Beam Antenna Device

Abstract

A beam antenna device that tracks an aerial platform, a control method and a program for the same are provided. [Solution] The beam antenna device 1 comprises a flat plate portion 10, a first rotating body 12 that rotates around a first axis 21 perpendicular to the flat plate portion 10 as its rotation axis, a second rotating body 14 that rotates around a second axis 23 perpendicular to the first axis as its rotation axis, a flat phased array antenna (planar antenna 16) with the second axis as its perpendicular line, a position acquisition unit that acquires the position of the aerial platform, a rotating body control unit that controls the first rotating body 12 and the second rotating body 14 based on the position of the aerial platform so that the plane of the phased array antenna faces the direction of the aerial platform, and a beam control unit that controls the direction of beam tracking by the phased array antenna according to the rotation angle of the first rotating body 12 and the second rotating body 14.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a beam antenna device that forms antenna directivity for communication. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is a technology for forming antenna directivity (beamforming) to suppress interference between communications with other parties when communicating with a communication partner. Technology has also been developed for communicating with smartphones and the like by installing a base station in the air, where there is less possibility of reflected waves or diffraction. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for equipping an aircraft with base station functions and controlling beamforming for terminals. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2024-126594 Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] In one aspect of the present invention Related The beam antenna device includes a flat plate portion, a first rotor that rotates around a first axis perpendicular to the flat plate portion, a second rotor that rotates around a second axis perpendicular to the first axis, and a second rotor that rotates around the second axis. A line perpendicular to is a perpendicular line and rotates with the rotation of the second rotating body around the second axis. the plane of the phased array antenna is oriented in the direction of the aerial platform; a position acquisition unit that acquires the position of the aerial platform; a rotor control unit that controls the first rotor and the second rotor based on the position of the aerial platform so that the plane of the phased array antenna faces the aerial platform; and a beam control unit that controls the direction of beam tracking by the phased array antenna according to the rotation angle of the first rotor and the second rotor.

[0005] Furthermore, the above beam antenna device may be provided with a first acquisition unit that acquires a first rotation angle from a reference position of the first axis, and a second acquisition unit that acquires a second rotation angle from a reference position of the second axis, and the rotating body control unit may control the first rotating body and the second rotating body based on the first rotation angle and the second rotation angle and the position acquired by the position acquisition unit.

[0006] Furthermore, the above beam antenna device may include a first angle sensor that measures the rotation angle of the first axis and a second angle sensor that measures the rotation angle of the second axis, wherein the first acquisition unit acquires the rotation angle measured by the first angle sensor as the first rotation angle, and the second acquisition unit acquires the rotation angle measured by the second angle sensor as the second rotation angle, and the beam control unit controls the direction of beam tracking based on the first rotation angle acquired by the first angle sensor and the second rotation angle acquired by the second angle sensor until the angle between the first and second rotating bodies reaches a target angle by the rotating body control unit.

[0007] Furthermore, the above beam antenna device may include a first motor that rotates the first rotating body and a second motor that rotates the second rotating body, wherein the first acquisition unit calculates a first rotation angle based on the rotation angle per unit time of the first motor and the elapsed time from the start time of rotation control by the rotating body control unit, and the second acquisition unit calculates a second rotation angle based on the rotation angle per unit time of the second motor and the elapsed time from the start time of rotation control by the rotating body control unit, and the beam control unit may control the direction of beam tracking based on the first rotation angle calculated by the first acquisition unit and the second rotation angle acquired by the second acquisition unit until the angle between the first rotating body and the second rotating body reaches a target angle by the rotating body control unit.

[0008] In addition, a control method for a beam antenna device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a beam antenna device having a flat plate portion, a first rotating body that rotates around a first axis perpendicular to the flat plate portion as its rotation axis, a second rotating body that rotates around a second axis perpendicular to the first axis as its rotation axis, and a flat phased array antenna with the second axis as its normal, the computer controlling the beam antenna device performs a position acquisition step of acquiring the position of an aerial platform, a rotating body control step of controlling the first rotating body and the second rotating body based on the position of the aerial platform so that the plane of the phased array antenna faces the direction of the aerial platform, and a beam control step of controlling the direction of beam tracking by the phased array antenna according to the rotation angle of the first rotating body and the second rotating body.

