Method and apparatus for in-line detection of satellite signal lock

• US 6,961,538 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2001
• Issued: 11/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/04/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: DIRECTV, LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Arsenault, Robert G., Loner, Patrick J.
• Primary Examiner(s): VO, NGUYEN THANH
• Application Number:
  US09/853,954
• Publication Number:
  US 20020016157A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,636 Days
• Field of Search: 455/3.02, 455/12.1, 455/67.13, 455/422.1, 455/9, 455/13.4, 455/67.11, 455/226.1, 455/226.2, 455/226.3, 455/226.4, 455/69, 455/522, 455/266, 455/340, 455/303, 455/306, 455/307, 342/352, 342/359, 63/63, 63/68, 63/72, 348/725
• US Class Current: 455/3.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18513 Transmission in a satellite or space-based system
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18515 Transmission equipment in satellites or space-based relays
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 40/90 specially adapted for satellite broadcast receiving

Abstract

A method and system for detecting satellite signal lock in a satellite receiver system is disclosed. The system includes a first filter that isolates a noise frequency from the satellite signal, a second filter that isolates a service frequency from the satellite signal, circuits that derive a value indicative of the difference between a noise component and a service frequency component and output a difference signal level, a first comparator that determines whether the difference signal level is greater than a first threshold level, and a second comparator that determines whether the difference signal level is greater than a second threshold level. The method includes the steps of establishing a first threshold value between a satellite signal power level and the noise power level, combining a value indicative of a noise frequency signal component with a value indicative of a service frequency component to obtain a difference signal value, comparing the difference signal value with the first threshold value, and issuing a command if the difference signal value is below the first threshold value to inform the user of the loss of signal lock.

Claims

1. A device for use in a satellite communication system having an antenna that receives a broadcast signal and an integrated receiver decoder coupled to the antenna the device comprising:

a bypass circuit that is adapted to be coupled between the antenna and the integrated receiver decoder to convey a first portion of the broadcast signal from the antenna to the integrated receiver decoder;

a first filter circuit that is adapted to be coupled to the antenna to receive a second portion of the broadcast signal from the antenna and to pass a service signal to a first filter output;

a second filter circuit that is adapted to be coupled to the antenna to receive a third portion of the broadcast signal from the antenna and to pass a noise signal to a second filter output;

a difference circuit coupled to the first and second filter outputs that subtracts the second filter output from the first filter output to produce a difference signal; and

a comparison circuit that compares the difference signal to a first threshold associated with an incipient loss of lock on the broadcast signal.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the first filter circuit has a passband center frequency between a staggered pair of transponder frequencies.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the comparison circuit further compares the difference signal to a second threshold associated with a loss of lock on the broadcast signal.

4. The device of claim 1, further comprising first and second radio frequency detectors coupled between the respective first and second filter outputs and the difference circuit, wherein each of the first and second radio frequency detectors generates a respective voltage signal.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the difference circuit includes an inverter coupled to the second filter output and an adder coupled to the first filter output and an output of the inverter.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the first threshold is generated using one of information within the broadcast signal, a geographic location associated with the antenna, a zip code, a type of transponder currently being tuned by the integrated receiver decoder or an ambient temperature surrounding the antenna.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the comparison circuit is adapted to provide a corrective output signal based on the comparison of the first threshold and the difference signal that activates a heater to heat the antenna.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the first filter circuit has a first passband within a first transponder band having a first polarization and a second passband within a second transponder band having a second polarization.

9. A system for detecting a satellite signal, the system comprising:

a first filter having a passband center frequency between a first transponder center frequency of a first transponder band having a first polarization and a second transponder center frequency of a second transponder band having a second polarization and overlapping the first transponder band;

a second filter having a passband center frequency associated with a non-service band;

a difference block that generates a difference value based on an output of the first filter and an output of the second filter; and

a comparison block that compares the difference value to a threshold value associated with a loss of lock on the satellite signal.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the threshold value is generated using one of information within the satellite signal, a geographic location, a zip code, a transponder or an ambient temperature.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the threshold value is associated with an incipient loss of lock on the satellite signal.

12. The system of claim 9, further comprising an output block that provides a corrective output signal based on the comparison of the threshold value and the difference value.

13. The system of claim 9, further comprising a user interface that graphically indicates a result of the comparison of the threshold value and the difference signal.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the user interface further indicates possible corrective actions based on the result of the comparison.

15. A system for detecting a satellite signal lock, the system comprising:

a first filter having a passband center frequency substantially equal to a first transponder center frequency of a first transponder band;

a second filter having a passband center frequency substantially equal to a second transponder center frequency of a second transponder band staggered wit respect to the first transponder band;

a third filter having a passband center frequency associated with a non-service band;

a difference block that generates a difference value based on outputs of the first, second and third filters; and

a comparison block that compares the difference value to a threshold value associated with a loss of lock on a broadcast satellite signal.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the threshold is generated using one of information within the broadcast satellite signal, a geographic location, a zip code, a transponder or an ambient temperature.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the threshold is associated with an incipient loss of lock on the broadcast satellite signal.

18. The system of claim 15, further comprising an output block that provides a corrective output signal based onto comparison of the threshold value and the difference value.

19. The system of claim 15, further comprising a user interface that graphically indicates a result of the comparison of the threshold value and the difference signal.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the user interface further indicates possible corrective actions based on the result of the comparison.

21. A system for detecting a satellite signal, the system comprising:

a first filter having a passband center frequency between a first transponder center frequency of a first transponder band and a second transponder center frequency of a second transponder band different from the first transponder band;

a second filter having a passband center frequency spectrally separate from the first and second transponder bands;

a difference generator that generates a difference value based on an output of the first filter and an output of the second filter; and

a comparator that compares the difference value to a threshold value associated with a loss of lock on the satellite signal.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the threshold is generated using one of information within the satellite signal, a geographic location, a zip code, a transponder or an ambient temperature.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the threshold is associated with an incipient loss of lock on the satellite signal.

24. The system of claim 21, further comprising an output block that provides a corrective output signal based on the comparison of the threshold value and the difference value.

25. A method of detecting a broadcast satellite signal, comprising:

filtering a received broadcast satellite signal to generate a service signal having a center frequency between a first transponder center frequency of a first transponder band and a second transponder center frequency of a second transponder band that overlaps the first transponder band;

filtering the received broadcast satellite signal using a second filter having a passband center frequency associated with a non-service band that is spectrally separate from the first and second transponder bands;

subtracting an output of the second filter from an output of the first filter to generate a difference value; and

comparing the difference value to a threshold value associated with a loss of lock on the broadcast satellite signal.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising outputting a corrective signal based on the comparison of the difference value to the threshold value.