Position and elevation acquisition for orbit determination

• US 9,365,303 B2
• Filed: 05/03/2012
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Raytheon Company (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Raytheon Company (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Robinson, Ian S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Galt, Cassie
• Application Number:
  US13/463,522
• Publication Number:
  US 20130293413A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,503 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357.95
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64G 3/00 Observing or tracking cosmonautic vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/79 Systems using random coded signals or random pulse repetition frequencies , e.g. "Separation and Control of Aircraft using Non synchronous Techniques" [SECANT]
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/02 Details of the space or ground control segments
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0294 Trajectory determination or predictive filtering, e.g. target tracking or Kalman filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/12 by co-ordinating position lines of different shape, e.g. hyperbolic, circular, elliptical or radial
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/003 Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations

Abstract

A known ground location (KGL) satellite transceiver can include a position and elevation acquisition module configured to determine a time of flight (TOF) of a pseudonoise (PN) signal and a Doppler shift in a KGL signal for use in determining an orbit of a satellite. The PN signal can include a transmitted PN signal and a transponded PN signal. The KGL signal can include a transmitted KGL signal and a transponded KGL signal. The transmitted PN signal and the transmitted KGL signal can be transmitted sequentially on a first frequency carrier from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite. The transponded PN signal and the transponded KGL signal can be retransmitted back sequentially on a second frequency carrier from the satellite to the KGL satellite transceiver. The first frequency carrier and the second frequency carrier use a same frequency carrier or a different frequency carrier from each other.

Claims

1. A known ground location (KGL) satellite transceiver for determining an orbit of a satellite, the KGL satellite transceiver comprising:

a transmitter operable to transmit a pair of signals to the satellite, the pair of signals including a pseudonoise (PN) signal and a KGL signal, the pair of signals being transmitted sequentially on a first frequency carrier, wherein the satellite is operable to transpond the pair of signals on a second frequency carrier;

a receiver operable to receive a pair of transponded signals from the satellite on the second frequency carrier, the pair of transponded signals including a transponded PN signal and a transponded KGL signal;

a processor; and

a memory device including a data store to store a plurality of data and instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

determine a time of flight (TOF) of the transponded PN signal and a Doppler shift in the transponded KGL signal; and

determine orbit information of the satellite based on the TOF of the transponded PN signal and the Doppler shift in the transponded KGL signal.

2. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein the first frequency carrier and the second frequency carrier comprise a same frequency carrier, and the pair of signals are transmitted at a selected transmitted interval that differs from a selected transponded interval at which the pair of transponded signals is received.

3. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein the first frequency carrier and the second frequency carrier comprise a different frequency carrier from each other.

4. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein the plurality of data and instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

determine a TOF of a second PN signal and a Doppler shift in a second KGL signal to determine the orbit of the satellite, wherein the second PN signal includes a second transmitted PN signal and a second transponded PN signal, the second KGL signal includes a second transmitted KGL signal and a second transponded KGL signal, wherein the second transmitted PN signal and the second transmitted KGL signal are transmitted sequentially on a third frequency carrier from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite, and the second transponded PN signal and the second transponded KGL signal are retransmitted back from the satellite to the KGL satellite transceiver sequentially on a fourth frequency carrier, and wherein the first frequency carrier and the third frequency carrier comprise a different frequency carrier from each other, and the second frequency carrier and the fourth frequency carrier comprise a different frequency carrier from each other.

5. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein the KGL signal comprises one of a sinusoidal wave and a pulsed tone.

6. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein a Doppler shift in the transponded PN signal is utilized to determine the orbit of the satellite.

7. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein the plurality of data and instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

measure a roundtrip Doppler shift in the KGL signal from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite and back to the KGL satellite transceiver and generate a Doppler trend;

measure a roundtrip TOF of the PN signal from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite and back to the KGL satellite transceiver and generate a range measurement; and

combine the Doppler trend and the range measurement to determine the orbit information.

8. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 7, wherein the orbit information includes a position, an elevation, a velocity, a direction, or a combinations thereof.

9. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein the signal receiver and the signal transmitter use a common transceiver and a common antenna.

10. The KGL satellite transceiver of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit orbit determination information of the satellite to the satellite.

11. A method for determining an orbit of a satellite, comprising:

transmitting a pair of signals from a known ground location (KGL) satellite transceiver to the satellite, the pair of signals including a pseudonoise (PN) signal and a KGL signal, the pair of signals being transmitted sequentially on a first frequency carrier, wherein the satellite is operable to transpond the pair of signals on a second frequency carrier;

receiving, at the KGL satellite transceiver, a pair of transponded signals from the satellite on the second frequency carrier, the pair of transponded signals including a transponded PN signal and a transponded KGL signal;

determining a time of flight (TOF) of the transponded PN signal and a Doppler shift in the transponded KGL signal; and

determining orbit information of the satellite based on the TOF of the transponded PN signal and the Doppler shift in the transponded KGL signal.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the orbit information further comprises:

measuring a roundtrip Doppler shift in the KGL signal from a KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite and back to the KGL satellite transceiver and generating a Doppler trend from the roundtrip Doppler shift;

measuring a roundtrip TOF of the PN signal from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite and back to the KGL satellite transceiver and generating a range measurement from the PN signal; and

combining the Doppler trend and the range measurement for orbit determination.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising alternating transmission of the PN signal and the KGL signal from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising transmitting a pair of signals from a KGL satellite transceiver that has been relocated to an alternative location, and repeating a determination of the orbit of the satellite.

15. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code adapted to be executed to perform the following:

transmitting a pair of signals from a known ground location (KGL) satellite transceiver to the satellite, the pair of signals including a pseudonoise (PN) signal and a KGL signal, the pair of signals being transmitted sequentially on a first frequency carrier, wherein the satellite is operable to transpond the pair of signals on a second frequency carrier;

receiving, at the KGL satellite transceiver, a pair of transponded signals from the satellite on the second frequency carrier, the pair of transponded signals including a transponded PN signal and a transponded KGL signal;

determining a time of flight (TOF) of the transponded PN signal and a Doppler shift in the transponded KGL signal; and

determining orbit information of the satellite based on the TOF of the transponded PN signal and the Doppler shift in the transponded KGL signal.

16. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein determining the orbit information further comprises:

measuring a roundtrip Doppler shift in the KGL signal from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite and back to a KGL satellite transceiver and generating a Doppler trend from the roundtrip Doppler shift;

measuring a roundtrip TOF of the PN signal from the KGL satellite transceiver to the satellite and back to the KGL satellite transceiver and generating a range measurement from the PN signal; and

combining the Doppler trend and the range measurement.

17. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the orbit information includes a position, an elevation, a velocity, a direction, or a combination thereof.