[0009] In addition, a control program for a beam antenna device according to one embodiment of the present invention enables a computer that controls a beam antenna device having a flat plate portion, a first rotating body that rotates around a first axis perpendicular to the flat plate portion, a second rotating body that rotates around a second axis perpendicular to the first axis, and a flat phased array antenna with the second axis as a perpendicular line to perform the following functions: a position acquisition function that acquires the position of the aerial platform; a rotating body control function that controls the first rotating body and the second rotating body based on the position of the aerial platform so that the plane of the phased array antenna faces the direction of the aerial platform; and a beam control function that controls the direction of beam tracking by the phased array antenna according to the rotation angle of the first rotating body and the second rotating body. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the beam antenna device. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication system. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first configuration example of a beam antenna device. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing various angles in a beam antenna device. [Figure 5]1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating various angles in a beam antenna device. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the beam antenna device. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a second configuration example of a beam antenna device. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the beam antenna device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] In recent years, by placing wireless communication base stations at high altitudes, the communication area of ​​the base station can be expanded, and therefore communication systems using HAPS (High Altitude Platform Station), known as a high-altitude platform that mounts a wireless station on an aircraft flying at high altitude, have been developed.

[0012] This HAPS also communicates with ground stations and works in conjunction with ground-based communication systems to provide communication services to users' wireless terminals. For this reason, ground stations must be in constant communication with the HAPS. To ensure good communication with the HAPS, ground stations shape their antenna directivity toward the HAPS in the air. Shaping the antenna directivity allows for good communication within the range of the formed antenna directivity, but forming the antenna directivity narrows the communication range. For this reason, in order to communicate with the HAPS circling in the air, ground stations must constantly shape and track their antenna directivity toward the HAPS.

[0013] Therefore, a beam antenna device 1 is considered that forms antenna directivity for the HAPS in order to continue tracking (hereinafter, antenna directivity is referred to as a beam, and forming antenna directivity may be referred to as beam tracking).

[0014] As shown in FIG. 1 , the beam antenna device 1 may be composed of a flat plate portion 10, a first shaft portion 11, a first rotating body 12, a second shaft portion 13, a second rotating body 14, an antenna installation portion 15, and a planar antenna 16. The flat plate portion 10 is a flat plate, and the first shaft portion 11 is an axis perpendicular to the plane formed by the flat plate portion 10. The first rotating body 12 rotates around the first shaft portion 11, i.e., around a first axis 21. The second shaft portion 13 is provided on the first rotating body 12 and is an axis perpendicular to the first shaft portion 11. The second rotating body 14 rotates around the second shaft portion 13, i.e., around a second axis 23. The antenna installation portion 15 is a base portion for mounting an antenna fixed to the second rotating body 14, and the planar antenna 16 is provided thereon. The planar antenna 16 may be a planar antenna for general satellite communications, and basically forms antenna directivity in a direction perpendicular to the plane of this planar antenna.

[0015] When the beam antenna device 1 forms antenna directivity and communicates with the HAPS as shown in FIG. 2 , the first rotor 12 rotates about the first shaft 11 while the second rotor 14 rotates about the second shaft 13, so that the beam 30 formed by the planar antenna 16 mounted on the antenna installation unit 15 can be directed toward the HAPS 100. The HAPS 100 continues to rotate in essentially the same direction while tracing a circular orbit 101. To keep track of the HAPS 100 that keeps rotating in this manner, it is desirable that the first rotor 12 in the beam antenna device 1 be configured to continue rotating infinitely about the first shaft 11. Infinite rotation means that the beam antenna device 1 continues to rotate in the same direction. In other words, in the state shown in FIG. 2 , the beam antenna device 1 continues to rotate in one direction, the pan direction (also called the yaw direction). However, depending on the beam antenna device 1, infinite rotation may not be possible. Even if infinite rotation is possible, the beam antenna device 1's rotation may not be able to keep up. Therefore, depending on the position of the HAPS 100, it may be difficult for the beam antenna device 1 to keep up. In particular, when the beam antenna device 1 has reached the end of its rotation, it may be necessary to return the rotation to the opposite side, and in this case, it may be difficult to keep up with the timing of the return of the rotation. As a result, there is a problem that wireless communication between the HAPS 100 and the entire communication service of the wireless terminals 300a and 300b to which the HAPS 100 provides communication services may be interrupted.

[0016] Therefore, in this embodiment, the object is to provide a beam antenna device 1 as shown in Figure 1, which can provide wireless communication services by performing beam tracking to follow the HAPS 100, even if the beam antenna device 1 is one in which the first rotating body 12 cannot rotate infinitely about the first axis portion 11, i.e., cannot rotate infinitely in the pan direction.

[0017] In this beam antenna device 1, by rotating and further using a planar antenna as the antenna whose direction of forming directivity can be controlled, the direction of beam tracking can be controlled sequentially, so that even if the first rotating body 12 cannot rotate infinitely around the first shaft portion 11, it can continue to follow the HAPS 100 and perform beam tracking.

[0018] The beam antenna device 1 will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0019] <Embodiment 1> <Configuration> 1 is a perspective view showing the outer shape of the beam antenna device 1. The beam antenna device 1 may be a device that tracks the HAPS 100 as an aerial platform, i.e., that forms antenna directivity for the HAPS 100, but the target to be tracked is not limited to the HAPS 100 and may be any flying object.

