Method for air-to-ground data link antenna self calibration

• US 10,470,095 B2
• Filed: 01/13/2013
• Issued: 11/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Davis, Roy Howard
• Primary Examiner(s): Gregory, Bernarr E
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mull, Fred H
• Application Number:
  US13/740,248
• Publication Number:
  US 20160212669A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,487 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/2605 Array of radiating elements provided with a feedback control over the element weights, e.g. adaptive arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0617 for beam forming
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18506 Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0058 Transmission of hand-off measurement information, e.g. measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/085 involving beams of access points
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/18 for allowing seamless reselection, e.g. soft reselection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/328 by altitude

Abstract

A beam pattern of a base station antenna is refined when communicating with multiple aircraft, so that interference to adjacent beams from the base station are reduced. The method include receiving position locations from each of multiple aircraft. The method also include the receipt of an attitude of each of the aircraft as well as receipt of measurements of the pilot signals from each of the aircraft. The pilot signals were transmitted by the base station. The method also include the adjustment of an amplitude and a phase of a signal driving at least one antenna transmit element to refine the beam pattern. The adjustment is based at least in part on the pilot measurements, the position locations, and the attitude of each of the aircraft.

Claims

1. A method of refining a beam pattern of a base station antenna configured to communicate with a plurality of aircraft using a plurality of beams, in which interference to adjacent beams from a base station is reduced, comprising:

receiving reports of measurements of pilot signals from each of the plurality of aircraft, the pilot signals having been transmitted by the base station through pencil beams and measured at each of the plurality of aircraft;

adjusting a transmit amplitude and a transmit phase of a transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element to refine the beam pattern by reducing side lobes of the beam pattern to reduce interference with signals for other aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, the adjusting based at least in part on the received reports of measurements of pilot signals from each of the plurality of aircraft; and

adjusting a receive amplitude and a receive phase of a receive signal driving at least one antenna receive element of the base station antenna, the receive amplitude and the receive phase having different parameters than the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase, the adjusting of the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase and the receive amplitude and the receive phase occurring after determining a shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at a determined distance from the base station antenna.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving at least one position location of each of the plurality of aircraft and further adjusting the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the transmit signal driving the at least one antenna transmit element based at least in part on the at least one position location of each of the plurality of aircraft.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising forwarding at least one of the received position locations of at least one of the plurality of aircraft to another base station for handoff.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving a time of the received position locations of each of the plurality of aircraft and further adjusting the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element based at least in part on the time of the received position locations of each of the plurality of aircraft.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an attitude of each of the plurality of aircraft and further adjusting the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the transmit signal driving the at least one antenna transmit element based at least in part on the attitude of each of the plurality of aircraft.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising forwarding the attitude of at least one of the plurality of aircraft to another base station for handoff.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element based at least in part on atmospheric conditions.

8. A method of refining a beam pattern of an antenna beam of a base station antenna configured to communicate with a plurality of aircraft with a plurality of beams, to reduce interference to adjacent beams from a base station, comprising:

receiving position locations from each of the plurality of aircraft;

receiving an attitude of each of the plurality of aircraft;

receiving measurements of pilot signals, the pilot signals transmitted by the base station antenna through pencil beams, the measurements occurring at each of the plurality of aircraft and transmitted from each of the plurality of aircraft;

adjusting a receive amplitude and a receive phase of a receive signal driving at least one antenna receive element to refine the beam pattern by reducing side lobes of the beam pattern to reduce interference with signals for other aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, the adjusting based at least in part on the received measurements of pilot signals, the received position locations, and/or the attitude of each of the plurality of aircraft; and

adjusting a transmit amplitude and a transmit phase of a transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element of the base station antenna, the receive amplitude and the receive phase having different parameters than the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase, the adjusting of the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase and the receive amplitude and the receive phase occurring after determining a shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at a determined distance from the base station antenna.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving a time of the received position locations of each of the plurality of aircraft and adjusting the receive amplitude and the receive phase of the receive signal driving at least one antenna receive element based at least in part on the time of the received position locations of each of the plurality of aircraft.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising adjusting the receive amplitude and the receive phase of the receive signal driving at least one antenna receive element based at least in part on atmospheric conditions.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising forwarding the received position locations and the attitude of at least one of the plurality of aircraft to another base station for handoff.

12. An apparatus for refining a beam pattern of a base station antenna configured to communicate with a plurality of aircraft with a plurality of beams, comprising:

means for receiving position locations from each of the plurality of aircraft;

means for receiving an attitude of each of the plurality of aircraft;

means for receiving measurements of pilot signals from each of the plurality of aircraft, the pilot signals having been transmitted by a base station through pencil beams and measured at each of the plurality of aircraft;

means for adjusting, after determining a shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at a determined distance from the base station antenna, a transmit amplitude and a transmit phase of a transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element to refine the beam pattern by reducing side lobes of the beam pattern to reduce interference with signals for other aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, the adjusting based at least in part on the measurements of the pilot signals, the received position locations, and/or the attitude of each of the plurality of aircraft; and

means for adjusting, after determining the shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at the determined distance from the base station antenna, a receive amplitude and a receive phase of a receive signal driving at least one antenna receive element of the base station antenna, the receive amplitude and the receive phase having different parameters than the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising means for receiving a time of the received position locations of each of the plurality of aircraft and means for adjusting the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element based at least in part on the time of the received position locations of each of the plurality of aircraft.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising means for adjusting the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element based at least in part on atmospheric conditions.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising means for forwarding the received position locations and the attitude of at least one of the plurality of aircraft to another base station for handoff.

16. An apparatus for refining a beam pattern of a base station antenna configured to communicate with a plurality of aircraft with a plurality of beams, comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit pilot signals through pencil beams to each of the plurality of aircraft;

a receiver configured to receive position locations from each of the plurality of aircraft, and an attitude of each of the plurality of aircraft and measurements of the pilot signals measured at each of the plurality of aircraft;

a controller, coupled through a processor to the transmitter and the receiver, configured to adjust, after a shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at a determined distance from the base station antenna is determined, a transmit amplitude and a transmit phase of a transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element to refine the beam pattern by reducing side lobes of the beam pattern to reduce interference with signals for other aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, the adjusting based at least in part on the measurements of the pilot signals, the position locations, and/or the attitude of each of the plurality of aircraft; and

the controller further being configured to adjust, after the shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at the determined distance from the base station antenna is determined, the receive amplitude and the receive phase of the receive signal driving at least one antenna receive element of the base station antenna, the receive amplitude and the receive phase having different parameters than the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, in which the receiver is further configured to receive a time of the position locations of each of the plurality of aircraft, and the controller is configured to adjust the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element based at least in part on the time of the position locations of each of the plurality of aircraft.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, in which the controller is further configured to adjust the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element based at least in part on atmospheric conditions.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, in which the transmitter is configured to forward the position locations and the attitude of at least one of the plurality of aircraft to another base station for handoff.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, the program code being executed by a processor at a base station for refining a beam pattern of a base station antenna, and comprising:

program code to transmit pilot signals through pencil beams to a plurality of aircraft;

program code to receive position locations from each of the plurality of aircraft, and an attitude of each of the plurality of aircraft and measurements of the pilot signals measured at each of the plurality of aircraft;

program code to adjust, after determining a shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at a determined distance from the base station antenna, a transmit amplitude and a transmit phase of a transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element to refine the beam pattern by reducing side lobes of the beam pattern to reduce interference with signals for other aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, the adjustment based at least in part on the measurements of the pilot signals, the position locations, and/or the attitude of each of the plurality of aircraft; and

program code to adjust, after determining the shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at the determined distance from the base station antenna, a receive amplitude and a receive phase of a receive signal driving at least one antenna receive element of the base station antenna, the receive amplitude and the receive phase having different parameters than the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase.

21. A method of aiding in refinement of a beam pattern of a base station antenna configured to communicate between a base station and a plurality of aircraft using a plurality of beams, comprising:

receiving communication signals containing pilot signals from the base station, the pilot signals transmitted by the base station through pencil beams;

measuring the pilot signals at the plurality of aircraft;

transmitting pilot measurement reports to the base station; and

receiving further communication signals with reduced interference resulting from the base station adjusting a transmit amplitude and a transmit phase of a transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element to refine the beam pattern by reducing side lobes of the beam pattern to reduce interference with signals for other aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, the adjusting based at least in part on the transmitted pilot measurement reports from each of the plurality of aircraft, the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase having different parameters than a receive amplitude and a receive phase of the base station, the adjusting of the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase occurring after determining a shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at a determined distance from the base station antenna.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising transmitting a position location and receiving further communication signals with reduced interference resulting from the base station adjusting the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element to refine the beam pattern, the adjusting based at least in part on the transmitted position location.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising transmitting an attitude and receiving further communication signals with reduced interference resulting from the base station adjusting the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element to refine the beam pattern, the adjusting based at least in part on the transmitted attitude.

24. A system for refining a beam pattern of a base station antenna configured to communicate between a base station and a plurality of aircraft using a plurality of beams, comprising:

an aircraft receiver configured to receive communication signals containing pilot signals from a base station transmitter, the pilot signals transmitted by the base station transmitter through pencil beams;

a processor, coupled to the receiver, configured to measure the pilot signals at a first aircraft of the plurality of aircraft;

an aircraft transmitter of the first aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, coupled to the processor, configured to transmit pilot signal measurement reports to the base station;

a controller, coupled to the base station transmitter, configured to adjust, after a shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at a determined distance from the base station antenna is determined, a transmit amplitude and a transmit phase of a transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element in the base station transmitter to refine the beam pattern by reducing side lobes of the beam pattern to reduce interference with signals for other aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, the adjusting based at least in part on the transmitted pilot signal measurement reports; and

the controller, further coupled to a base station receiver, configured to, after the shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at the determined distance from the base station antenna is determined, adjust a receive amplitude and a receive phase of a receive signal driving at least one antenna receive element in the base station receiver, the receive amplitude and the receive phase having different parameters than the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase.

25. The system of claim 24, in which the aircraft transmitter is further configured to transmit a position location, and the controller is further configured to adjust the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element to transmit further communication signals with reduced interference based at least in part on the position location transmitted from the first aircraft.

26. The system of claim 24, in which the aircraft transmitter is further configured to transmit an attitude of the first aircraft and the controller is further configured to adjust the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element to transmit further communication signals with reduced interference, the adjusting based at least in part on the transmitted attitude.

27. A system for refining a beam pattern of a base station antenna configured to communicate between a base station and a plurality of aircraft using a plurality of beams, comprising:

means for receiving communication signals containing pilot signals from a base station transmitter, the pilot signals transmitted by the base station transmitter through pencil beams;

means, coupled to the receiving means, for measuring the pilot signals at a first aircraft of the plurality of aircraft;

means, coupled to processing means, for transmitting pilot signal measurement reports to the base station;

means, coupled to the base station transmitter, for adjusting, after determining a shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at a determined distance from the base station antenna, a transmit amplitude and a transmit phase of a transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element in the base station transmitter to refine the beam pattern by reducing side lobes of the beam pattern to reduce interference with signals for other aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, the adjusting based at least in part on the transmitted pilot signal measurement reports from each of the plurality of aircraft; and

means, coupled to a base station receiver, for adjusting, after determining the shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at the determined distance from the base station antenna, a receive amplitude and a receive phase of a receive signal driving at least one antenna receive element in the base station receiver, the receive amplitude and the receive phase having different parameters than the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase.

28. The system of claim 27, in which the means for transmitting further transmits a position location, and the means for adjusting adjusts the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element to transmit further communication signals with reduced interference based at least in part on the transmitted position location.

29. The system of claim 27, in which the means for transmitting further transmits an attitude of the first aircraft and the means for adjusting adjusts the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase of the signal driving at least one antenna transmit element to transmit further communication signals with reduced interference, the adjusting based at least in part on the transmitted attitude.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, the program code executed by a processor at a base station for refining a beam pattern of a base station antenna, and comprising:

program code to receive communication signals containing pilot signals at the base station, the pilot signals transmitted to the base station through pencil beams,

program code to measure the pilot signals of a first aircraft of a plurality of aircraft;

program code to receive pilot signal measurement reports at the base station;

program code to adjust, after determining a shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at a determined distance from the base station antenna, a transmit amplitude and a transmit phase of a transmit signal driving at least one antenna transmit element to refine the beam pattern by reducing side lobes of the beam pattern to reduce interference with signals for other aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, the adjusting based at least in part on the transmitted pilot signal measurement reports from each of the plurality of aircraft; and

program code to adjust, after determining the shape of the beam pattern of the base station antenna at the determined distance from the base station antenna, a receive amplitude and a receive phase of a receive signal driving at least one antenna receive element, the receive amplitude and the receive phase having different parameters than the transmit amplitude and the transmit phase.