Ground based beam forming utilizing synchronized code division multiplexing

• US 5,903,549 A
• Filed: 02/21/1997
• Issued: 05/11/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hughes Electronics Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hughes Electronics Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Huang, Ken Yu, Chang, Donald C.D., Mayfield, William W., von der Embse, Urban A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Chi H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Qureshi, Afsar M
• Application Number:
  US08/803,934
• Time in Patent Office: 809 Days
• Field of Search: 370/208, 370/209, 370/316, 370/320, 370/335, 370/342, 370/350, 370/310, 370/441, 370/515, 370/203, 370/389, 370/206, 375/200, 375/206, 342/352, 342/356, 342/354, 455/12.1, 455/13.3, 455/13.1, 455/272, 455/427, 455/428, 455/430, 455/13.4
• US Class Current: 370/310
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2041 Spot beam multiple access
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/216 Code division or spread-spectrum multiple access [CDMA, SSMA]

Abstract

A method permitting beam forming at a ground station for providing a coherent and stable uplink signal to a satellite system employing multiple spot beams by combining orthogonal synchronous code division multiplex codes and pseudo-random spreading codes with an information signal to implement a satellite feeder uplink.

Claims

1. A method of beam forming at a ground station used in a satellite system employing multiple information carrying transmission links, comprising the steps of:

spreading each of said transmission links using an orthogonal spreading code, each of said links occupying substantially the same frequency band over the same time interval;

combining said spread links into an uplink feeder signal and transmitting same to a satellite;

receiving a downlink feeder signal from the satellite;

separating the downlink feeder signal into a plurality of transmission links; and

removing the orthogonal spreading code from the plurality of transmission links so as to permit retrieving any information carried by the transmission links.

2. A method of beam forming at a ground station used in a satellite system employing multiple information carrying transmission links, comprising the steps of:

spreading each of said transmission links using an orthogonal spreading code by encoding separate transmission links with a unique orthogonal Code Division Multiplex (CDM) code;

combining said spread links into an uplink feeder signal and transmitting same to a satellite;

receiving a downlink feeder signal from the satellite;

separating the downlink feeder signal into a plurality of transmission links; and

removing the orthogonal spreading code from the plurality of transmission links to permit retrieving any information carried by the transmission links.

3. The method of claim 2 further including the steps of summing the spread transmission links and overlaying a pseudo-random CDM code on the summed spread transmission links.

4. A method of beam forming at a ground station used in a satellite system employing multiple information carrying transmission links, comprising the steps of:

spreading each of said transmission links using an orthogonal spreading code;

combining said spread links into an uplink feeder signal and transmitting same to a satellite;

receiving a downlink feeder signal from the satellite;

separating the downlink feeder signal into a plurality of transmission links;

removing the orthogonal spreading code from the plurality of transmission links to permit retrieving any information carried by the transmission links; and

converting the uplink feeder signal from a digital signal to an analog signal prior to transmission.

5. The method of claim 4 further including the step of upconverting the analog uplink feeder signal to a single-sideband Intermediate Frequency (IF) signal prior to transmission.

6. A method of beam forming at a ground station used in a satellite system employing multiple information carrying transmission links, comprising the steps of:

spreading each of said transmission links using an orthogonal spreading code;

combining said spread links into an uplink feeder signal and transmitting same to a satellite;

receiving a downlink feeder signal from the satellite;

separating the downlink feeder signal into a plurality of transmission links;

removing the orthogonal spreading code from the plurality of transmission links to permit retrieving any information carried by the transmission links; and

selecting the orthogonal spreading codes from a Walsh type Hadamard code arranged in an approximate order of increasing frequency content.

7. The method of claim 6 including further selecting said spreading codes to provide ±

1 on a unit circle.

8. A method of beam forming at a ground station used in a satellite system employing multiple information carrying transmission links, comprising the steps of:

spreading each of said transmission links using an orthogonal spreading code;

combining said spread links into an uplink feeder signal and transmitting same to a satellite;

receiving a downlink feeder signal from the satellite;

separating the downlink feeder signal into a plurality of transmission links;

removing the orthogonal spreading code from the plurality of transmission links to permit retrieving any information carried by the transmission links; and

synchronizing the satellite system with the feeder signals by simultaneously transmitting at least one pseudo-random synchronization code with the uplink signal.

9. The method of claim 8 where said synchronizing step includes the step of keeping timing error between the ground station and the satellite proximate to a chip time, T_c-.

10. The method of claim 8 where said synchronizing step includes the step of keeping frequency error between the ground station and the satellite proximate to a CDM integration time is equal to a channel sample interval, T_ch where:

T_ch =1/R_ch, R_ch being the channel sample rate.

11. A ground based beam former for use with a satellite system, comprising:

a complex Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) for receiving a channelized signal input and providing a plurality of complex sample outputs, Z_n ;

the plurality of complex sample outputs Z_n thereafter coupled through a forward link for providing a plurality of premutated orthogonal CDM signal outputs; and

the CDM signal outputs coupled through a summing network and a Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) into an uplink transmitter for transmission to said satellite.

12. The forward link of claim 11 including a first multiplier section receiving said sample outputs Z_n and multiplying each by a separate one of a set of antenna elements N_e amplitudes and weights, B_e, for providing a plurality of separate uplink signals, Z_n B_e.

13. The forward link of claim 12 including a first encoding section receiving the plurality of separate uplink signals, Z_n B_e and encoding same using an orthogonal CDM code W_ei to produce a plurality of orthogonal CDM output signals, Z_n B_e W_ei.

14. The forward link of claim 13 including a second encoding section receiving the plurality of orthogonal CDM output signals, Z_n B_e W_ei and encoding same using a pseudo-random code C_mi to produce a plurality of permutated orthogonal CDM output signals, Z_n B_e W_ei C_mi.

15. The forward link of claim 12 including an encoding section receiving the plurality of separate uplink signals, Z_n B_e and encoding same using an orthogonal CDM code W_ei and a pseudo-random code C_mi to produce a plurality of permutated orthogonal CDM output signals, Z_n B_e W_ei C_mi.

16. The summing network of claim 15 operative to receiving the plurality of permutated orthogonal CDM output signals, Z_n B_e W_ei C_mi, and provide a composite digital signal output.

17. The DAC of claim 16 operative to receive the composite digital signal output and convert it to an analog signal output.

18. The beam former of claim 17 further including a single-side-band (SSB) converter for receiving the analog signal output from the DAC and upconverting it to an IF signal;

and

coupling the IF signal into the uplink transmitter for conversion to a RF signal and transmission to the satellite.