Apparatus and method for controlling speed of satellite antenna

A mobile satellite comprising:

• a driver for mechanically orienting an antenna of the mobile satellite;
• and
• at least one processor, when executing stored instructions, caused to:
• calculate an azimuth position range between a first point and a second point in an orbit, the azimuth position range defining a boundary of effective azimuth positions of the antenna at each of a plurality of orbit points between the first and second points of the orbit that allow a ground station to receive one or more signals transmitted from the satellite without jitter-related data loss;
• calculate an elevation position range between the first point and the second point in the orbit, the elevation position range defining a boundary of effective elevation positions of the antenna at each of the plurality of orbit points between the first and second points of the orbit that allow the ground station to receive the one or more signals transmitted from the satellite without the jitter-related data loss;
• generate a path profile of the antenna based on the calculated azimuth position range and the elevation position range, the path profile defining a plurality of possible position paths of the antenna in the path profile, each possible position path defining a set of effective azimuth positions and the effective elevation positions for orienting the antenna as the satellite travels from the first point to the second point of the orbit;
• select a position path from the plurality of possible position paths defined in the path profile;
• and
• control, via the driver, a driving speed of a movement of the antenna by mechanically orienting the antenna in accordance with the set of effective azimuth positions and effective elevation positions of the selected position path as the satellite travels from the first point to the second point of the orbit.

A computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer program being configured to cause at least one processor to control a speed of movement of an antenna of a mobile satellite, the program comprising:

• calculate an azimuth position range between a first point and a second point in an orbit, the azimuth position range defining a boundary of effective azimuth positions of the antenna at each of a plurality of orbit points between the first and second points of the orbit that allow a ground station to receive one or more signals transmitted from the satellite without jitter-related data loss;
• calculate an elevation position range between the first point and the second point in the orbit, the elevation position range defining a boundary of effective elevation positions of the antenna at each of the plurality of orbit points between the first and second points of the orbit that allow the ground station to receive the one or more signals transmitted from the satellite without the jitter-related data loss;
• generate a path profile of the antenna based on the calculated azimuth position range and the elevation position range, the path profile defining a plurality of possible position paths of the antenna in the path profile, each possible position path defining a set of effective azimuth positions and the effective elevation positions for orienting the antenna as the satellite travels from the first point to the second point of the orbit;
• select a position path from the plurality of possible position paths defined in the path profile;
• and
• control, via a driver, the speed of movement of the antenna by mechanically orienting the antenna in accordance with the set of effective azimuth positions and effective elevation positions of the selected position path as the satellite travels from the first point to the second point of the orbit.