ANTENNA FAILURE DETECTION
First Claim
1. A method of detecting a failure of a directional antenna, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving positional data concerning a target;
calculating a bearing to a target with the received positional data;
determining a bearing of the target utilizing directional reception;
generating a bearing offset, the bearing offset being the difference between the calculated bearing and the determined bearing; and
informing of an antenna failure in the case that the bearing offset is greater than a predetermined error threshold.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides an apparatus, method, and computer-executable program for detecting antenna failures in directional antennas. In particular, the present invention compares a bearing calculated from received positional data concerning a target to the bearing of the target determined using the directional antenna. If the calculated bearing and the determined bearing differ by greater than a predetermined amount, it is determined that there is an antenna failure. In this way, bearing information determined by the directional antenna is compared against a piece of known data in order to determine if the antenna is functioning properly.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A method of detecting a failure of a directional antenna, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving positional data concerning a target;
calculating a bearing to a target with the received positional data;
determining a bearing of the target utilizing directional reception;
generating a bearing offset, the bearing offset being the difference between the calculated bearing and the determined bearing; and
informing of an antenna failure in the case that the bearing offset is greater than a predetermined error threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of detecting a failure of a directional antenna, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a plurality of positional data points concerning a target;
calculating a plurality of bearings to the target with the plurality of positional data points;
determining a plurality of bearings of the target utilizing directional reception;
generating a plurality of bearing offsets, the bearing offsets being the difference between the calculated bearings and the determined bearings; and
informing of an antenna failure in the case that a current bearing offset differs from a previously generated bearing offset by an amount greater than a predetermined error threshold. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of detecting a failure of a directional antenna, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a plurality of positional data points concerning a target;
calculating a plurality of bearings to the target with the plurality of positional data points;
determining a plurality of bearings of the target utilizing directional reception;
generating a plurality of bearing offsets, the bearing offsets being the difference between the calculated bearings and the determined bearings; and
informing of an antenna failure in the case that a current running average of bearing offsets differs from a previously generated running average of bearing offsets by an amount greater than a predetermined error threshold.
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14. A computer-executable program stored on a computer-readable medium, the program for detecting a failure of a directional antenna, the program comprising:
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a receiving code for receiving positional data concerning a target;
a calculating code for calculating a bearing to the target with the received positional data;
a determining code for determining a bearing of the target utilizing directional reception;
a generating code for generating a bearing offset, the bearing offset being the difference between the calculated bearing and the determined bearing; and
an informing code for informing of an antenna failure in the case that the bearing offset is greater than a predetermined error threshold. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer-executable program stored on a computer-readable medium, the program for detecting a failure of a directional antenna, the program comprising:
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a receiving code for receiving a plurality of positional data points concerning a target;
a calculating code for calculating a plurality of bearings to the target with the plurality of positional data points;
a determining code for determining a plurality of bearings of the target utilizing directional reception;
a generating code for generating a plurality of bearing offsets, the bearing offsets being the difference between the calculated bearings and the determined bearings; and
an informing code for informing of an antenna failure in the case that a current bearing offset differs from a previously generated bearing offset by an amount greater than a predetermined error threshold. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer-executable program stored on a computer-readable medium, the program for detecting a failure of a directional antenna, the program comprising:
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a receiving code for receiving a plurality of positional data points concerning a target;
a calculating code for calculating a plurality of bearings to the target with the plurality of positional data points;
a determining code for determining a plurality of bearings of the target utilizing directional reception;
a generating code for generating a plurality of bearing offsets, the bearing offsets being the difference between the calculated bearings and the determined bearings; and
an informing code for informing of an antenna failure in the case that a current running average of bearing offsets differs from a previously generated running average of bearing offsets by an amount greater than a predetermined error threshold.
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27. An apparatus for detecting a failure of a directional antenna, the apparatus comprising:
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a receiver for receiving positional data concerning a target;
a calculating unit for calculating a bearing to the target with the received positional data;
a directional antenna for determining a bearing of the target;
a generating unit connected to the calculating unit and the directional antenna, the generating unit for generating a bearing offset, the bearing offset being the difference between the calculated bearing and the determined bearing; and
an informing unit connected to the comparing unit, the informing unit for informing of an antenna failure in the case that the bearing offset is greater than a predetermined error threshold. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. An apparatus for detecting a failure of a directional antenna, the apparatus comprising:
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a receiver for receiving a plurality of positional data points concerning a target;
a calculating unit for calculating a plurality of bearings of the target with the plurality of positional data points;
a directional antenna for determining a plurality of bearings of the target;
a generating unit connected to the receiver and the directional antenna, the generating unit for generating a plurality of bearing offsets, the bearing offsets being the difference between the calculated bearings and the determined bearings; and
an informing unit connected to the generating unit, the informing unit for informing of an antenna failure in the case that a current bearing offset differs from a previously generated bearing offset by an amount greater than a predetermined error threshold. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. An apparatus for detecting a failure of a directional antenna, the apparatus comprising:
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a receiver for receiving a plurality of positional data points concerning a target;
a calculating unit for calculating a plurality of bearings of the target with the plurality of positional data points;
a directional antenna for determining a plurality of bearings of the target;
a generating unit connected to the receiver and the directional antenna, the generating unit for generating a plurality of bearing offsets, the bearing offsets being the difference between the calculated bearings and the determined bearings; and
an informing unit connected to the generating unit, the informing unit for informing of an antenna failure in the case that a current running average of bearing offsets differs from a previously generated running average of bearing offsets by an amount greater than a predetermined error threshold.
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Specification