System and method for receiving broadcast content on a mobile platform during international travel

• US 20060212909A1
• Filed: 11/07/2005
• Published: 09/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Margis, Paul Anthony, Moyer, Eric P., Girard, Lawrence E., Rilea, Dennis
• Granted Patent: US 7,715,783 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/73
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/28 Adaptation for use in or on aircraft, missiles, satellites, or balloons
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 19/062 for focusing
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/061 Two dimensional planar arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18508 with satellite system used as relay, i.e. aeronautical mobile satellite service
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/106 for domestic distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/20 Adaptations for transmission via a GHz frequency band, e.g. via satellite

Abstract

A vehicle information system for passenger vehicles, such as automobiles and aircraft, and methods for manufacturing and using same. The vehicle information system includes a universal antenna system and a universal receiver system for receiving viewing content provided by diverse content sources during travel, including international travel. The universal antenna and receiver system provide selected viewing content for distribution throughout the vehicle information system and presentation via one or more passenger interfaces. As the vehicle approaches the coverage region of a selected content source, the vehicle information system automatically reconfigures the universal antenna and receiver system to receive viewing content from the content source without requiring manual adjustment to, or replacement of, the universal antenna system and/or the universal receiver system. Passengers traveling aboard the vehicle thereby can continuously enjoy the viewing content during travel with limited interruption in service and without unwanted travel delays.

Claims

1. An information system suitable for presenting selected viewing content provided via a predetermined satellite communication system, comprising:

a universal antenna system for receiving viewing content from the predetermined satellite communication system in response to antenna configuration data and having an antenna steering system for directing said universal antenna system toward the predetermined satellite communication system in response to antenna positioning data;

an antenna control system for providing said antenna positioning data based upon a comparison of a position of the information system with a position of the predetermined satellite communication system;

a universal receiver system for receiving the viewing content from said universal antenna system and processing the viewing content to provide the selected viewing content for presentation in response to receiver configuration data; and

a system controller for providing said antenna configuration data and said receiver configuration data each being based upon a comparison of said position of the information system with coverage region data for the predetermined satellite communication system.

2. The information system of claim 1, wherein said system controller provides said antenna configuration data to said universal antenna system as the information system approaches a coverage region associated with the predetermined satellite communication system.

3. The information system of claim 1, wherein said antenna configuration data configures said universal antenna system to receive the viewing content with at least one predetermined reception characteristic.

4. The information system of claim 3, wherein said at least one predetermined reception characteristic is selected from the group consisting of a signal frequency range and a signal polarization.

5. The information system of claim 1, wherein said antenna control system continuously provides said antenna positioning data to said universal antenna system.

6. The information system of claim 1, wherein said system controller provides said antenna positioning data to said universal antenna system as the information system approaches a coverage region associated with the predetermined satellite communication system.

7. The information system of claim 1, wherein said antenna control system includes a position system for providing said position of the information system.

8. The information system of claim 7, wherein said position system is selected from the group consisting of a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system and an Inertial Reference System (IRS).

9. The information system of claim 1, wherein said antenna control system receives said position of the predetermined satellite communication system from said system controller.

10. The information system of claim 1, wherein said antenna control system includes a predictive algorithm for maintaining a pointing accuracy of said universal antenna system.

11. The information system of claim 10, wherein said predictive algorithm comprises a second-order predictive algorithm for directing said universal antenna system toward the predetermined satellite communication system based upon rate of position change data when the information system experiences a high rate of turn.

12. The information system of claim 1, wherein said system controller provides said receiver configuration data to said universal receiver system as the information system approaches a coverage region associated with the predetermined satellite communication system.

13. The information system of claim 1, wherein said system controller includes a database system for storing information regarding the predetermined satellite communication system.

14. The information system of claim 13, wherein said database system stores information regarding a plurality of satellite communication systems.

15. The information system of claim 13, wherein said database system includes information regarding the predetermined satellite communication system selected from the group consisting of the satellite position data, coverage region data, contour boundary data, transponder frequency data, signal polarization data, symbol rate data, video program identification (PID) data, audio program identification (PID) data, electronic program guide (EPG) data, forward error correction (FEC) data, and Program Clock Reference PID (PCR-PID) data.

16. The information system of claim 13, wherein said database system includes contour boundary data regarding the predetermined satellite communication system based upon a preselected signal strength.

17. The information system of claim 16, wherein said preselected signal strength of said contour boundary data is −

48 dBW.

18. The information system of claim 1, further comprising a down-conversion system for converting the viewing content provided by said universal receiver system into converted viewing content having an intermediate frequency, said down-conversion system providing the converted viewing content to said universal receiver system for processing into the selected viewing content.

19. The information system of claim 18, wherein said down-conversion system converts the viewing content into the converted viewing content in response to interface control data provided by said system controller based upon said comparison of said position of the information system with said coverage region data for the predetermined satellite communication system.

20. The information system of claim 19, wherein said system controller provides said interface control data to said down-conversion system as the information system approaches a coverage region associated with the predetermined satellite communication system.

21. The information system of claim 1, wherein said universal receiver system provides the selected viewing content to a distribution system.

22. The information system of claim 1, wherein the information system is disposed aboard a vehicle.

23. A vehicle information system for installation aboard a passenger vehicle and for presenting selected viewing content provided via a predetermined satellite communication system, comprising:

a vehicle position system for providing a vehicle position of the vehicle;

a universal antenna system for receiving viewing content from the predetermined satellite communication system in response to antenna configuration data and having an antenna steering system for directing said universal antenna system toward the predetermined satellite communication system in response to antenna positioning data;

an antenna control system for providing said antenna positioning data based upon a comparison of said vehicle position with a position of the predetermined satellite communication system;

a down-conversion system for converting the viewing content provided by said universal receiver system into converted viewing content having an intermediate frequency in response to interface control data;

a universal receiver system for receiving the converted viewing content from said down-conversion system and processing the converted viewing content to provide the selected viewing content in response to receiver configuration data;

a distribution system for distributing the selected viewing content throughout the vehicle information system;

a passenger interface for presenting the selected viewing content distributed via the distribution system; and

a system controller for providing said antenna configuration data and said receiver configuration data and having a database system for providing coverage region data for a plurality of satellite communication systems, said antenna configuration data and said receiver configuration data each being based upon a comparison of said vehicle position with the coverage region data for the predetermined satellite communication system.

24. The vehicle information system of claim 23, wherein the vehicle information system is disposed aboard an airplane.

25. The vehicle information system of claim 23, wherein said distribution system comprises a wired distribution system.

26. The vehicle information system of claim 25, wherein said wired distribution system supports wired communications having a protocol type selected from the group of protocol standards consisting of Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet.

27. The vehicle information system of claim 23, wherein said distribution system comprises a wireless distribution system.

28. The vehicle information system of claim 27, wherein said wireless distribution system supports wireless communications having a protocol type selected from the group of protocol standards consisting of Bluetooth, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), Ultra-Wideband (UWB), and IEEE 802.11.

29. The vehicle information system of claim 23, wherein said passenger interface includes at least one video display system selected from the group consisting of an overhead cabin display system, a seatback display system, and a handheld presentation system.

30. The vehicle information system of claim 23, wherein said passenger interface includes at least one audio presentation system selected from the group consisting of an overhead speaker system, headphones, and a handheld presentation system.

31. An aircraft, comprising:

a fuselage and a plurality of passengers seat arranged within the fuselage; and

a vehicle information system for presenting selected viewing content provided via a predetermined satellite communication system, said vehicle information system coupled with said fuselage and comprising;

a vehicle position system for providing a vehicle position of the vehicle;

a universal antenna system for receiving viewing -content from the predetermined satellite communication system in response to antenna configuration data and having an antenna steering system for directing said universal antenna system toward the predetermined satellite communication system in response to antenna positioning data;

an antenna control system for providing said antenna positioning data based upon a comparison of said vehicle position with a position of the predetermined satellite communication system;

a down-conversion system for converting the viewing content provided by said universal receiver system into converted viewing content having an intermediate frequency in response to interface control data;

a universal receiver system for receiving the converted viewing content from said down-conversion system and processing the converted viewing content to provide the selected viewing content in response to receiver configuration data;

a passenger interface for presenting the selected viewing content distributed via a distribution system; and

a system controller for providing said antenna configuration data and said receiver configuration data and having a database system for providing coverage region data for a plurality of satellite communication systems, said antenna configuration data and said receiver configuration data each being based upon a comparison of said vehicle position with the coverage region data for the predetermined satellite communication system.

32. A method for presenting selected viewing content provided via a predetermined satellite communication system, comprising:

providing an information system having a universal antenna system and a universal receiver system;

determining a position of said information system;

comparing said position of said information system with a position of the predetermined satellite communication system to provide antenna positioning data;

comparing said position of said information system with coverage region data for the predetermined satellite communication system to provide antenna configuration data and receiver configuration data;

directing said universal antenna system toward the predetermined satellite communication system in response to said antenna positioning data;

configuring said universal antenna system to receive viewing content from the predetermined satellite communication system in response to said antenna configuration data;

configuring said universal receiver system to process the received viewing content in response to said receiver configuration data;

receiving the viewing content via said universal antenna system;

processing the received viewing content via said universal receiver system; and

providing the selected viewing content for presentation.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein said directing said universal antenna system comprises directing said universal antenna system as said universal antenna system approaches a coverage region associated with the predetermined satellite communication system.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein said configuring said universal antenna system includes configuring said universal antenna system to receive the viewing content with at least one predetermined reception characteristic.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein said configuring said universal antenna system includes configuring said universal antenna system to receive the viewing content with said at least one predetermined reception characteristic being selected from the group consisting of a signal frequency range and a signal polarization.

36. The method of claim 32, wherein said positioning said universal antenna system includes continuously providing said antenna positioning data to said universal antenna system and continuously positioning said universal antenna system.

37. The method of claim 32, wherein said positioning said universal antenna system includes providing said antenna positioning data to said universal antenna system as said universal antenna system approaches a coverage region associated with the predetermined satellite communication system.

38. The method of claim 32, wherein said positioning said universal antenna system includes maintaining a pointing accuracy of said universal antenna system via a predictive algorithm.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein said maintaining said pointing accuracy of said universal antenna system includes maintaining said pointing accuracy of said universal antenna system via a second-order predictive algorithm for directing said universal antenna system toward the predetermined satellite communication system based upon rate of position change data when said universal antenna system experiences a high rate of turn.

40. The method of claim 32, wherein said configuring said universal receiver system includes configuring said universal receiver system to process the received viewing content as said universal receiver system approaches a coverage region associated with the predetermined satellite communication system.

41. The method of claim 32, further comprising converting the received viewing content into converted viewing content having an intermediate frequency and providing the converted viewing content to said universal receiver system for processing into the selected viewing content.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein said converting the received viewing content includes converting the received viewing content in response to said antenna configuration data.

43. The method of claim 32, further comprising distributing the selected viewing content to at least one passenger interface.

44. The method of claim 32, wherein said providing said universal antenna system and said universal receiver system includes disposing said universal antenna system and said universal receiver system aboard a vehicle.

45. The method of claim 32, further comprising calibrating said universal antenna system.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein said calibrating said universal antenna system comprises automatically calibrating said universal antenna system.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein said calibrating said universal antenna system includes sampling the viewing content received from the predetermined satellite communication system at a plurality of different orientations of said universal antenna system.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein said calibrating said universal antenna system includes sampling the viewing content at three different orientations of said universal antenna system.

49. The method of claim 47, wherein said calibrating said universal antenna system includes sampling the viewing content at said different orientations, which are separated by an angular displacement at least ninety degrees.

50. The method of claim 47, wherein said calibrating said universal antenna system includes measuring a signal strength of the viewing content at each of said orientations of said universal antenna system.