Hybrid guided surface wave communication

• US 10,425,126 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2017
• Issued: 09/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Quantum Wave LLC
• Original Assignee: Cpg Technologies, LLC
• Inventors: Corum, James F., Corum, Kenneth L., Pinzone, Jr., Basil F., Pinzone, Joseph F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ha, Dac V
• Application Number:
  US15/782,427
• Publication Number:
  US 20180034502A1
• Time in Patent Office: 712 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/50 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/52 Systems for transmission between fixed stations via waveguides

Abstract

Disclosed is hybrid communication in which a first message from a guided surface wave probe node is embedded in a guided surface wave, and a second message from a guided surface wave receive node uses a different messaging mechanism.

Claims

1. A Zenneck surface wave receive node, comprising:

a Zenneck surface wave receive structure configured to receive electrical energy from a Zenneck surface wave traveling along a lossy conducting medium, a first message being embedded in the Zenneck surface wave; and

a communication transmitter configured to transmit a second message via a different message mechanism from the first message.

2. The Zenneck surface wave receive node of claim 1, further comprising a demodulator configured to extract the first message embedded in the Zenneck surface wave.

3. The Zenneck surface wave receive node of claim 1, wherein the second message is transmitted in response to receiving the first message.

4. The Zenneck surface wave receive node of claim 1, wherein the Zenneck surface wave is launched from a Zenneck surface waveguide probe, and further comprising an electrical load coupled to the Zenneck surface wave receive structure, the electrical load being experienced as a load at an excitation source coupled to the Zenneck surface waveguide probe.

5. The Zenneck surface wave receive node of claim 1, wherein the communication transmitter comprises a plurality of communication transmitters.

6. The Zenneck surface wave receive node of claim 5, wherein at least two of the communication transmitters are configured to transmit a different portion of the second message.

7. The Zenneck surface wave receive node of claim 5, wherein individual communication transmitters are assigned a respective priority, and an order of use of the communication transmitters is based at least in part on the respective priority.

8. The Zenneck surface wave receive node of claim 1, further comprising a power converter configured to convert the electrical energy received by the Zenneck surface wave receive structure to power usable to power one or more electrical loads coupled to the power converter.

9. A method, comprising:

receiving, via a Zenneck surface wave receive node, electrical energy in a form of a Zenneck surface wave launched from a Zenneck surface waveguide probe node and traveling along a lossy conducting medium, a first message being embedded within the Zenneck surface wave; and

transmitting, using a communications transmitter at the Zenneck surface wave receive node, a second message via a different messaging mechanism from the first message.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising extracting the first message from the Zenneck surface wave.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising supplying the electrical energy to an electrical load of the Zenneck surface wave receive node.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the second message is transmitted to another Zenneck surface wave receive node.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the second message is transmitted to the Zenneck surface waveguide probe node.

14. A hybrid guided surface waveguide probe node, comprising:

a guided surface waveguide probe configured to generate at least one resultant field that synthesizes a guided surface wave having a wave front incident at a complex Brewster angle of incidence (θ

_i,B) of a lossy conducting medium, a first message being embedded within the guided surface wave; and

a communications receiver configured to receive a second message from a receive node that receives the first message, the second message being communicated via a different messaging mechanism from the first message.

15. The hybrid guided surface waveguide probe node of claim 14, wherein the second message comprises a plurality of second messages and the receive node comprises a plurality of receive nodes.

16. The hybrid guided surface waveguide probe node of claim 15, wherein the communications receiver is a collision resolver.

17. The hybrid guided surface waveguide probe node of claim 16, wherein the collision resolver is configured to select a particular second message at least two of the plurality of second messages when the at least two of the plurality of second messages are received simultaneously.

18. The hybrid guided surface waveguide probe node of claim 14, wherein an electrical load at the receive node is experienced as a load at an excitation source coupled to the guided surface waveguide probe, and wherein the second message is transmitted as a pattern of electrical load variations.

19. The hybrid guided surface waveguide probe node of claim 18, wherein the communications receiver comprises:

a load sensor to sense the electrical load variations at the excitation source; and

a decoder coupled to the load sensor to reconstruct the second message from the electrical load variations.

20. The hybrid guided surface waveguide probe node of claim 14, wherein the first message is embedded in the guided surface wave by modulating at least one of an amplitude, a frequency, or a phase.