Air traffic advisory system bearing estimation receiver
First Claim
1. In a traffic advisory system wherein an intruder aircraft is equipped for transmitting intruder signals and wherein a protected aircraft is equipped for receiving the intruder signals and determining therefrom the intruder bearing as the bearing angle of the intruder aircraft relative to the protected aircraft, the intruder bearing being subject to error, an apparatus for determining a corrected intruder bearing, said apparatus comprising:
- an array of antennas mounted aboard the protected aircraft, said antennas being operable for receiving the intruder signals and responsive thereto for producing respective antenna signals; and
signal processing means for receiving and processing said antenna signals for determining the bearing of the intruder aircraft relative to the protected aircraft, said signal processing means includingsignal combining means including means for producing a sum signal representative of the sum of selected antenna signals, and means for producing a first delta signal representative of the differences of selected antenna signals,receiving means for producing a first phase signal representative of the phase relationship between said sum and first delta signals, said first phase signal being representative of a first intruder bearing and being subject to error due to intruder signal reflection,said signal combining means including means for producing a second delta signal representative of the differences of selected antenna signals,said receiving means including means for producing a second phase signal representative of the phase relationship between said sum and second delta signals, said second phase signal being representative of a second intruder bearing and being subject to error due to intruder signal reflection,said signal combining means including means for producing said first and second delta signals so that said errors of said first and second phase signals are at least partially offsetting,said signal processing means further including bearing determining means for determining a corrected bearing as a function of both said first and second phase signals.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In an air traffic advisory system for determining the bearing of an intruder aircraft relative to a protected aircraft, the preferred apparatus determines a corrected bearing to compensate for bearing errors caused by intruder signal reflections. More particularly, the preferred apparatus uses a hybrid combiner to produce a sum, delta one and delta two signals, and determines the phase relationship between the sum signal and each of the delta signals, the two phase relationships being subject to at least partially offsetting errors due to intruder signal reflections. The apparatus determines an uncorrected intruder bearing from each phase relationship and then averages the uncorrected bearings to produce a corrected intruder bearing.
-
Citations
14 Claims
-
1. In a traffic advisory system wherein an intruder aircraft is equipped for transmitting intruder signals and wherein a protected aircraft is equipped for receiving the intruder signals and determining therefrom the intruder bearing as the bearing angle of the intruder aircraft relative to the protected aircraft, the intruder bearing being subject to error, an apparatus for determining a corrected intruder bearing, said apparatus comprising:
-
an array of antennas mounted aboard the protected aircraft, said antennas being operable for receiving the intruder signals and responsive thereto for producing respective antenna signals; and signal processing means for receiving and processing said antenna signals for determining the bearing of the intruder aircraft relative to the protected aircraft, said signal processing means including signal combining means including means for producing a sum signal representative of the sum of selected antenna signals, and means for producing a first delta signal representative of the differences of selected antenna signals, receiving means for producing a first phase signal representative of the phase relationship between said sum and first delta signals, said first phase signal being representative of a first intruder bearing and being subject to error due to intruder signal reflection, said signal combining means including means for producing a second delta signal representative of the differences of selected antenna signals, said receiving means including means for producing a second phase signal representative of the phase relationship between said sum and second delta signals, said second phase signal being representative of a second intruder bearing and being subject to error due to intruder signal reflection, said signal combining means including means for producing said first and second delta signals so that said errors of said first and second phase signals are at least partially offsetting, said signal processing means further including bearing determining means for determining a corrected bearing as a function of both said first and second phase signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
Specification