Position and Elevation Acquisition for Orbit Determination

• US 20130293413A1
• Filed: 05/03/2012
• Published: 11/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Raytheon Company (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Raytheon Company (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Robinson, Ian S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,365,303 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/357.25
• CPC Class Codes: B64G 3/00 Observing or tracking cosmonautic vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/79 Systems using random coded signals or random pulse repetition frequencies , e.g. "Separation and Control of Aircraft using Non synchronous Techniques" [SECANT]
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/02 Details of the space or ground control segments
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0294 Trajectory determination or predictive filtering, e.g. target tracking or Kalman filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/12 by co-ordinating position lines of different shape, e.g. hyperbolic, circular, elliptical or radial
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/003 Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations

Abstract

A known ground location (KGL) satellite transceiver can include a position and elevation acquisition module configured to determine a time of flight (TOF) of a pseudonoise (PN) signal and a Doppler shift in a KGL signal for use in determining an orbit of a satellite. The PN signal can include a transmitted PN signal and a transponded PN signal. The KGL signal can include a transmitted KGL signal and a transponded KGL signal. The transmitted PN signal and the transmitted KGL signal can be transmitted sequentially on a first frequency carrier from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite. The transponded PN signal and the transponded KGL signal can be retransmitted back sequentially on a second frequency carrier from the satellite to the KGL satellite transceiver. The first frequency carrier and the second frequency carrier use a same frequency carrier or a different frequency carrier from each other.

Claims

1. A known ground location (KGL) satellite transceiver for facilitating orbit determination of a satellite, the KGL satellite transceiver comprising:

a position and elevation acquisition module for deriving position and elevation information of the satellite, wherein the position and elevation acquisition module determines a time of flight (TOF) of a pseudonoise (PN) signal and a Doppler shift in a KGL signal.

2. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein the PN signal includes a transmitted PN signal and a transponded PN signal, the KGL signal includes a transmitted KGL signal and a transponded KGL signal, the transmitted PN signal and the transmitted KGL signal are transmitted sequentially on a first frequency carrier from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite, and the transponded PN signal and the transponded KGL signal are retransmitted back to the KGL satellite transceiver from the satellite sequentially on a second frequency carrier.

3. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 2, wherein the first frequency carrier and the second frequency carrier comprise a same frequency carrier, and the transmitted PN signal and the transmitted KGL signal are transmitted at a selected transmitted interval that differs from a selected transponded interval of the reception of the transponded PN signal and the transponded KGL signal.

4. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 2, wherein the first frequency carrier and the second frequency carrier comprise a different frequency carrier from each other.

5. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein the position and elevation acquisition module is further configured to determine a TOF of a second PN signal and a Doppler shift in a second KGL signal to determine the orbit of the satellite, wherein the second PN signal includes a second transmitted PN signal and a second transponded PN signal, the second KGL signal includes a second transmitted KGL signal and a second transponded KGL signal, wherein the second transmitted PN signal and the second transmitted KGL signal are transmitted sequentially on a third frequency carrier from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite, and the second transponded PN signal and the second transponded KGL signal are retransmitted back from the satellite to the KGL satellite transceiver sequentially on a fourth frequency carrier, and wherein the first frequency carrier and the third frequency carrier comprise a different frequency carrier from each other, and the second frequency carrier and the fourth frequency carrier comprise a different frequency carrier from each other.

6. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein the KGL signal comprises one of a sinusoidal wave and a pulsed tone.

7. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein the position and elevation acquisition module utilizes a Doppler shift in the PN signal to determine the orbit of the satellite.

8. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein the position and elevation acquisition module further comprises:

a Doppler shift module configured to measure a roundtrip Doppler shift in the KGL signal from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite and back to the KGL satellite transceiver and generate a Doppler trend;

a TOF module configured to measure a roundtrip TOF of the PN signal from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite and back to the KGL satellite transceiver and generate a range measurement; and

an orbit determination module configured to combine the Doppler trend and the range measurement for an orbit determination.

9. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 8, wherein the orbit determination includes information selected from the group consisting of a position, an elevation, a velocity, a direction, and combinations thereof.

10. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 8, further comprising:

a signal receiver configured to receive the PN signal and the KGL signal from the satellite.

11. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 10, further comprising:

a signal generator configured to generate the PN signal and the KGL signal; and

a signal transmitter configured to transmit the PN signal and the KGL signal to the satellite.

12. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 11, wherein the signal receiver and the signal transmitter use a common transceiver and a common antenna.

13. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein the position and elevation acquisition module is further configured to transmit orbit determination information of the satellite to the satellite.

14. A method for facilitating orbit determination of a satellite, comprising:

facilitating determination of an orbit of a satellite using a time of flight (TOF) of a pseudonoise (PN) signal and a Doppler shift in a known ground location (KGL) signal.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the PN signal includes a transmitted PN signal and a transponded PN signal, the KGL signal includes a transmitted KGL signal and a transponded KGL signal, the transmitted PN signal and the transmitted KGL signal are transmitted sequentially on a first frequency carrier from a KGL satellite transceiver to a satellite, and the transponded PN signal and the transponded KGL signal are retransmitted back sequentially on a second frequency carrier from the satellite to the KGL satellite transceiver.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein facilitating determination of the orbit of a satellite using the TOF of the PN signal and the Doppler shift in a KGL signal further comprises:

facilitating measurement of a roundtrip Doppler shift in the KGL signal from a KGL satellite transceiver to a satellite and back to the KGL satellite transceiver and generating a Doppler trend from the roundtrip Doppler shift;

facilitating measurement of a roundtrip TOF of the PN signal from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite and back to the KGL satellite transceiver and generating a range measurement from a decoded PN signal; and

facilitating combining the Doppler trend and the range measurement for a orbit determination.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising facilitating alternating between the PN signal and the KGL signal.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising relocating the KGL signal and a corresponding KGL transceiver, and repeating said facilitating determination of an orbit of the satellite using the time of flight (TOF) of the pseudonoise (PN) signal and a Doppler shift in the known ground location (KGL) signal.

19. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement the method for orbit determination of a satellite, comprising:

determining an orbit of a satellite using a time of flight (TOF) of a pseudonoise (PN) signal and a Doppler shift in a KGL signal.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the PN signal includes a transmitted PN signal and a transponded PN signal, the KGL signal includes a transmitted KGL signal and a transponded KGL signal, the transmitted PN signal and the transmitted KGL signal are transmitted sequentially on a first frequency carrier from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite, and the transponded PN signal and the transponded KGL signal are retransmitted back sequentially on a second frequency carrier from the satellite to the KGL satellite transceiver.

21. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein determining the orbit of a satellite using the TOF of the PN signal and the Doppler shift in a KGL signal further comprises:

measuring a roundtrip Doppler shift in the KGL signal from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite and back to the KGL satellite transceiver and generating a Doppler trend from the roundtrip Doppler shift;

measuring a roundtrip TOF of the PN signal from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite and back to the KGL satellite transceiver and generating a range measurement from a decoded PN signal; and

combining the Doppler trend and the range measurement for a orbit determination.

22. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the orbit determination includes information selected from the group consisting of a position, an elevation, a velocity, a direction, and combinations thereof.