Hybrid scanning antenna
AssigneeHughes Network Systems, LLC
InventorsLin-Nan Lee, Peter Hou, Victor Liau
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hybrid scanning antenna including: a reflector having a focal line; a first mechanical movement to move the reflector about a first axis; a second mechanical movement to move the reflector about a second axis; a linear array fixedly disposed along the focal line to electronically scan at a scan angle about a third axis; and a controller to control the first mechanical movement, the second mechanical movement and the scan angle of the linear array to orient the hybrid scanning antenna to a look angle of a remote transceiver.
Claims18
A hybrid scanning antenna comprising:
- a reflector having a focal line;
- a first mechanical movement to move the reflector about a first axis;
- a second mechanical movement to move the reflector about a second axis;
- a linear array fixedly disposed along the focal line to electronically scan at a scan angle about a third axis;
- and
- a controller to control the first mechanical movement, the second mechanical movement and the scan angle of the linear array to orient the hybrid scanning antenna to a look angle of a remote transceiver,
- wherein the linear array comprises an Rx linear array layer overlapping a Tx linear array and separated by a sub-reflector layer transparent to Tx signals.
A hybrid scanning antenna comprising:
- a reflector having a focal line;
- a first mechanical movement to move the reflector about a first axis;
- a second mechanical movement to move the reflector about a second axis;
- a linear array fixedly disposed along the focal line to electronically scan at a scan angle about a third axis;
- and
- a controller to control the first mechanical movement, the second mechanical movement and the scan angle of the linear array to orient the hybrid scanning antenna to a look angle of a remote transceiver,
- wherein the linear array comprises an Rx linear array disposed alongside two Tx linear arrays without overlap.
A hybrid scanning antenna comprising:
- a reflector having a focal line and a cylindrical shape in a first dimension while maintaining a parabolic shape in a second dimension;
- a first mechanical movement to move the reflector about a first axis;
- a second mechanical movement to move the reflector about a second axis;
- a linear array fixedly disposed along the focal line to electronically scan at a scan angle about a third axis;
- a controller to control the first mechanical movement, the second mechanical movement and the scan angle of the linear array to orient the hybrid scanning antenna to a look angle of a remote transceiver;
- and
- a turntable, wherein the first mechanical movement comprises an arcuate arm, and the first mechanical movement, the second mechanical movement, the reflector and the linear array are disposed on the turntable,
- wherein the controller receives an attitude of the hybrid scanning antenna, computes the look angle based on the attitude, and applies the first mechanical movement, the second mechanical movement and the scan angle of the linear array to orient the hybrid scanning antenna to the look angle,
- the controller receives an ephemeris of the remote transceiver and computes the look angle based on the ephemeris, and
- the remote transceiver comprises a satellite using radio frequencies.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.