Satellite communication system employing unique spot beam antenna design
First Claim
1. A communication system, comprising:
- a plurality of spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit, each spacecraft cooperating to provide a fixed plurality of beams on the surface of the earth; and
a fixed plurality of ground stations individual ones of which are located in one of said beams for transmitting uplink signals to one of said spacecraft;
wherein each spacecraft is comprised of;
a plurality of input hybrids, each input hybrid being for receiving a plurality of the uplink signals from ground stations and for combining said uplink signals, a plurality of receivers, a single receiver being coupled to an output of each input hybrid, each receiver being for receiving a combined plurality of uplink signals combined by one of said input hybrids, each receiver having a frequency translator for translating the received combined uplink signals to a transmission frequency of a plurality of downlink signals, a plurality of channel amplifiers, a single channel amplifier being coupled to an output of an input multiplexer filter, an input of the input multiplexer filter being connected to an output of a respective receiver, each channel amplifier being for amplifying one of the downlink signals, at least one output hybrid for combining a plurality of outputs of said channel amplifiers, and a plurality of transmitters, each transmitter being for receiving an output from one of said hybrids and for transmitting the plurality of downlink signals within the same beams as the corresponding uplink signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A satellite communication system includes a plurality of spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit, where each spacecraft provides a plurality of beams on the surface of the earth, and a plurality of ground stations individual ones of which are located in one of the beams for transmitting uplink signals to one of the spacecraft. Each spacecraft has a plurality of receivers for receiving a plurality of the uplinked signals from ground stations, a frequency translator for translating the received uplink signals to a transmission frequency of a plurality of downlink signals, and a plurality of transmitters for transmitting the plurality of downlink signals within the same beams as the corresponding uplink signals. In accordance with the invention the beams have at least one of different sizes and shapes, including circular and elliptical, and are non-contiguous over a least a portion of the surface of the earth.
58 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A communication system, comprising:
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a plurality of spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit, each spacecraft cooperating to provide a fixed plurality of beams on the surface of the earth; and
a fixed plurality of ground stations individual ones of which are located in one of said beams for transmitting uplink signals to one of said spacecraft;
whereineach spacecraft is comprised of;
a plurality of input hybrids, each input hybrid being for receiving a plurality of the uplink signals from ground stations and for combining said uplink signals, a plurality of receivers, a single receiver being coupled to an output of each input hybrid, each receiver being for receiving a combined plurality of uplink signals combined by one of said input hybrids, each receiver having a frequency translator for translating the received combined uplink signals to a transmission frequency of a plurality of downlink signals, a plurality of channel amplifiers, a single channel amplifier being coupled to an output of an input multiplexer filter, an input of the input multiplexer filter being connected to an output of a respective receiver, each channel amplifier being for amplifying one of the downlink signals, at least one output hybrid for combining a plurality of outputs of said channel amplifiers, and a plurality of transmitters, each transmitter being for receiving an output from one of said hybrids and for transmitting the plurality of downlink signals within the same beams as the corresponding uplink signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 25, 26)
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13. A communication satellite for providing a fixed plurality of beams on the surface of the earth and for receiving uplink signals from a fixed plurality of ground stations individual ones of which are located in one of said beams, said satellite comprising:
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a plurality of input hybrids, each input hybrid being for receiving a plurality of the uplink signals from one or multiple ground stations per beam and for combining said uplink signals, a plurality of receivers, each receiver being for receiving a plurality of uplink signals combined by one of said input hybrids, each input hybrid adapted to sum a selected plurality of uplink signals in order to fill an uplink spectrum, each receiver having a frequency translator for translating the received uplink signals to a transmission frequency of a plurality of downlink signals, a plurality of channel amplifiers, each channel amplifier associated with each ground station and being for amplifying one or a set of said downlink signals associated with each ground station wherein a gain of each channel amplifier is controlled by a respective ground station, at least one output hybrid for combining a plurality of outputs of said channel amplifiers, and a plurality of transmitters for transmitting a plurality of amplified downlink signals within the same beams as the corresponding uplink signals. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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20. A satellite communication system comprising:
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a plurality of spacecraft in a geosynchronous orbit providing a plurality of beams on a surface of the earth;
a plurality of individual ground stations, each ground station located in one of the beams and adapted to transmit uplink signals to the spacecraft;
at least one input hybrid for combining a one or multiple ground stations per beam, each input hybrid including a multiplexer adapted to sum a selected plurality of uplink transponder signals in order to fill up an uplink spectrum of a receiver;
the receiver being coupled to an output of the input hybrid, each receiver adapted to frequency translate the sum of the selected plurality of uplink transponder signals into a transmission frequency of a downlink signal;
a multiplexer coupled to an output of each receiver, the multiplexer adapted to separate out one or a set of transponder signal associated with each ground station;
a channel amplifier associated with each ground station coupled to each output of the input multiplexer and adapted to amplify each one or set of transponder signals associated with each ground station, wherein a gain of each channel amplifier is controlled by a respective ground station; and
a plurality of transmitters for transmitting the plurality of amplified one or set of transponder signals within the same beams as the corresponding uplink transponder signals. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification