Segmented antenna system for offshore radio networks and method of using same

• US 20060276992A1
• Filed: 06/07/2004
• Published: 12/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WesternGeco LLC
• Original Assignee: WesternGeco LLC
• Inventors: Slinning, Runar, Berg, Jens Olav, Gregersen, Ole Kristian
• Granted Patent: US 7,383,151 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/150
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/14 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/51 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0072 Transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/34 Adaptation for use in or on ships, submarines, buoys or torpedoes for subaqueous use H01Q1/04
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/242 Circumferential scanning
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0608 Antenna selection according to transmission parameters

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for a segmented antenna system. The method includes determining an orientation of a first antenna, the first antenna including a plurality of segments for transmitting and receiving signals, determining a direction from the first antenna to a second antenna capable or at least one of transmitting and receiving signals, and selecting at least one of the plurality of segments of the first antenna using the determined orientation of the first antenna and the determined direction.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining an orientation of a first antenna, the first antenna including a plurality of segments for transmitting and receiving signals;

determining a direction from the first antenna to a second antenna capable of at least one of transmitting and receiving signals; and

selecting at least one of the plurality of segments of the first antenna using the determined orientation of the first antenna and the determined direction.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a signal over a wireless data link between the first and second antennae on a first frequency band.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the direction from the first antenna to the second antenna comprises transmitting a signal indicative of the direction via a second frequency band that is different from the first frequency band.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein transmitting the signal indicative of the direction via the second frequency band comprises transmitting the signal indicative of the direction via at least one of a UHF band, a VHF band, and a satellite connection.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein transmitting the signal indicative of the direction comprises transmitting a signal indicative of the location of the second antenna.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein transmitting the signal indicative of the location of the second antenna comprises determining the location of the second antenna using a Global Positioning System.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the orientation of the first antenna comprises determining the orientation of the first antenna using a gyrocompass or compass.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, determining the orientation of the first antenna using the gyro comprises determining a compass heading corresponding to a feature having a known geometric relation to the first antenna.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, determining the orientation of the first antenna using the gyro comprises determining a compass beading corresponding to selected segment of the first antenna.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the direction comprises determining a location of the first antenna.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the location of the first antenna comprises determining the location of the first antenna using a Global Positioning System.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one of the plurality of segments of the first antenna comprises selecting more than one of the plurality of segments of the first antenna.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein selecting the more than one of the plurality of segments of the first antenna comprises selecting a central segment and at least one segment adjacent the central segment.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the second antenna has a plurality of segments for transmitting and receiving signals, and further comprising:

determining an orientation of the second antenna;

determining a direction from the second antenna to the first antenna; and

selecting at least one of the plurality of segments of the second antenna using the determined orientation of the second antenna and the determined direction from the second antenna to the first antenna.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a plurality of directions from the first antenna to a plurality of antennae; and

selecting a plurality of segments of the first antenna using the determined orientation of the first antenna and the plurality of determined directions from the first antenna to the plurality of antennae.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising forming a plurality of wireless data links concurrently using the plurality of selected segments.

17. An apparatus, comprising:

a segmented antenna having a plurality of segments, each segment being capable of at least one of transmitting and receiving signals;

a position sensor adapted to provide a positioning signal indicative of a position of the segmented antenna;

an orientation sensor adapted to provide an orientation signal indicative of an orientation of the segmented antenna;

a receiver adapted to receive a target positioning signal indicative of a position of a target antenna; and

a controller adapted to select at least one of the segments using the positioning signal, the target positioning signal, and the orientation signal.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein each segment is adapted to form a wireless data link between the segmented antenna and the target antenna.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the segmented antenna comprises 16 segments.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein each segment is capable of transmitting and receiving signals within an angle of about 26°

, and wherein the angles overlap by about 4°

.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the controller is adapted to select at least one of the segments using a hysteresis.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the receiver is adapted to receive signals in at least one of a UHF band, a VHF band, and a satellite link.

23. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the position sensor is a Global Positioning System device.

24. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the orientation sensor is a gyrocompass or a compass.

25. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the target antenna is an omni-directional antenna.

26. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the target antenna comprises a plurality of segments, each segment being capable of at least one of transmitting and receiving signals, and further comprising:

a target position sensor adapted to provide the target positioning signal indicative of the position of the target antenna;

a target orientation sensor adapted to provide a target orientation signal indicative of an orientation of the target antenna;

a target receiver adapted to receive the positioning signal indicative of the position of the segmented antenna; and

a target controller adapted to select at least one of the segments of the target antenna using the positioning signal, the target positioning signal, and the target orientation signal.

27. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising an antenna vertically displaced from the antenna.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the vertically-displaced antenna is vertically displaced from the segmented antenna by about 6 meters.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising a signal processing unit adapted to combine signals received from the segmented antenna and the vertically-displaced antenna.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the signal processing unit comprises a band-pass filter.

31. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the vertically-displaced antenna is an omni-directional antenna.

32. An article comprising one or more machine-readable storage media containing instructions that when executed enable a computer to:

determine an orientation of a first antenna, the first antenna including a plurality of segments for transmitting and receiving signals;

determine a direction from the first antenna to a second antenna capable of at least one of transmitting and receiving signals; and

select at least one of the plurality of segments of the first antenna using the determined orientation of the first antenna and the determined direction.

33. The article of claim 32, wherein the instructions when executed enable the computer to determine the orientation of the first antenna using a signal provided by an orientation sensor.

34. The article of claim 32, wherein the instructions when executed enable the computer to determine the direction from the first antenna to the second antenna using first and second locations of the first and second antennae.

35. The article of claim 34, wherein the instructions when executed enable the computer to determine the direction from the first antenna to the second antenna using signals indicative of the first and second locations of the first and second antennae provided by first and second global positioning systems, respectively.

36. The article of claim 32, wherein the instructions when executed enable the computer to form a wireless data link between the first and second antennae.

37. An apparatus, comprising:

means for determining an orientation of a first antenna, the first antenna including a plurality of segments for transmitting and receiving signals;

means for determining a direction from the first antenna to a second antenna capable of at least one of transmitting and receiving signals; and

means for selecting at least one of the plurality of segments of the first antenna using the determined orientation of the first antenna and the determined direction.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising means for forming a wireless data link between the first and second antennae on a first frequency band.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, further comprising means for transmitting a signal indicative of the direction from the first antenna to the second antenna using a second frequency band that is different than the first frequency band.

40. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the means for determining the direction from the first antenna to the second antenna comprise:

means for determining first and second locations of the first and second antennae, respectively; and

means for determining the direction using the first and second locations.

41. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising:

means for determining a plurality of directions from the first antenna to a plurality of antennae; and

means for selecting a plurality of segments of the first antenna using the determined orientation of the first antenna and the plurality of determined directions from the first antenna to the plurality of antennae.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, further comprising means for forming a plurality of wireless data links concurrently using the plurality of selected segments.

43. A system, comprising:

a plurality of antennae deployed at a plurality of locations, at least one of the antennae being a segmented antenna having a plurality of segments;

a plurality of positioning sensors adapted to provide a corresponding plurality of positioning signals indicative of the plurality of locations;

at least one orientation sensor adapted to provide a signal indicative of an orientation of the at least one segmented antenna; and

at least one controller adapted to select at least one of the segments of the at least one segmented antenna using the plurality of positioning signals and the at least one orientation signal.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the at least one controller is adapted to form a wireless data link between the segmented antenna and at least one of the plurality of antennas on a first frequency band.

45. The system of claim 44, further comprising at least one receiver coupled to the at least one controller, the receiver being adapted to receive the plurality of positioning signals via a second frequency band different than the first frequency band and provide the plurality of positioning signals to the controller.

46. The system of claim 45, further comprising at least one antenna vertically displaced from the at least one segmented antenna.

47. The system of claim 46, further comprising a signal processing unit adapted to combine a signal from the vertically-displaced antenna and a signal from the at least one segmented antenna.

48. The system of claim 47, wherein the signal processing unit comprises a band-pass filter.

49. The system of claim 43, wherein the plurality of locations include at least one of a moving vehicle and a fixed-position structure.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein the moving vehicle comprises at least one of a ship and a buoy.

51. The system of claim 49, wherein the fixed-position structure includes at least one of a land-based tower and an off-shore platform.

52. The system of claim 43, wherein the plurality of positioning sensors are a plurality of Global Positioning Systems.

53. The system of claim 43, wherein the at least one orientation sensor is a gyrocompass or a compass.