pre-processed signal streams radiated non-coherently from a distributed, multiple element, Ka-band transmitting array via multiple concurrent propagation paths. Mutually orthogonal data and pilot signals travel though the multiple propagation paths. A pre-processor utilizing wavefront multiplexing restructures signal streams on the ground into multi-channel wavefrom structures along with injections of pilot signals for diagnostic and probing purposes. These restructured, or “wavefront multiplexed” (WFM) signals are transmitted through propagation channels to a receiver on the spacecraft, wherein adaptive equalization and wavefront de-multiplexing coherently separates the mixtures of received WFM signals. Transmitting power can be dynamically allocated for the multiple concurrent data streams, radiated to different spacecraft within the same field of view according to continuously changing demand by changing the relative input power ratios of the WFM signal mixtures.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A ground-based system for communicating with a spacecraft, comprising:
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a demultiplexing device to provide N signals from a data stream, the demultiplexing device comprising; a time-division demultiplexer to demultiplex the data stream into M signals, M being a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, and a pilot signal generator to generate P pilot signals, P being a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; a processor comprising N input ports and N output ports, N being a positive integer equal to P+M, receiving concurrently N signals at the N input ports, performing an N-to-N wavefront multiplexing transform on the N signals and outputting concurrently N wavefront multiplexed signals at the N output ports such that the N wavefront multiplexed signals are orthogonal to one another and each of the N wavefront multiplexed signals is a unique linear combination of the N signals; a set of Q time division multiplexers coupled to the processor to generate Q sequences embedding the N wavefront multiplexed signals, each of the Q time division multiplexers being an R-to-1 multiplexer, Q and R being positive integers such that Q*R is greater than or equal to N; and a set of Q subarrays coupled respectively to the set of Q time division multiplexers to process the N wavefront multiplexed signals embedded in the Q sequences and radiate respectively and concurrently the processed N wavefront multiplexed signals toward the spacecraft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A ground-based system for communicating with a spacecraft, comprising:
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a set of Q time division demultiplexers to provide Q*R sequences embedding N signals transformed from a data stream and received from an antenna, each of the Q time division demultiplexers being a 1-to-R demultiplexer, Q and R being positive integers such that Q*R is greater than or equal to N, N being a positive integer greater than 1; a processor comprising N input ports and N output ports, coupled to the Q time division demultiplexers at the N input ports and receiving concurrently N signals at the N input ports, performing an N-to-N wavefront demultiplexing transform on the N signals and outputting concurrently N wavefront demultiplexed signals at the N output ports such that the N wavefront demultiplexed signals are orthogonal to one another and each of the N wavefront demultiplexed signals is a unique linear combination of the N signals; an M-to-1 multiplexer coupled to M of the N output ports of the processor to recover the data stream, M being a positive integer smaller than or equal to N. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification