ANTENNA ORIENTATION DETERMINATION

• US 20110298672A1
• Filed: 06/08/2010
• Published: 12/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC (Echostar Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Echostar Technologies LLC (Echostar Corporation)
• Inventors: Jaramillo, Harold, Tomko, Joseph E., Otto, Troy
• Granted Patent: US 8,284,112 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 343/703
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/02 using mechanical movement of antenna or antenna system as a whole
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/08 for varying two co-ordinates of the orientation

Abstract

A method of determining a current orientation of an antenna compared to a desired orientation is presented. In the method, current orientation data indicating a current orientation of the antenna is generated in circuitry mounted to the antenna. Data indicating a desired orientation for the antenna at the geographical location of the antenna is received. The desired orientation data is compared with the current orientation data. Based on this comparison, alignment information is generated which indicates whether the current orientation of the antenna aligns with the desired orientation of the antenna.

Claims

1. A method of determining a current orientation of an antenna compared to a desired orientation, the method comprising:

in circuitry mounted to the antenna, generating current orientation data indicating a current orientation of the antenna;

receiving desired orientation data indicating a desired orientation for the antenna based on a geographical location of the antenna;

comparing the desired orientation data with the current orientation data; and

generating alignment information as to whether the current orientation of the antenna aligns with the desired orientation of the antenna based on the comparison.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the current orientation data comprises a current azimuth value, a current elevation value, and a current skew value for the antenna;

the desired orientation data comprises a desired azimuth value, a desired elevation value, and a desired skew value for the antenna; and

the current orientation aligns with the desired orientation of the antenna when the current azimuth value is within a first error value of the desired azimuth value, the current elevation value is within a second error value of the desired elevation value, and the current skew value is within a third error value of the desired skew value.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the desired orientation data comprises:

using geographical data indicating the geographical location of the antenna, extracting the desired orientation data from a data structure comprising information indicating a desired antenna orientation for each of a plurality of geographical locations.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the desired orientation data comprises:

transmitting geographical data indication the geographical location of the antenna to a communication node; and

receiving the desired orientation data from the communication node in response to the geographical data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the alignment information comprises a binary indication as to whether the current orientation of the antenna aligns with the desired orientation of the antenna.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the alignment information comprises at least one value quantifying a difference between the current orientation of the antenna and the desired orientation of the antenna.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a signal strength value indicating a strength of a signal received via the antenna;

receiving a signal strength threshold value; and

generating an indication that the signal strength is reduced for a reason other than the antenna being misaligned if the alignment information indicates the antenna is aligned according to its desired orientation, and the signal strength value is below the signal strength threshold value.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if the alignment information indicates the current orientation of the antenna does not align with the desired orientation of the antenna, activating at least one electric motor to align the antenna based on the alignment information.

9. A communication antenna, comprising:

a mechanical structure defining an angular orientation of the antenna;

signaling circuitry coupled with the mechanical structure and configured to at least one of send and receive wireless signals;

orientation circuitry attached to the mechanical structure and configured to generate current orientation data indicating the angular orientation of the antenna relative to a reference orientation;

a communication interface configured to communicate with a communication device coupled with the antenna; and

control circuitry configured to transfer the current orientation data from the orientation circuitry to the communication device coupled with the antenna.

10. The communication antenna of claim 9, wherein:

the current orientation data comprises at least one of a current azimuth value, a current elevation value, and a current skew value relative to the reference orientation.

11. The communication antenna of claim 9, wherein:

the orientation circuitry comprises two-axis inclinometer circuitry for determining a current elevation value and a current skew value for the antenna.

12. The communication antenna of claim 9, wherein:

the orientation circuitry comprises compass circuitry for determining a current azimuth value for the antenna.

13. The communication antenna of claim 9, further comprising:

at least one motor coupled to the mechanical structure and configured to alter at least one of an azimuth, an elevation, and a skew of the current orientation of the antenna;

wherein the control circuitry is configured to control the at least one motor to align the current orientation of the antenna to a desired orientation of the antenna based on the current orientation data and desired orientation data indicating the desired orientation of the antenna.

14. The communication antenna of claim 13, further comprising:

location circuitry configured to generate current location data indicating the current location of the antenna via communication with a global positioning system;

wherein the communication interface is configured to transfer the current location data to the communication device coupled with the antenna.

15. A communication device coupled with an antenna, the communication device comprising:

a signal interface configured to communicate via the antenna; and

control logic configured to;

receive from the antenna current orientation data indicating a current orientation of the antenna;

compare the current orientation data with desired orientation data indicating a desired orientation for the antenna; and

generate deviation information indicating whether the current orientation aligns with the desired orientation within a predetermined limit based on the current orientation data and the desired orientation data.

16. The communication device of claim 15, further comprising:

a communication interface configured to communicate with a communication node;

wherein the control circuitry is further configured to transfer the deviation information via the communication interface to the communication node.

17. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the control circuitry is configured to:

periodically repeat receiving the current orientation data and comparing the current orientation data with the desired orientation data; and

transfer the resulting deviation information for each repetition to the communication node via the communication interface to identify orientation changes of the antenna.

18. The communication device of claim 15, further comprising:

a communication interface configured to communicate with a communication node;

wherein the control circuitry is further configured to receive the desired orientation data from the communication node via the communication interface.

19. The communication device of claim 18, wherein:

the control circuitry is further configured to transmit current location data indicating a current location of the antenna to the communication node;

the control circuitry receives the desired orientation data from the communication node after transmitting the current location data.

20. The communication device of claim 15, comprising:

data storage configured to store multiple entries of desired orientation data and geographic location data, wherein each entry of desired orientation data is associated with a corresponding entry of the geographic location data;

wherein the control circuitry is configured to compare current location data indicating a current location of the antenna with the geographic location data to determine the desired orientation data for the current location of the antenna.