Ground-based satellite antenna pointing system
First Claim
1. A method for determining pointing error of a satellite antenna,the method comprising:
- receiving, at a receiving station, a pointing error signal transmitted from a satellite, wherein the pointing error signal includes a first beacon signal and a modulated second beacon signal both transmitted from the satellite simultaneously at a first frequency and from a single antenna;
demodulating, using a control circuitry, the received pointing error signal to recover the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal; and
determining, using the control circuitry, a pointing error based at least in part on the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal, wherein determining the pointing error based at least in part on the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal comprises;
comparing a magnitude of the modulated second beacon signal with a magnitude of the first beacon signal; and
determining a phase of at least one of the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present application includes systems and methods for determining pointing error of a satellite antenna. In one aspect a method for determining pointing error of a satellite antenna includes receiving, at a receiving station, a pointing error signal formed by the antenna and transmitted from a satellite, wherein the pointing error signal includes a first beacon (reference) signal and a modulated second beacon (error) signal. The receiving station may demodulate the received pointing error signal to recover the second beacon signal with respect to the first beacon signal, and based at least in part on the demodulated beacon signal, the receiving station may determine the pointing error of the satellite antenna.
18 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for determining pointing error of a satellite antenna,
the method comprising: -
receiving, at a receiving station, a pointing error signal transmitted from a satellite, wherein the pointing error signal includes a first beacon signal and a modulated second beacon signal both transmitted from the satellite simultaneously at a first frequency and from a single antenna; demodulating, using a control circuitry, the received pointing error signal to recover the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal; and determining, using the control circuitry, a pointing error based at least in part on the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal, wherein determining the pointing error based at least in part on the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal comprises; comparing a magnitude of the modulated second beacon signal with a magnitude of the first beacon signal; and determining a phase of at least one of the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for determining pointing error of a satellite antenna, the system comprising:
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a receiver in communication with a satellite configured to receive a pointing error signal transmitted from the satellite, wherein the pointing error signal includes a first beacon signal and a modulated second beacon signal both transmitted from the satellite simultaneously at a first frequency and from a single antenna; control circuitry configured to; demodulate the received pointing error signal to recover the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal; and determine a pointing error based at least in part on the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal, wherein the control circuitry being configured to determine the pointing error based at least in part on the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal includes being configured to; compare a magnitude of the modulated second beacon signal with a magnitude of the first beacon signal; and determine a phase of at least one of the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for determining pointing error of a satellite antenna, the system comprising:
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a satellite including control circuitry and an antenna, the control circuitry including; a tracking beacon configured to generate an initial beacon signal at a first frequency; a processor communicatively coupled to the tracking beacon to receive the generated tracking signal, the processor including a splitter configured to split the initial beacon signal into a first beacon signal and a second beacon signal; and a phase modulator communicatively coupled to the processor and configured to receive the second beacon signal and to generate a modulated second beacon signal using a first phase angle and a second phase angle; wherein the antenna is configured to transmit the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal simultaneously and at the first frequency as a pointing error signal for a ground based receiver, and the antenna is only transmitting device on the satellite to transmit both the first beacon signal and the modulated second beacon signal. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification