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Dynamic antenna platform offset calibration

  • US 10,211,508 B2
  • Filed: 07/06/2017
  • Issued: 02/19/2019
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2017
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method, comprising:

  • communicating, at a mobile vehicle according to a first tracking mode during one or more travel segments of the mobile vehicle, first user data with a target satellite via a beam of an antenna mounted to the mobile vehicle, wherein communicating the first user data according to the first tracking mode comprises;

    performing an alignment calibration procedure to determine an antenna pointing offset based at least in part on a difference between;

    (1) an estimated pointing direction from the antenna to the target satellite that is determined based at least in part on positional information of the mobile vehicle; and

    (2) a peaked pointing direction from the antenna to the target satellite that is determined based at least in part on a measured signal characteristic of the first user data communicated during the alignment calibration procedure;

    pointing the beam of the antenna towards the target satellite for subsequent communication of the first user data based at least in part on the positional information of the mobile vehicle and the determined antenna pointing offset; and

    repeating the performing and the pointing until determining that the alignment calibration procedure has been performed for a plurality of spatial conditions that satisfy a spatial separation criteria;

    determining, for each of the alignment calibration procedures performed for the plurality of spatial conditions, a respective calibration vector set based at least in part on the respective peaked pointing direction associated with the respective one of the plurality of spatial conditions;

    determining, based at least in part on determining that the alignment calibration procedure has been performed for the plurality of spatial conditions that satisfy the spatial separation criteria, an antenna platform offset between a reference frame of the antenna and a reference frame of the mobile vehicle based at least in part on the calibration vector sets determined for each of the alignment calibration procedures performed for the plurality of spatial conditions; and

    communicating, subsequent to the determining of the antenna platform offset, second user data with the target satellite via the beam of the antenna according to a second tracking mode, wherein communicating the second user data according to the second tracking mode comprises pointing the beam of the antenna towards the target satellite for communicating the second user data based at least in part on the positional information of the mobile vehicle and the determined antenna platform offset.

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