Air traffic control antenna and system
OwnerJames Harveyinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods relating to air traffic control and navigational aids for aircraft. An antenna system uses a multi-sector sensor that uses two vertical column antenna arrays per sector. Each pair of vertical column antenna arrays produces two beams that are off a boresight for each pair of antenna arrays. Wide angle monopulse processing is used to determine an azimuth or angle of arrival for an aircraft using at least one pair of the vertical column antenna arrays. Predetermined correction factors are applied to the azimuth for specific elevation values and, for elevation values without predetermined correction factors, interpolation between known predetermined correction values to arrive at the corrector factor to be applied.
Claims16
An antenna system for use in air traffic control, the system comprising:
- at least one pair of vertical column antenna arrays, said at least one pair producing two beams offset from boresight and said at least one pair covering a sector of a coverage of said antenna system,
- wherein said antenna system is used for wide angle monopulse processing of at least one signal from an aircraft to determine a two-dimensional azimuth of said aircraft relative to said at least one pair of said vertical column antenna arrays,
- wherein said azimuth is based on a logarithm of a difference in amplitude/phase of said two beams,
- and wherein a correction factor is applied to said azimuth for specific values in elevation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.