Meteor scatter burst communication system
First Claim
1. A meteor burst communications system comprising:
- at least one master station,a plurality of remote stations spaced at locations remote from said master station,said master station including a radio transmitter for transmitting probing digital radio signals having address portions of selectively variable length, said probing digital radio signals being directed from said master station for reflection from meteor vapor trails to said remote stations,each of said remote stations including a radio receiver for receiving said reflected probing digital radio signals from said master station,each of said remote stations including address recognition circuitry having a predetermined digital address sequence stored therein and further having means to compare the received address portions with said stored digital address sequence,at least one sensor of physical characteristics connected with each said remote station, andeach remote station including a transmitter for transmitting digital data representative of the output of said sensor to said master station via reflection from a meteor vapor trail if said received address portion compares with said stored digital address sequence in accordance with predetermined criteria based upon the length of said received address portion.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The specfication discloses a meteor burst communication system including at least two spaced apart master stations, in association with a plurality of groups of remote stations spaced at locations remote from the master stations, with each group being associated with one of the master stations. Each of the master stations includes a radio transmitter for transmitting probing digital radio signals having address portions which are directed from the master station for reflection from meteor trails to the remote stations associated with the master station. Circuitry is provided to vary the length of the address portions transmitted by the master station in dependence upon desired signal-to-noise and timing considerations. Each of the remote stations includes a radio receiver for receiving the reflected probing digital radio signals from the master stations. Each of the remote stations also includes at least one sensor of physical characteristics such as snow depth, rain fall or the like. The remote stations further include a predetermined unique digital address sequence stored therein and include circuitry to compare the received address portions from the master station with the stored digital address sequence. The remote stations each include a transmitter for transmitting digital data representative of the output of the associated sensor to the master station via reflection from a meteor vapor trail, if the received address portion compares with the stored digital address sequence in accordance with predetermined criteria.
51 Citations
39 Claims
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1. A meteor burst communications system comprising:
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at least one master station, a plurality of remote stations spaced at locations remote from said master station, said master station including a radio transmitter for transmitting probing digital radio signals having address portions of selectively variable length, said probing digital radio signals being directed from said master station for reflection from meteor vapor trails to said remote stations, each of said remote stations including a radio receiver for receiving said reflected probing digital radio signals from said master station, each of said remote stations including address recognition circuitry having a predetermined digital address sequence stored therein and further having means to compare the received address portions with said stored digital address sequence, at least one sensor of physical characteristics connected with each said remote station, and each remote station including a transmitter for transmitting digital data representative of the output of said sensor to said master station via reflection from a meteor vapor trail if said received address portion compares with said stored digital address sequence in accordance with predetermined criteria based upon the length of said received address portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. In a meteor burst communications system wherein a master station intermittently contacts a plurality of remote stations, the combination comprising:
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means for transmitting a digital probing radio signal having an address field of n bit capacity, means for computing a digital address having a number of bits up to n bits dependent upon a desired number of remote stations to be contacted, and means for applying said digital address to said transmitting means for transmission in said address field. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A meteor burst communications system comprising:
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at least one master station, a plurality of remote stations spaced at locations remote from said master station, said master station including a radio transmitter for transmitting probing digital radio signals, said digital radio signals being directed from said master station for reflection from meteor trails to said remote stations, each of said remote stations including a radio receiver for receiving said reflected probing digital radio signals from said master station, at least one sensor of physical characteristics connected with each said remote station, each remote station including a transmitter for transmitting at a specified frequency digital data representative of the output of said sensor to said master station via reflection from a meteor trail, said master station including a plurality of antennas connected to discrete radio receiving channels for simultaneously receiving digital data from a plurality of said remote stations, means connected to said radio receiving channels for storing the received digital data for subsequent use, and means for varying said probing digital radio signals in response to said received digital data. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A meteor burst communications system comprising:
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at least two spaced apart master stations, a plurality of groups of remote stations spaced at locations remote from said master stations and each group associated with one of said master stations, each said master station including a radio transmitter for transmitting probing digital radio signals having address portions for being directed from said master station for reflection from meteor trails to said remote stations associated therewith, each of said remote stations including a radio receiver for receiving said reflected probing digital radio signals from said master stations, at least one sensor of physical characteristics connected with each said remote station, each remote station including a transmitter for transmitting digital data representative of the output of said sensor to said master station via reflection from a meteor trail, and means for detecting when one master station receives a response from a remote station associated with another master station and for notifying said another master station to eliminate the requirement of further probing for the received remote station. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A meteor burst communications system comprising:
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at least one master station, a plurality of remote stations spaced at locations remote from said master station, said master station including a radio transmitter for transmitting probing digital radio signals having an address portion of selectively variable length in order to address any one or any group of said remote stations, said digital radio signals being directed from said master station for reflection from meteor trails to said remote stations, each of said remote stations including a radio receiver for receiving said reflected probing digital radio signals from said master station, each of said remote stations including address recognition circuitry having a predetermined digital address sequence stored therein and further having means to compare the received address portions with said stored digital address sequence, at least one sensor of physical characteristics connected with each said remote station, and each remote station including a transmitter for transmitting digital data representative of the output of said sensor to said master station via reflection from a meteor trail if said received address portion compares with the most significant bits of said stored digital address sequence. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. In a meteor burst communications system having a master station and a plurality of remote stations, a master station comprising:
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a transceiver having a transmitter portion; a digital computer for generating commands to control the transmitter and for providing a variable bit probe to be transmitted to selected remote stations; and master station control logic for interfacing between said computer and said transceiver, said control logic comprising; means for holding probe data bits from said computer and providing a serial bit stream to said transceiver; and means for holding a count of the total number of data bits in the probe and providing an indication that the last data bit has been provided to said transmitter. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. In a meteor burst communications system having a master station for transmitting variable length probe signals to a plurality of remote stations, each remote station comprising:
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a transceiver having a transmitter portion and a receiver portion; said receiver portion having means for detecting the variable length probe signals, data acquisition means for obtaining data for transmission to the master station over said transmitter portion; and - View Dependent Claims (34, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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33. remote station control logic for interfacing between said transceiver and said data acquisition means, said control logic comprising:
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means for defining the current state of the remote station; means for accepting probe data bits received and detected by said receiver portion; means for providing a count of the number of bits in each field of a received probe, said means being reset at the start of a field and incrementing as each bit in the field is received; means for sequentially comparing station address code bits with received probe address bits; and means for outputting data to said data acquisition means.
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35. A method of meteor burst communication, comprising the steps of:
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generating a polling sequence comprising a series of probes, each probe being a specific binary code of a predetermined number of bits; transmitting each probe in said polling sequence for a predetermined period of time; receiving said transmitted probes at a plurality of remote stations, each station having an identifying address; transmitting response signals from each of the remote stations polled by each probe code; and generating a new polling sequence to poll a group of specific remotes in dependence upon the identification of the remote stations responding, the probes in the new polling sequence being varied in the number of bits in the probe code from the probes in the previous polling sequence.
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Specification