[0020] As shown in Figure 1, the beam antenna device 1 may be composed of a flat plate portion 10, a first axis portion 11, a first rotating body 12, a second axis portion 13, a second rotating body 14, an antenna installation portion 15, and a planar antenna 16.

[0021] The flat plate portion 10 is a flat plate and is basically installed horizontally.

[0022] A first shaft portion 11 is connected to the flat plate portion 10.

[0023] Furthermore, a first rotor 12 is connected to the first shaft portion 11.

[0024] The first rotating body 12 rotates around the first axis 21 of the first shaft portion 11. In this embodiment, the first rotating body 12 does not rotate infinitely around the first axis 21. The first rotating body 12 may be configured to be rotatable around the first shaft portion 11, or may be configured to be fixed to the first shaft portion 11 so that the first shaft portion 11 is rotatable around the flat plate portion 10. The first rotating body 12 may be rotated by a first motor (not shown in FIG. 1). The first rotating body 12 (first axis 21) is an axis perpendicular to the plane formed by the flat plate portion 10.

[0025] The first rotating body 12 is provided with a second shaft portion 13. The second rotating body 14 is connected to the second shaft portion 13. The second rotating body 14 rotates around a second axis 23 of the second shaft portion 13. The second rotating body 14 may be configured to be rotatable relative to the second shaft portion 13, or may be configured to be fixed to the second shaft portion 13 so that the second shaft portion 13 is rotatable relative to the first rotating body 12. The second shaft portion 13 (second axis 23) is an axis perpendicular to the first axis 21. The second rotating body 14 may be rotated by a second motor (not shown in FIG. 1).

[0026] An antenna installation unit 15 is connected to the second rotor 14. The antenna installation unit 15 is a base on which a planar antenna 16 is placed. The planar antenna 16 forms antenna directivity and communicates with the HAPS 100. The planar antenna 16 can form antenna directivity by tilting it at a certain angle from a direction perpendicular to the plane formed by the planar antenna 16. However, the antenna gain is maximized when the antenna directivity is oriented perpendicular to the surface of the planar antenna 16 and decreases as the direction of the directivity is angled from that direction. Therefore, in the beam antenna device 1, it is preferable to form the antenna directivity so that it is as perpendicular as possible to the plane formed by the planar antenna 16, but priority is given to being able to communicate with the HAPS 100. The planar antenna 16 may be a so-called PAAM (Phased Array Antenna Module).

[0027] The beam antenna device 1 is installed on the ground within a range vertically below the circular orbit 101 traced by the HAPS 100, i.e., within the range of a circle 102, as shown in Fig. 2. The beam antenna device 1 is connected to a ground station (terrestrial gateway station) or is installed at the ground station, and communicates with the HAPS 100. Note that the shape of the beam antenna device 1 is not limited to that shown in the figure, as long as it has the above-mentioned configuration.

[0028] <Example of functional configuration> FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing device that controls the beam antenna device 1. As shown in FIG.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 3, the beam antenna device 1 includes a communication unit 110, an input unit 120, a first angle sensor 121, a second angle sensor 122, a control unit 130, a storage unit 140, and a drive unit 150.

[0030] The communication unit 110 has a function of communicating with the connected ground station. The communication unit 110 also has a function of communicating with the HAPS 100 via the planar antenna 16. The communication unit 110 forms antenna directivity (beam 30) toward the HAPS 100 and communicates with the HAPS 100. The communication unit 110 also receives information indicating the position of the HAPS 100 from the ground station and transmits the information to the control unit 130.

[0031] The input unit 120 is an input interface provided in the beam antenna device 1 for inputting information to the beam antenna device 1. The input unit 120 may be realized by, for example, a keyboard or a touch panel. The input unit 120 may, for example, accept input of information indicating the position of the HAPS 100 and transmit the information to the control unit 130.

[0032] The first angle sensor 121 is provided on the first shaft 11 (or the first rotating body 12), measures a first angle indicating how much the first rotating body 12 has rotated relative to the first shaft 11 from a reference position, and transmits the first angle to the control unit 130. The first angle sensor 121 sequentially measures the first angle (which may be, for example, every second, but is not limited to this and may be at a time interval that is easy for the HAPS 100 to follow) and transmits the first angle to the control unit 130.

[0033] The second angle sensor 122 is provided on the second shaft unit 13 (or the second rotating body 14), measures a second angle indicating how much the second rotating body 14 has rotated relative to the second shaft unit 13 from a reference position, and transmits the second angle to the control unit 130. The second angle sensor 122 sequentially measures the second angle (for example, every second, but is not limited to this, and may be at a time interval that is easy for the HAPS 100 to follow) and transmits the second angle to the control unit 130.

