SATELLITE DETECTION OF AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM SIGNALS
First Claim
1. A system for detecting and decoding Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals, the system comprising:
- (a) a plurality of orbital satellites, each orbital satellite having at least one antenna with at least one antenna polarization for receiving a radio frequency signal;
(b) each orbital satellite also having a communication module for accepting the radio frequency signal, converting the radio frequency signal into sampled packetized data for insertion into a raw data stream, inserting a plurality of signal parameters into the raw data stream, and transmitting the raw data stream and a telemetry data stream to at least one ground station; and
(c) a processor located at the at least one ground station for receiving the raw data stream and processing the raw data stream to identify one or more candidate AIS message signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method of detecting Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals in space and decoding these signals. In one aspect, a system for performing this function is described which includes a receiver configured to receive the plurality of AIS signals and pre-process the plurality of AIS signals to produce digital input data, and a processor configured to process the digital input data to identify one or more candidate AIS message signals based on Doppler offsets associated with the digital input data, determine corresponding Doppler offset estimates and time estimates of the one or more candidate AIS message signals, decollide and decode the one or more candidate AIS message signals to obtain corresponding message segments and validate the decoded message segments for proper AIS formatting.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system for detecting and decoding Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals, the system comprising:
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(a) a plurality of orbital satellites, each orbital satellite having at least one antenna with at least one antenna polarization for receiving a radio frequency signal; (b) each orbital satellite also having a communication module for accepting the radio frequency signal, converting the radio frequency signal into sampled packetized data for insertion into a raw data stream, inserting a plurality of signal parameters into the raw data stream, and transmitting the raw data stream and a telemetry data stream to at least one ground station; and (c) a processor located at the at least one ground station for receiving the raw data stream and processing the raw data stream to identify one or more candidate AIS message signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for detecting and decoding Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals, the method comprising:
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(a) providing a plurality of orbital satellites, each orbital satellite having at least one antenna with at least one antenna polarization for receiving a radio frequency signal; (b) filtering, sampling and packetizing the radio frequency signal into sampled packetized data; (c) inserting the sampled packetized data into a raw data stream; (d) inserting a plurality of signal parameters into the raw data stream; (e) transmitting the raw data stream and a telemetry data stream to at least one ground station; (f) receiving the raw data stream at the at least one ground station; and (g) processing the raw data stream at the at least one ground station to identify one or more candidate AIS message signals. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification