COMPENSATION OF BEAMFORMING ERRORS IN A COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM HAVING WIDELY SPACED ANTENNA ELEMENTS
First Claim
1. A method for operating a communications system, said communication system comprising a plurality of antenna elements, an array control system having a plurality of beamformers for said plurality of antenna elements, and a plurality of communications links between said control system and said plurality of antenna elements, the method comprising:
- computing a plurality of complex weights to be applied to a plurality of transmit signals and a plurality of receive signals by said plurality of beamformers, said plurality of complex weights based at least on configuration data for said communications system;
applying a first plurality of weight corrections to said plurality of complex weights based on phasing errors occurring in a communication path inclusive of said control system and said plurality of antenna elements; and
applying a second plurality of weight corrections to said plurality of complex weights based on phase differences at said plurality of antenna elements relative to a reference location for said plurality of receive signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for operating a communications system. The methods involve computing one or more complex weights to be applied to transmit signals and receive signals by beamformers. The complex weights are based at least on configuration data for the communications system. The methods also involve applying a first plurality of weight corrections to the complex weights based on phasing errors occurring in a communication path inclusive of a control system and antenna elements. The methods further involve applying a second plurality of weight corrections to the complex weights based on phase differences at the antenna elements relative to a reference location for the receive signals.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for operating a communications system, said communication system comprising a plurality of antenna elements, an array control system having a plurality of beamformers for said plurality of antenna elements, and a plurality of communications links between said control system and said plurality of antenna elements, the method comprising:
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computing a plurality of complex weights to be applied to a plurality of transmit signals and a plurality of receive signals by said plurality of beamformers, said plurality of complex weights based at least on configuration data for said communications system; applying a first plurality of weight corrections to said plurality of complex weights based on phasing errors occurring in a communication path inclusive of said control system and said plurality of antenna elements; and applying a second plurality of weight corrections to said plurality of complex weights based on phase differences at said plurality of antenna elements relative to a reference location for said plurality of receive signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A communications system comprising:
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a plurality of antenna elements, an array control system having a plurality of beamformers for said plurality of antenna elements and processing element for computing a plurality of complex weights to be applied to a plurality of transmit signals and a plurality of receive signals by a plurality of beamformers, said plurality of complex weights based at least on configuration data for said communications system; a plurality of communications links between said array control system and said plurality of antenna elements; and at least one closed loop operator coupled to at least said plurality of antenna elements and said array control system; and wherein said closed loop operator configured for measuring phasing errors between said control system and said plurality of antenna elements and applying a first plurality of weight corrections for said plurality of complex weights based on said measuring, and wherein said array control system is further configured for detecting phase differences at said plurality of antenna elements based on received ones of said plurality of signals and relative to a reference location and applying a second plurality of weight corrections to said plurality of complex weights based on said phase differences. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification