Multi-antenna ground station for implementing a seamless handover with diversity from an origin moving satellite to a destination moving satellite, and corresponding handover method

A multi-antenna ground station of a satellite telecommunications system using a constellation of moving satellites,

• the ground station comprising:
• an integer number P, greater than or equal to two, of antennas capable in reception of each tracking, for a same predetermined time period, a satellite taken from an origin first satellite S1 and a destination second satellite S2, both in line of sight during said period,
• a multi-channel reception and processing device, with P input terminals, connected respectively to P output terminals of the P antennas, to receive as input of said reception and processing device P antenna signals received and supplied as output of said reception antennas, and to P output terminals to deliver in parallel P output processed signals, aligned with one another in time and in phase, obtained respectively from the P antenna signals received, and
• a combination device with configurable diversity, connected as the input to the multi-channel reception and processing device, to combine some or all of the output processed signals as a function of a setpoint of selection of the output processed signals to be combined, and
• a device for managing diversity and seamless handover of a reception communication link from the origin first satellite S1 to the destination second satellite S2,
• the ground station wherein
• the diversity and seamless handover management device is configured to:
• manage and coordinate the execution of a handover of the communication link from the origin first satellite S1 to the destination second satellite S2, said handover of the communication link consisting of a succession of a number k, greater than or equal to 2, of seamless and unitary handovers Bi of antennas, selected according to a predetermined sequence, each seamless and unitary antenna handover Bi being a handover of an antenna from a first operational configuration of diversity in reception C1(i) in which the selected antenna is pointed with tracking to the first satellite S1, to a second operational configuration of diversity in reception C2(i) in which the selected antenna is pointed with tracking to the second satellite S2, at least one of the first and second configurations C1(i), C2(i) of diversity in reception being a configuration in which the diversity in reception is implemented on both the first and second satellites S1, S2, and
• during each seamless and unitary handover Bi, controlling the antennas, the multi-channel reception and processing device and the combination device with configurable diversity by determining and sending to them respectively:
• satellite acquisition pointing commands, and
• commands for aligning in time and in phase the P signals received as input of the multi-channel reception and processing device generated as a function of measurements of time and phase deviations of P-1 signals received as input in relation to the signal received as input taken as reference signal, and
• a setpoint for selecting the output processed signals to be combined as a function of the scheduling of the handover from the first diversity configuration C1(i) to the second diversity configuration C2(i) and as a function of measurements of qualities of the signals received as input of the reception and processing device.