US 2019/0173570 A1 · SCHEDULING BEAMS OF A SATELLITE ANTENNA

Abstract

In one implementation, a method for scheduling beams of an antenna on a satellite during a defined time period includes calculating a beam score for each beam based on the expected gain of the beam and determining that the number of beams having non-zero beam scores during the defined time period is less than a threshold value. In addition, the method also includes accessing a set of beam weights for each of multiple different candidate beam patterns, and, for each set of weights, multiplying individual beam weights by corresponding beam scores, and generating a candidate beam pattern score by calculating a sum of the products of the beam weights and corresponding beam scores. The method further includes comparing the candidate beam pattern scores, selecting a particular one of the candidate beam patterns, and scheduling the selected beam pattern for the defined time period.

Claims21

Dependent claims

1-20. (canceled)

A computer-implemented method for scheduling beams of an antenna on board a satellite in low-Earth orbit for receiving Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) messages, wherein the antenna is configured to provide multiple different beams, the method comprising:

identifying, for beams that the antenna is configured to provide, corresponding coverage areas during a defined period of time;
identifying characteristics of the identified coverage areas;
and
scheduling individual beams that the antenna is configured to provide to be on or off during the defined period of time based on the identified characteristics of their corresponding coverage areas.

1 more element

A system for scheduling beams of an antenna on board a satellite in low-Earth orbit for receiving Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) messages, wherein the antenna is configured to provide multiple different beams, the system comprising:

one or more processing elements;
and
non-transitory computer-readable memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processing elements, cause the system to:
identify, for beams that the antenna is configured to provide, corresponding coverage areas during a defined period of time;
identify characteristics of the identified coverage areas;
and
schedule individual beams that the antenna is configured to provide to be on or off during the defined period of time based on the identified characteristics of their corresponding coverage areas.

4 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied thereon for scheduling beams of an antenna on board a satellite in low-Earth orbit for receiving Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) messages, wherein the antenna is configured to provide multiple different beams, the computer-readable program code comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processing elements, cause the processing elements to:

identify, for beams that the antenna is configured to provide, corresponding coverage areas during a defined period of time;
identify characteristics of the identified coverage areas;
and
schedule individual beams that the antenna is configured to provide to be on or off during the defined period of time based on the identified characteristics of their corresponding coverage areas.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Scheduling beams of a satellite antenna

Life of this patent

Scheduling beams of a satellite antenna

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims21