US 12,216,215 B2Granted

Antenna alignment apparatus

AssigneeViavi Solutions Inc.

InventorsRaleigh Benton Stelle, IV, Thomas Sevilla

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

An antenna alignment apparatus may include magnetic field sensors as an alternative to or in addition to GNSS sensors. The magnetic field sensors may measure the earth's magnetic fields at corresponding locations, and a processor may use the measurements to calculate at least one of a roll, tilt, or azimuth of an antenna. For an optical alignment, the antenna alignment apparatus may, additionally or alternately, include a reference object (e.g., a printed mark or a physical stud) located within a field of view of a camera. A location of the reference object may indicate the alignment of the antenna vis-à-vis the structures within the field of view.

Claims9

Dependent claims

An antenna alignment apparatus configured to be coupled to an antenna, the apparatus comprising:

one or more magnetic field sensors configured to measure earth's magnetic fields at corresponding locations of the one or more magnetic field sensors;
a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver configured to receive a signal from a GNSS satellite, the GNSS receiver configured to calculate its geolocation based on the received signal;
a processor configured to:
receive the measured earth's magnetic field from each of the one or more magnetic field sensors;
determine an azimuth of the antenna that the apparatus is coupled to, based on the measured earth's magnetic field by at least one magnetic field sensor of the one or more magnetic field sensors;
and
determine the azimuth of the antenna based on the geolocation in tandem with determining the azimuth based on the measured earth's magnetic field.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/500,521Filed 13 Oct 2021
Published: US 2023/0109841 A113 Apr 2023
Granted: 4 Feb 2025
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

G01S 19/26
Acquisition or tracking or demodulation of signals transmitted by the system: involving a sensor measurement for aiding acquisition or tracking
G01C 17/28
Magnetic compasses: electromagnetic compasses
G01S 19/14
Receivers: specially adapted for specific applications
G01S 19/53
The satellite radio beacon positioning system transmitting time-stamped messages, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System], GLONASS [Global Orbiting…:…

Family

US 2023/0109841 A1Pre-grant publication · published 13 Apr 2023
US 12,216,215 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Timeline

Citations

Open elsewhere

Building an agent or pulling many patents? Use the API or MCP server instead of scraping pages. Get an API key