[0034] The control unit 130 is a processor that controls each unit of the beam antenna device 1. The control unit 130 executes various programs by referring to various data stored in the storage unit 140, thereby realizing the functions to be performed by the beam antenna device 1. That is, the control unit 130 calculates the rotation angles of the first rotor 12 and the second rotor 14 and the direction in which to orient the antenna directivity of the planar antenna 16 based on the first angle, the second angle, and information indicating the position of the HAPS 100 that is sequentially transmitted, and controls the first rotor 12, the second rotor 14, and the planar antenna 16.

[0035] The control unit 130 includes a first acquisition unit 131, a second acquisition unit 132, a position acquisition unit 133, a rotating body control unit 134, and a beam control unit 135 as functions to be performed by the beam antenna device 1.

[0036] The first acquisition unit 131 acquires a first angle indicating a rotation angle from a reference position of the first axis, which is sequentially transmitted from the first angle sensor 121, and transmits the first angle to the beam control unit 135. The first acquisition unit 131 may also transmit the first angle to the rotating body control unit 134.

[0037] The second acquisition unit 132 acquires a second angle indicating a rotation angle of the second axis from a reference position, which is sequentially transmitted from the second angle sensor 122, and transmits the second angle to the beam control unit 135. The second acquisition unit 132 may also transmit the second angle to the rotating body control unit 134.

[0038] The position acquisition unit 133 acquires information indicating the position of the HAPS 100. The position acquisition unit 133 may acquire the information indicating the position of the HAPS 100 from, for example, a management device that manages the position of the HAPS 100 or a terrestrial gateway station of a communication system via the communication unit 110. The information indicating the position of the HAPS 100 may be, for example, information on longitude, latitude, and altitude, and may include information indicating where and when the HAPS 100 is located. The position acquisition unit 133 transmits the acquired information indicating the position of the HAPS 100 to the rotor control unit 134.

[0039] The rotating body control unit 134 calculates the rotation angles by which to rotate the first rotating body 12 and the second rotating body 14 based on the transmitted first angle, second angle, and information indicating the position of the HAPS 100. The rotating body control unit 134 transmits the calculated angles to the drive unit 150.

[0040] The beam control unit 135 calculates the direction of antenna directivity formed by the planar antenna 16, and controls the planar antenna 16 so as to form the antenna directivity in the calculated direction. The beam control unit 135 may also be referred to as a PAAM control unit.

[0041] The driving unit 150 controls the first motor 151 so that the rotation angle of the first rotating body 12 from the reference position becomes the angle transmitted from the rotating body control unit 134. The driving unit 150 also controls the second motor 152 so that the rotation angle of the second rotating body 14 from the reference position becomes the angle transmitted from the rotating body control unit 134. Note that, due to the relationship between the torques of the first motor 151 and the second motor 152, it takes some time to reach the desired angle. Therefore, in addition to the rotation control, the beam tracking direction is also controlled by the beam control unit 135.

[0042] Here, a method for calculating the rotation angle and beam direction of each rotator of the beam antenna device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0043] First, the installation angle of the beam antenna device 1 is defined as (θ pitch ,ψ yaw ) ψ yaw is the angle from true north of the reference direction set for the flat plate portion 10. pitch is the angle between the horizontal plane of the flat plate portion 10. In other words, when the reference direction of the flat plate portion 10 is due north, ψ yaw is 0 degrees, and when the flat plate portion 10 is parallel to the horizontal plane, θ pitch will be 0 degrees.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 4, the rotation angle of the first rotor 12 from the reference position is expressed as ψ pan The rotation angle of the second rotor 14 from the reference position is defined as θ tilt Therefore, when the reference direction of the flat plate portion 10 is set to due north, ψ pan is the rotation angle from true north. In addition, the z1 direction (zenith direction) in FIG.

[0045] When the position of the beam antenna device 1 is taken as the origin and the true north direction is taken as the x-axis, the relative position of the HAPS 100 at time t is taken as (x(t), y(t), z(t)), and the reference direction of the flat plate portion 10 is taken as the x-axis, the relative position of the HAPS 100 at time t is taken as (X(t), Y(t), Z(t)).

[0046]

number

[0047] In the above formula (1), Ry and Rz are rotation matrices and satisfy the following.

[0048]

number

[0049]

number

[0050]

number

[0051]

number

[0052] can be calculated, which become the target angles for the first angle and the second angle. That is, the rotating body control unit 134 instructs the drive unit 150 so that the angle of the first axis becomes the angle shown in equation (2) and the angle of the second axis becomes the angle shown in equation (3). The drive unit 150 controls the first motor 151 and the second motor 152 so that the instructed angles are achieved. Note that the first axis and the second axis may not always reach the target angles instantaneously, and it may take time depending on the respective speeds (known speeds) of the first motor 151 and the second motor 152 and the angle difference to the target angle.

[0053] Therefore, during the process in which the drive unit 150 rotates the first rotor 12 and the second rotor 14 to the target angle calculated by the rotor control unit 134, the beam control unit 135 sequentially controls the direction of the beam so that the beam tracking direction according to that position is directed toward HAPS 100.

[0054] As shown in Figures 4 and 5, when the plane formed by the planar antenna 16 is the x2y2 plane and the direction perpendicular to it is the z2 direction (the direction in which the antenna gain is greatest), the beam tracking direction is indicated by arrow BF as shown in Figure 5. Here, x2 and y2 are reference directions previously set for the planar antenna 16, y2 is orthogonal to x2, and z2 is orthogonal to x2 and y2. The angle between arrow BF and the z2 direction is θ BFWhen the arrow BF is lowered onto the x2y2 plane, the angle from the reference direction (x2 direction) on the x2y2 plane is φ BF Let's say.

[0055] The first angle acquired by the first acquisition unit 131, that is, the first angle sequentially sensed by the first angle sensor 121, is defined as ψ' pan The second angle acquired by the second acquisition unit 142, that is, the second angle sequentially sensed by the second angle sensor 122, is defined as θ′. tilt In this case,

[0056]

number

[0057] Based on the equation (4), the beam control unit 135 calculates

[0058]

number

[0059]

number

[0060] That is, the direction in which the antenna formed from the planar antenna 16 is directed (the beam tracking direction) can be calculated.

[0061] The storage unit 140 has a function of storing various programs and data required for the operation of the beam antenna device 1. The storage unit 140 can be realized, for example, by a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a flash memory, etc., but is not limited to these. The storage unit 140 may also be cloud storage accessible by the beam antenna device 1. The storage unit 140 may store various programs and data for realizing the functions to be performed by the beam antenna device 1. The storage unit 140 may store a program for calculating the rotation angle of the first motor 151 that controls the rotation of the first rotor 12 and the rotation angle of the second motor 152 that controls the rotation of the second rotor 14 based on the relative positional relationship between the beam antenna device 1 and the HAPS 100, as well as a program for controlling the rotation of the first rotor 12 and the second rotor 14 based on the calculated rotation angles. The storage unit 140 may also store a program for calculating the beam tracking direction based on the first angle and the second angle.

[0062] The above is an example of the configuration of the beam antenna device 1.

[0063] <Operation> Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the beam antenna device 1. As shown in Fig. 6, the position acquisition unit 133 acquires information indicating the position of the HAPS 100 via the communication unit 110 (step S601). The position acquisition unit 133 transmits the acquired information indicating the position of the HAPS 100 to the rotor control unit 134.

[0064] The rotating body control unit 134 calculates the angles of the first rotating body 12 and the second rotating body 14, i.e., the target angles, based on the acquired information indicating the position of the HAPS 100 (step S602). Then, the rotating body control unit 134 transmits the calculated target angles to the driving unit 150.

[0065] The driving unit 150 starts driving the first motor 151 and the second motor 152 so that the first rotating body 12 and the second rotating body 14 reach the transmitted target angles (step S603).

[0066] The first acquisition unit 131 acquires a first angle that indicates the rotation angle of the first axis from the reference position sensed by the first angle sensor 121, and transmits the first angle to the beam control unit 135 (step S604).

[0067] The second acquisition unit 132 acquires a second angle that indicates the rotation angle of the second axis from the reference position sensed by the second angle sensor 122, and transmits the second angle to the beam control unit 135 (step S605).

[0068] The beam control unit 135 calculates the beam tracking direction based on the transmitted first angle and second angle (step S606), and controls the planar antenna 16 to form the antenna directivity in the calculated direction (step S607).

[0069] The position acquisition unit 133 acquires information indicating the new position of the HAPS 100 (step S608). Then, the position acquisition unit 133 determines whether the position has been updated (step S609). If the position has been updated (YES in step S609), the process returns to step S602.

[0070] If it has not been updated (NO in step S609), the control unit 130 determines whether the angle between the first rotor 12 and the second rotor 14 has reached the calculated target angle (step S610). If the target angle has not been reached (NO in step S610), the control unit 130 returns to the processing of step S604. If the target angle has been reached (YES in step S610), the processing ends. Note that in the processing shown in FIG. 6, if the target angle has been reached, beam tracking control may be performed one last time. If the target angle has been reached, the beam tracking direction should basically be perpendicular to the plane formed by the planar antenna 16.

[0071] <Summary> In this way, the beam antenna device 1 can maintain communication even if the planar antenna 16 is not completely facing the direction of HAPS100 by sequentially controlling the direction of beam tracking in the process of controlling the rotation of the first rotating body 12 and the second rotating body 14 so that the planar antenna 16 faces the direction of HAPS100.

[0072] <Embodiment 2> <Configuration> 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a beam antenna device 1 according to embodiment 2. The beam antenna device 1 according to embodiment 2 differs only in that it does not include the first angle sensor 121 and the second angle sensor 122 and that the control unit 130 acquires both angles (first angle and second angle) by calculation, but the other configurations are the same as those shown in embodiment 1. Here, the differences will be described.

[0073] 7, the beam antenna device 1 according to the second embodiment includes a communication unit 110, an input unit 120, a control unit 130, a storage unit 140, and a drive unit 150. The control unit 130 also includes a first acquisition unit 131, a second acquisition unit 132, a position acquisition unit 133, a rotor control unit 134, and a beam control unit 135.

[0074] Unlike in the first embodiment, the first acquisition unit 131 acquires the current first angle by calculation. Since the first rotating body 12 rotates at a known speed by the first motor 151, the first acquisition unit 131 can calculate the current first angle from the elapsed time from the timing when the driving of the first motor 151 started and the angle of the first rotating body 12 at the start of that control (the cumulative value of the rotation control up to that point). The first acquisition unit 131 transmits the calculated first angle to the beam control unit 135.

[0075] Unlike in the first embodiment, the second acquisition unit 132 acquires the current second angle by calculation. Since the second rotating body 14 rotates at a known speed by the second motor 152, the second acquisition unit 132 can calculate the current second angle from the elapsed time from the timing when the second motor 152 starts to be driven and the angle of the second rotating body 14 at the start of that control (the cumulative value of the rotation control up to that point). The second acquisition unit 132 transmits the calculated second angle to the beam control unit 135.

[0076] The storage unit 140 stores the rotation angles (rotation speeds) of the first motor 151 and the second motor 152 at a predetermined time. The storage unit 140 may also store a program for calculating a first angle and a program for calculating a second angle based on the rotation speeds.

[0077] The other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

[0078] <Operation> Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the beam antenna device 1 according to embodiment 2. As is clear from a comparison of Fig. 8 with Fig. 6, the processes are the same except that the processes of steps S604 and S605 in the flowchart shown in Fig. 6 are replaced by the processes of steps S804 and S805 in Fig. 8. Therefore, only the processes of steps S804 and S805 will be described here, and the other processes will be omitted as they are the same as those of embodiment 1.

[0079] After the first motor 151 and the second motor 152 start to drive (step S603), the first acquisition unit 131 calculates the current first angle based on the elapsed time from the start of control and the rotation speed of the first motor 151 (step S804). The first acquisition unit 131 transmits the calculated first angle to the beam control unit 135.

[0080] Furthermore, the second acquisition unit 132 calculates the current second angle based on the time elapsed since the start of control of the second motor 152 and the rotation speed of the second motor 152 (step S805). The second acquisition unit 132 transmits the calculated second angle to the beam control unit 135.

[0081] As a result, the beam control unit 135 performs beam tracking based on the current first angle and second angle obtained by calculation.

[0082] <Summary> The beam antenna device 1 according to the second embodiment can sequentially control the beam tracking direction because it can acquire the first angle and the second angle by sequential calculation without installing angle sensors in the process of controlling the rotation of the first rotating body 12 and the second rotating body 14 so that the planar antenna 16 faces the direction of the HAPS 100. In this case, it is not necessary to install two angle sensors in the beam antenna device 1, so it is possible to provide a beam antenna device that is lighter and less expensive than the beam antenna device 1 shown in the first embodiment.

[0083] <Modification> The beam antenna device 1 according to the above embodiment is not limited to the above embodiments 1 and 2, and may be realized by other methods. Various modified examples will be described below.

[0084] (1) In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the beam antenna device 1 performs beam tracking on a HAPS circling in the air to perform communication, but the target on which the beam antenna device 1 performs beam tracking is not limited to a HAPS. The target may be any flying object other than a HAPS, such as an airplane, drone, helicopter, or airship, as long as it can circulate in the air and has a communication function.

[0085] (2) In the above embodiment, the beam antenna device 1 itself is configured to have a control mechanism for controlling the device itself, but the mechanism for controlling the angle of each rotator of the beam antenna device 1 and the angle of the beam formed by the planar antenna 16 may exist as an information processing device external to the beam antenna device 1. In that case, the angle of each rotator and the angle of the beam may be instructed to the beam antenna device 1 via communication from the outside. In this case, the beam antenna device 1 may receive information on the angle of the rotator and the angle of the beam from the information processing device and control the rotator and the beam so that the angle becomes the received angle.

[0086] (3) In the above embodiment, the flat plate portion 10 of the beam antenna device 1 may be installed at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal plane. In this case, the beam antenna device 1 can be configured to rotate virtually infinitely, making it easier for the HAPS 100 to follow the rotation.

[0087] (4) A program for the beam antenna device 1 of the present disclosure to calculate the rotation angles of the first rotor 12 and the second rotor 14 and the beam angle of the planar antenna 16 based on the position of the flying object (HAPS) and control the angles of the rotors and the beam of the beam antenna device 1 may be provided in a state stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The storage medium can store the program in a "non-transitory tangible medium." The storage medium can include any suitable storage medium, such as an HDD or an SSD, or an appropriate combination of two or more of these. The storage medium may be volatile, non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile. Note that the storage medium is not limited to these examples and may be any device or medium capable of storing the program.

[0088] The beam antenna device 1 can realize the functions of the multiple functional units shown in each embodiment by, for example, reading a program stored in a storage medium and executing the read program. The program may also be provided to the beam antenna device 1 via any transmission medium (such as a communication network or broadcast waves). The beam antenna device 1 realizes the functions of the multiple functional units shown in each embodiment by, for example, executing a program downloaded via the Internet or the like. This program may be executed by the beam antenna device 1 or the like.

[0089] The program can be implemented using, for example, a scripting language such as ActionScript or JavaScript (registered trademark), an object-oriented programming language such as Objective-C, Java (registered trademark), or Python (registered trademark), or a markup language such as HTML5, but is not limited to these.

[0090] At least a part of the processing in the beam antenna device 1 may be realized by cloud computing consisting of one or more computers. Furthermore, each functional unit of the beam antenna device 1 may be realized by one or more circuits that realize the functions described in the above embodiments, and the functions of multiple functional units may be realized by one circuit.

[0091] (5) The configurations and processes of the beam antenna device 1 described in the above embodiment may be combined or modified in any way as long as it is suitable for achieving the purpose. For example, the processes of steps S604 and S605 may be executed in parallel, or may be executed in the order of S605 and S604.

[0092] (6) According to each aspect of the present disclosure described above, a beam antenna device can be provided that provides communication services by performing seamless beam tracking between a base station orbiting in the air (HAPS), thereby contributing to the achievement of Goal 9 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is to “build infrastructure, promote industry, innovation and foster innovation.” [Explanation of symbols]

[0093] 1 Beam antenna device 10 Flat plate part 11 First shaft 12 First rotating body 13 Second shaft 14 Second rotating body 15 Antenna installation section 16 Planar Antenna 100 HAPS 110 Communications Department 120 Input section 121 First angle sensor 122 Second angle sensor 130 control section 131 First acquisition part 132 Second Acquisition Department 133 Position acquisition part 134 Rotating body control unit 135 Beam control unit 140 Storage section 150 Drive unit 151 First Motor 152 Second Motor 300(300a, 300b) terminal

Claims

1. A flat plate portion, a first rotating body that rotates around a first axis perpendicular to the flat plate portion; a second rotating body having a second axis perpendicular to the first axis as a rotation axis; a flat-plate phased array antenna that has a line perpendicular to the second axis as a perpendicular line and rotates in accordance with the rotation of the second rotor about the second axis, a position acquisition unit that acquires the position of the aerial platform through communication from a management device that manages the position of the aerial platform or a ground gateway of a communication system; a rotor control unit that controls the first rotor and the second rotor based on a position of the aerial platform so that a plane of the phased array antenna faces the aerial platform; a beam control unit that controls a direction of beam tracking by the phased array antenna in accordance with a rotation angle between the first rotating body and the second rotating body; Equipped with The rotating body control unit The installation angle of the beam antenna device is defined as (θ pitch , ψ yaw ), where ψ yaw is the angle from true north of a reference direction set for the flat plate portion, θ pitch is the angle between the flat plate portion and the horizontal plane, ψ pan is the rotation angle from the reference position of the first rotating body, and θ tilt is the rotation angle from the reference position of the second rotating body, When the position of the beam antenna device is taken as the origin and the true north direction is taken as the x-axis, the relative position of the aerial platform at time t is taken as (x(t), y(t), z(t)), and when the reference direction of the flat plate section is taken as the x-axis, the relative position of the aerial platform at time t is taken as (X(t), Y(t), Z(t)), [Equation 1] In the above formula (1), Ry and Rz are rotation matrices, [Equation 2] [Equation 3] and from the above formula (1), [Equation 4] [Equation 5] and controlling the first rotating body and the second rotating body so that The beam control unit When the current angle of the first rotating body is ψ' pan and the current angle of the second rotating body is θ' tilt , [Equation 6] and from the formula (2), [Equation 7] [Equation 8] The beam tracking direction is controlled so that computer.

2. a first acquisition unit that acquires a first rotation angle of the first axis from a reference position; a second acquisition unit that acquires a second rotation angle of the second axis from a reference position; Equipped with The rotating body control unit controls the first rotating body and the second rotating body based on the first rotation angle, the second rotation angle, and the position acquired by the position acquisition unit.

2. The computer of claim 1.

3. a first angle sensor that measures a rotation angle of the first shaft; a second angle sensor that measures a rotation angle of the second shaft, the first acquisition unit acquires the rotation angle measured by the first angle sensor as the first rotation angle; the second acquisition unit acquires the rotation angle measured by the second angle sensor as the second rotation angle; The beam control unit controls the direction of the beam tracking based on the first rotation angle acquired by the first angle sensor and the second rotation angle acquired by the second angle sensor until the angle between the first rotation body and the second rotation body reaches a target angle by the rotation body control unit.

3. The computer of claim 2.

4. a first motor that rotates the first rotor; a second motor that rotates the second rotating body, the first acquisition unit calculates the first rotation angle based on a rotation angle per unit time of the first motor and an elapsed time from a start time of rotation control by the rotating body control unit; the second acquisition unit calculates the second rotation angle based on a rotation angle per unit time of the second motor and an elapsed time from a start time of rotation control by the rotating body control unit; The beam control unit controls the direction of the beam tracking based on the first rotation angle calculated by the first acquisition unit and the second rotation angle acquired by the second acquisition unit until the angle between the first rotation unit and the second rotation unit reaches a target angle by the rotation unit control unit.

3. The computer of claim 2.

5. A flat plate portion, a first rotating body that rotates around a first axis perpendicular to the flat plate portion; a second rotating body having a second axis perpendicular to the first axis as a rotation axis; a flat-plate phased array antenna that has a line perpendicular to the second axis as a perpendicular line and rotates in accordance with the rotation of the second rotor about the second axis, a position acquisition step of acquiring the position of the aerial platform through communication from a management device that manages the position of the aerial platform or a ground gateway of a communication system; a rotor control step of controlling the first rotor and the second rotor based on a position of the aerial platform so that a plane of the phased array antenna faces the aerial platform; a beam control step of controlling a direction of beam tracking by the phased array antenna in accordance with a rotation angle between the first rotating body and the second rotating body; A control method for executing The rotating body control step includes: The installation angle of the beam antenna device is defined as (θ pitch , ψ yaw ), where ψ yaw is the angle from true north of a reference direction set for the flat plate portion, θ pitch is the angle between the flat plate portion and the horizontal plane, ψ pan is the rotation angle from the reference position of the first rotating body, and θ tilt is the rotation angle from the reference position of the second rotating body, When the position of the beam antenna device is taken as the origin and the true north direction is taken as the x-axis, the relative position of the aerial platform at time t is taken as (x(t), y(t), z(t)), and when the reference direction of the flat plate section is taken as the x-axis, the relative position of the aerial platform at time t is taken as (X(t), Y(t), Z(t)), [Equation 9] In the above formula (1), Ry and Rz are rotation matrices, [Equation 10] [0011] and from the above formula (1), [0012] [0013] and controlling the first rotating body and the second rotating body so that The beam control step includes: When the current angle of the first rotating body is ψ' pan and the current angle of the second rotating body is θ' tilt , [0014] and from the formula (2), [Equation 15] [0016] A control method for controlling the beam tracking direction so that

6. A flat plate portion, a first rotating body that rotates around a first axis perpendicular to the flat plate portion; a second rotating body having a second axis perpendicular to the first axis as a rotation axis; a flat-plate phased array antenna that has a line perpendicular to the second axis as a perpendicular line and rotates in accordance with the rotation of the second rotor about the second axis, a position acquisition function that acquires the position of the aerial platform through communication from a management device that manages the position of the aerial platform or a ground gateway of a communication system; a rotor control function that controls the first rotor and the second rotor based on the position of the aerial platform so that the plane of the phased array antenna faces the aerial platform; a beam control function that controls a direction of beam tracking by the phased array antenna in accordance with a rotation angle between the first rotating body and the second rotating body; A control program that executes The rotating body control function is The installation angle of the beam antenna device is defined as (θ pitch , ψ yaw ), where ψ yaw is the angle from true north of a reference direction set for the flat plate portion, θ pitch is the angle between the flat plate portion and the horizontal plane, ψ pan is the rotation angle from the reference position of the first rotating body, and θ tilt is the rotation angle from the reference position of the second rotating body, When the position of the beam antenna device is taken as the origin and the true north direction is taken as the x-axis, the relative position of the aerial platform at time t is taken as (x(t), y(t), z(t)), and when the reference direction of the flat plate section is taken as the x-axis, the relative position of the aerial platform at time t is taken as (X(t), Y(t), Z(t)), [Equation 17] In the above formula (1), Ry and Rz are rotation matrices, [Equation 18] [Equation 19] and from the above formula (1), [Equation 20] [Equation 21] and controlling the first rotating body and the second rotating body so that The beam control function includes: When the current angle of the first rotating body is ψ' pan and the current angle of the second rotating body is θ' tilt , [Equation 22] and from the formula (2), [Equation 23] [0000] a control program for controlling the beam tracking direction so that

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