Automatic calibration method for azimuth pitch angle of moving carrier satellite communication antenna

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of electronic information, discloses an automatic calibration method for azimuth and pitch angles of a moving carrier satellite communication antenna, and aims to solve the problems that manual calibration of azimuth and pitch angles needs to be carried out after satellite communication is installed for the first time before, a large number of manpower resources are occupied, and the calibration result cannot be guaranteed. The invention provides the automatic calibration method for the azimuth pitch angle of the mobile carrier satellite communication antenna. The method is mainly realized by means of software, the antenna tracks the satellite, finds the maximum point of the signal, and inversely calculates the azimuth and the pitching deck angle to realize accurate calibration of the azimuth and the pitching angle, and the method is low in cost and high in value. The antenna calibration device can be embedded in an antenna control unit and can also be embedded in an antenna superior control terminal, one-button operation is achieved, convenience and practicability are achieved, multiple antennas can be calibrated at the same time, manpower resources are liberated, and manpower cost is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of electronic information and can be used for automatically calibrating the azimuth and elevation angles of a satellite communication antenna on a moving vehicle. In view of the problems that manual calibration of the azimuth and elevation angles is required after the first installation of satellite communication, which takes a large amount of human resources and the calibration results cannot be guaranteed, the present invention proposes an automatic calibration method for the azimuth and elevation angles of a satellite communication antenna on a moving vehicle. Background Art

[0002] A satellite communication antenna on a moving vehicle needs to adjust its own deck angles of azimuth and elevation in real time according to the longitude of the target satellite and the position (longitude, latitude and altitude) and attitude (heading, pitch and roll) of the vehicle, so that the antenna can always be aligned with the satellite to meet the requirements of antenna tracking and satellite communication. However, when there are large errors in the azimuth and elevation angles of the satellite communication antenna on the moving vehicle, the antenna cannot work properly to point at the satellite. In the light case, the quality of the tracking signal decreases when the attitude of the vehicle changes, and in the severe case, it is directly impossible to point at the satellite for tracking, resulting in the antenna being unusable and satellite communication unable to be completed.

[0003] Problems existing in non-calibration or manual calibration of azimuth and elevation:

[0004] 1) Before leaving the factory, the antenna will be calibrated for the azimuth and elevation angles. However, due to system error problems after installation, the angles still need to be calibrated again. If this error is not calibrated, there will be a hidden danger to satellite communication.

[0005] 2) If manual calibration is adopted, each antenna needs to be manually calibrated. When the number of antennas is small, the human resources can still be satisfied and the calibration quality can also be guaranteed. However, when the number of antennas is large and the factory production cycle is tight, it will greatly occupy human resources, bring huge labor costs, and the calibration quality of the azimuth and elevation of the antenna cannot be guaranteed.

[0006] 3) After the antenna is installed and leaves the factory, each antenna still needs to be manually calibrated again, which requires arranging personnel to travel, greatly occupying human resources and bringing huge labor costs. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In view of the problems that when there are large errors in the azimuth and elevation angles of a satellite communication antenna on a moving vehicle, the antenna cannot work properly to point at the satellite, and when manual calibration is used for the azimuth and elevation angles, it will occupy a large amount of human resources and the calibration quality cannot be guaranteed, the present invention provides an automatic calibration method for the azimuth and elevation angles of a satellite communication antenna on a moving vehicle.

[0008] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows:

[0009] An automatic calibration method for the azimuth and elevation angles of a satellite communication antenna on a moving vehicle, comprising the following steps:

[0010] Step 1: The mobile vehicle satellite communication antenna communicates with the inertial navigation equipment to obtain the attitude information of the mobile vehicle in real time, including longitude, latitude, heading, roll, and pitch.

[0011] Step 2: Set satellite parameters according to the target satellite information and send an automatic calibration instruction to the satellite communication antenna.

[0012] Step 3: The satellite communication antenna calculates the theoretical value of pointing at the satellite according to the target satellite information, and calculates the deck angle of pointing at the satellite by the antenna in real time according to the theoretical value and the change of the position and attitude during the movement of the mobile vehicle. The azimuth deck angle of pointing at the satellite is A j , and the elevation deck angle of pointing at the satellite is E j . At the same time, obtain the original azimuth calibration point A y and the original elevation calibration point E y ;

[0013] Step 4: The satellite communication antenna detects whether the power value of the current satellite beacon signal reaches the threshold. If it reaches, execute Step 5; if not, perform signal search. If the signal is not found within the timeout or the power value does not reach the threshold value, the calibration fails.

[0014] Step 5: After the satellite communication antenna detects that the power value of the current satellite beacon signal reaches the threshold, perform a step-by-step search to find the position with the maximum signal, and record the azimuth deck angle A m and E m ;

[0015] Step 6: Calculate the angle △A = A m - A j , △E = E m - E j ;

[0016] Step 7: Calculate that the azimuth calibration point of the antenna is A y + △A, and the elevation calibration point is E y + △E;

[0017] Step 8: Calibrate the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the elevation of the satellite communication antenna.

[0018] Further, between Step 6 and Step 7, it also includes:

[0019] Automatically switch the satellite longitude, repeat Steps 2 - 6, and take the average of the calculated angles to obtain the averaged △A and △E.

[0020] Further, Step 8 is specifically:

[0021] First, rotate the elevation of the satellite communication antenna uniformly to the upper limit position and record the angle E s , and the upper limit angle is marked as E s, after completion, rotate it uniformly to the lower limit position and record the angle E x , the lower limit angle is marked as E x ;

[0022] Or, calculate the upper limit calibration as E sx = E so+ △E, and the lower limit calibration is E xx = E xo+ △E, where E so is the original upper limit angle, and E xo is the original lower limit angle.

[0023] The advantages of the present invention compared with the prior art are as follows:

[0024] The present invention is mainly implemented by software, enabling the antenna to track the satellite, find the signal maximum point, and inversely calculate the azimuth and elevation deck angles to achieve precise calibration of the azimuth and elevation angles. This method has no complex processes and calculations, is more reliable, has low cost, and higher value.

[0025] The present invention can be embedded in the antenna control unit or in the upper-level control terminal of the antenna. It has a one-key operation, is convenient and practical, can calibrate multiple antennas simultaneously, liberates human resources, reduces labor costs, and improves the reliability of the antenna at the same time. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 is the processing flow chart of the automatic calibration of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0027] The present invention will be further explained below with reference to the drawings.

[0028] As Figure 1 shown, an automatic calibration method for the azimuth and elevation angles of a moving vehicle satellite communication antenna includes the following steps:

[0029] Step 1, the moving vehicle satellite communication antenna communicates with the inertial navigation device to obtain the attitude information of the moving vehicle in real time, including longitude, latitude, heading, roll, and pitch;

[0030] Step 2, according to the target satellite information, set the satellite parameters and send an automatic calibration instruction to the satellite communication antenna;

[0031] Step 3, after the satellite communication antenna receives the automatic calibration instruction, it judges whether the inertial navigation is normal. If it is not normal, a calibration failure prompt will be given. If it is normal, it calculates the theoretical value of the antenna pointing to the satellite according to the target satellite information, and calculates the satellite-pointing deck angle of the antenna in real time according to the theoretical value and the position and attitude changes during the movement of the moving vehicle, where the azimuth satellite-pointing deck angle is A j , and the elevation satellite-pointing deck angle is E j, while obtaining the original azimuth calibration point A of the satellite communication antenna y and the original elevation calibration point E y ;

[0032] Step 4, the satellite communication antenna detects whether the power value of the current satellite beacon signal reaches the threshold. If it reaches, go to Step 5; if not, perform signal search. If the signal is not found within the timeout or the power value does not reach the threshold, the calibration fails.

[0033] Step 5, after the satellite communication antenna detects that the power value of the current satellite beacon signal reaches the threshold, perform a step-by-step search near the signal to find the maximum signal position, and record the azimuth deck angle A m and E m ;

[0034] Step 6, calculate the angle △A 1 = A m - A j , △E 1 = E m - E j ;

[0035] Step 7, automatically switch the satellite longitude, repeat Steps 2 - 6, calculate △A 2 and △E 2 , take the average to get △A = (△A 1 + △A 2 ) / 2, △E = (△E 1 + △E 2 ) / 2;

[0036] Step 8, calculate that the antenna azimuth calibration point is A y + △A, and the elevation calibration point is E y + △E;

[0037] Step 9, the elevation axis of the mobile vehicle satellite communication antenna has upper and lower elevation limits, and the limit values also need to be calibrated; the calibration method is:

[0038] The elevation first rotates uniformly to the upper limit position and records the angle E s , and the upper limit angle is marked as E s . After completion, rotate uniformly to the lower limit position and record the angle E x , and the lower limit angle is marked as E x ;

[0039] If the user wants to perform a quick calibration, Step 7 can be skipped, and the elevation upper and lower limit calibration is changed to a calculation method calibration to reduce the calibration time. The calculation method for the elevation upper and lower limits is: the original upper limit angle is E so , the original lower limit angle is E xo , then the upper limit is calibrated as Esx = E so+ △E, with the lower limit calibrated as E xx = E xo+ △E.

Claims

1. A method for automatically calibrating the azimuth and elevation angles of a mobile satellite communication antenna, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Step 1: The satellite communication antenna of the moving carrier communicates with the inertial navigation device to obtain the attitude information of the moving carrier in real time, including latitude and longitude, heading, roll and pitch; Step 2: Set satellite parameters according to target satellite information and send automatic calibration instructions to the satellite communication antenna; Step 3: The satellite communication antenna calculates the theoretical value of the antenna pointing to the satellite according to the target satellite information, and calculates the antenna's pointing deck angle in real time according to the theoretical value and the position and attitude changes of the moving carrier during the movement, where the azimuth pointing deck angle is A. j , the pitching deck angle to the star is E j , and at the same time obtain the original azimuth calibration point A of the satellite communication antenna y and the original pitch calibration point E y ; Step 4: The satellite communication antenna detects whether the power value of the current satellite beacon signal reaches the threshold. If it does, step 5 is executed; if it does not, a signal search is performed. If no signal is found within a timeout or the power value does not reach the threshold, the calibration fails. Step 5: After the satellite communication antenna detects that the current satellite beacon signal power value reaches the threshold, it performs a step search to find the maximum signal position and records the azimuth deck angle A of the maximum signal position. m and E m ; Step 6, calculate the angle △A=A m -A j , △E=E m -E j ; Step 7: Calculate the antenna azimuth calibration point as A y +△A, the pitch calibration point is E y +△E; Step 8, calibrate the upper and lower limit values ​​of the elevation of the satellite communication antenna.

2. The method for automatically calibrating the azimuth and elevation angles of a satellite communication antenna on a mobile carrier according to claim 1, characterized in that: Between step 6 and step 7 also include: Automatically switch the satellite longitude, repeat steps 2-6, average the calculated angles, and obtain the averaged △A and △E.

3. The method for automatically calibrating the azimuth and elevation angles of a mobile satellite communication antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: Step 8 is as follows: The satellite communication antenna is first pitched to the upper limit at a constant speed and the angle E is recorded. s , the upper limit angle is marked as E s After completion, turn to the lower limit position at a constant speed and record the angle E x , the lower limit angle is marked as E x ; Or, the upper limit of the calculation is marked as E sx =E so+ △E, the lower limit is marked as E xx =E xo+ △E, where E so is the original upper limit angle, E xo is the original lower limit angle.

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