Alignment Determination for Antennas and Such

• US 20160020504A1
• Filed: 08/15/2014
• Published: 01/21/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Outdoor Wireless Networks LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CommScope Technologies, LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Michaelis, Scott L., Vella-Coleiro, George P., Allen, Trevor M.
• Granted Patent: US 10,396,426 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/125 Means for positioning
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/246 specially adapted for base stations

Abstract

An exemplary alignment module for a base station antenna has one or more accelerometers and one or more magnetometers. The one or more accelerometers are used to determine tilt and roll angles of the antenna, while the yaw angle of the antenna is determined using the one or more magnetometers and the determined tilt and roll angles. Using multiple accelerometers and/or multiple magnetometers can improve accuracy of angle determination. A service provider can determine when to re-align the antenna by monitoring the tilt, roll, and yaw angles remotely to detect changes in antenna orientation. Yaw angle determination can also take into account offset values corresponding to soft-iron effects, hard-iron effects, and factory calibration. The need to re-calibrate offset values following changes in local magnetic environment can be detected by comparing different sensor signals, such as the different magnetic fields detected by a plurality of magnetometers.

Claims

1. A system for determining orientation of an apparatus, the system comprising:

one or more accelerometers rigidly mounted to the apparatus;

one or more magnetometers rigidly mounted to the apparatus; and

a controller configured to (i) receive signals from the one or more accelerometers and the one or more magnetometers and (ii) determine tilt, roll, and yaw angles of the apparatus, wherein the controller is configured to;

(1) determine the tilt and roll angles of the apparatus based on the signals from the one or more accelerometers; and

(2) determine the yaw angle of the apparatus based on (a) the determined tilt and roll angles and (b) the signals from the one or more magnetometers.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine the yaw angle of the apparatus based on (a) the determined tilt and roll angles, (b) the signals from the one or more magnetometers, and (c) offset values for the one or more magnetometers.

3. The system of claim 2, comprising a plurality of magnetometers rigidly mounted to the apparatus, wherein:

each magnetometer has a corresponding set of offset values;

the controller is configured to determine the yaw angle of each magnetometer based on (a) the determined tilt and roll angles, (b) the signals from the magnetometer, and (c) the corresponding set of offset values for the magnetometer; and

the controller is configured to determine the yaw angle of the apparatus by averaging the determined yaw angles of the plurality of magnetometers.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the controller is further configured to compare signals from the plurality of magnetometers to determine when to re-calibrate the offset values for each magnetometer.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein at least one pair of the magnetometers are arranged as antipodes.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the offset values are based on one or more of soft-iron effects, hard-iron effects, and factory calibration.

7. The system of claim 1, comprising a plurality of accelerometers rigidly mounted to the apparatus, wherein:

for each accelerometer, the controller is configured to determine the tilt and roll angles of the accelerometer based on the signals from the accelerometer;

the controller is configured to determine the tilt angle of the apparatus by averaging the determined tilt angles of the plurality of accelerometers; and

the controller is configured to determine the roll angle of the apparatus by averaging the determined roll angles of the plurality of accelerometers.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to take into account one of the determined tilt angle and the determined roll angle in determining the other of the determined tilt angle and the determined roll angle.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein at least one pair of the accelerometers are arranged as antipodes.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a base station antenna for a wireless communications system.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein data from the alignment module is available on a request/polled basis.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein data from the alignment module is used to monitor targets and report alarms if thresholds of deviation beyond the targets are exceeded.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein data from the alignment module is transmitted over an AISG Compliant bus.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein data from the alignment module is communicated to an AISG controller.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein data from the alignment module is ultimately consumed by Self Organizing Network (SON) software and used to optimize network performance.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more magnetometers and the one or more accelerometers are placed on shared hardware that is used to control Remote Electronic Tilt.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the shared hardware comprises a shared proceesor that implements the Remote Electronic Tilt and processes the signals from the one or more magnetometers and the one or more accelerometers.

18. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least two GPS antennas and receivers used to determine azimuth.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the azimuth determined by the GPS receivers is used to calibrate the one or more magnetometers.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the controller is configured to determine the yaw angle of the apparatus based on (a) the determined tilt and roll angles, (b) the signals from the one or more magnetometers, and (c) offset values for the one or more magnetometers;

the comprises a plurality of magnetometers rigidly mounted to the apparatus, wherein;

each magnetometer has a corresponding set of offset values;

the controller is configured to determine the yaw angle of each magnetometer based on (a) the determined tilt and roll angles, (b) the signals from the magnetometer, and (c) the corresponding set of offset values for the magnetometer; and

the controller is configured to determine the yaw angle of the apparatus by averaging the determined yaw angles of the plurality of magnetometers;

the controller is further configured to compare signals from the plurality of magnetometers to determine when to re-calibrate the offset values for each magnetometer;

at least one pair of the magnetometers are arranged as antipodes;

the offset values are based on one or more of soft-iron effects, hard-iron effects, and factory calibration;

the system comprises a plurality of accelerometers rigidly mounted to the apparatus, wherein;

for each accelerometer, the controller is configured to determine the tilt and roll angles of the accelerometer based on the signals from the accelerometer;

the controller is configured to determine the tilt angle of the apparatus by averaging the determined tilt angles of the plurality of accelerometers; and

the controller is configured to determine the roll angle of the apparatus by averaging the determined roll angles of the plurality of accelerometers;

the controller is configured to take into account one of the determined tilt angle and the determined roll angle in determining the other of the determined tilt angle and the determined roll angle;

at least one pair of the accelerometers are arranged as antipodes; and

the apparatus is a base station antenna for a wireless communications system.