Portable satellite phone having directional antenna for direct link to satellite
First Claim
1. A portable terminal, comprising:
- a directional antenna; and
an antenna controller coupled to the directional antenna, wherein the antenna controller forms an antenna beam of the directional antenna and determines a direction of the antenna beam based on information generated by the portable terminal to allow the portable terminal to electromagnetically communicate with the satellite.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A portable satellite phone is integrated into a communication system. The portable satellite phone forms a highly directed beam toward a satellite and adaptively maintains a beam to track the satellite as the portable satellite phone and/or the satellite moves relative to each other. A communication system based on the portable satellite phones may link a portable satellite phone with either another portable satellite phone or a ground based communication system connected to conventional telephone stations. The portable satellite phone includes a steering information detector or both a steering information detector and a proximity detector. The steering information detector has a bearing sensor, an attitude sensor and GPS signal receivers for position detection. The portable satellite phone also includes a database that contains the positional information of all potential communication satellites. The proximity detector detects objects that may interfere with the antenna beam. The proximity detector includes infrared sensors, sonar detectors, motion detectors and optical devices to determine a range and bearing of objects that may interfere with the antenna beam. When an object may be harmed or interfere with the antenna beam, an alarm may be activated to warn the user and/or the object of potential harm from the electromagnetic energy transmitted by the directed antenna.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A portable terminal, comprising:
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a directional antenna; and an antenna controller coupled to the directional antenna, wherein the antenna controller forms an antenna beam of the directional antenna and determines a direction of the antenna beam based on information generated by the portable terminal to allow the portable terminal to electromagnetically communicate with the satellite. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for operating a portable terminal, comprising:
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forming an antenna beam of a directional antenna; and determining a direction of the antenna beam based on information generated by a portable terminal to allow the portable terminal to electromagnetically communicate with a satellite. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification