122 results about "Mobile antennas" patented technology

A substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) slot full-array antenna fabricated employing printed circuit board technology. The SIW slot full-array antenna using either single or multi-layer structures greatly reduces the overall height and physical steering requirements of a mobile antenna when compared to a conventional metallic waveguide slot array antenna. The SIW slot full-array antenna is fabricated using a low-loss dielectric substrate with top and bottom metal plating. An array of radiating cross-slots is etched in to the top plating to produce circular polarization at a selected tilt-angle. Lines of spaced-apart, metal-lined vias form the sidewalls of the waveguides and feeding network. In multi-layer structures, the adjoining layers are coupled by transverse slots at the interface of the two layers.

A substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) slot full-array antenna fabricated employing printed circuit board technology. The SIW slot full-array antenna using either single or multi-layer structures greatly reduces the overall height and physical steering requirements of a mobile antenna when compared to a conventional metallic waveguide slot array antenna. The SIW slot full-array antenna is fabricated using a low-loss dielectric substrate with top and bottom metal plating. An array of radiating cross-slots is etched in to the top plating to produce circular polarization at a selected tilt-angle. Lines of spaced-apart, metal-lined vias form the sidewalls of the waveguides and feeding network. In multi-layer structures, the adjoining layers are coupled by transverse slots at the interface of the two layers.

The present invention provides a system and method for multi-path simulation that employs a shielded anechoic chamber to avoid external electromagnetic interference and other uncontrollable transmission paths during testing, and simulates a main indirect transmission path by a reflector within the chamber. An attenuating device is used to attenuate signals, thereby simulating the signal attenuation during transmission. The shielded anechoic chamber also includes a movable platform and a turntable, both controlled by a control unit, for carrying a dipole antenna and a wireless communication device to be tested respectively. The movable platform is used to shift the antenna, thereby simulating the phase shift between a direct path and a main indirect path of the system; the turntable is used to change the reception azimuth of the communication device, thereby measuring the performance of the device in various azimuth angles.

A technique for boresighting an antenna mounted on a moving platform is described. The technique uses a concurrently moving calibration target. Target navigation data and platform navigation data are used to compensate for movement of the target and the platform. The antenna pointing direction is biased in a direction which provides a best signal quality, and the bias used to determine antenna boresight calibration factors. The boresight correction factors can be used for open loop pointing.

Aspects of the disclosure provide a handoff procedure for a satellite communication system such as a broadband low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication system. A gateway and a user terminal (UT) coordinate and schedule a satellite-to-satellite handoff in such a way that there are no messaging round-trip delays between the last return service link (RSL) packet transmitted from the user terminal to the source satellite and the first RSL packet transmitted from the user terminal to the target satellite. Therefore, an outage on the return link (from the user terminal to the gateway) can be limited to the actual time for moving the antenna feed from the source satellite to the target satellite. Furthermore, an outage on the forward link (from the gateway to the user terminal) can be limited to a single round-trip delay in addition to the time for moving the antenna feed.

Antenna system that includes a plurality of antenna arrangements, each having one or more ports, and all ports connected through transmission lines in a combining / splitting circuit. The antenna arrangements form a spatial phased array able to track a satellite in an elevation plane by mechanically rotating the antenna arrangements about transverse axes giving rise to generation of respective elevation angles and changing the respective distances between the axes in a predefined relationship with the respective elevation angles. The combining / splitting circuit provides phasing and signal delay in order to maintain pre configured radiating parameters. The arrangements can be mounted on a rotating platform to provide azimuth tracking. The system provides dynamic tracking of satellite signals and can be used for satellite communications on moving vehicles.

Pedestrian transportable antenna systems can include an antenna mount and an antenna for satellite based or other communication mounted on a top face of the antenna mount. A bottom face of the antenna mount may be attached to a bendable rigid rod that is sufficiently rigid to provide support for the mounted antenna such that a user can walk around with the antenna deployed while the bendable rigid rod of the antenna system is mounted to the user's back (e.g., mounting into a back portion of a vest or flak jacket). The bendable rigid rod is sufficiently rigid to support the antenna without allowing the rod to “flop” over under the load of the antenna. At the same time, the rod is sufficiently bendable so as to permit the system to be drawn closer into a user's body when the antenna is not deployed (e.g., while stepping into a vehicle).

An antenna with polarization switching comprises a support comprising at least two faces each supporting a plurality of waveguides fed with radiofrequency signals and pierced with apertures disposed so as to illuminate radiating elements placed some distance from the said apertures. For at least one given antenna pointing, the said support is able to toggle between at least two different configurations, the said support being configured so as to place, in the second configuration, the second face in a position identical to that taken by the first face in the first configuration, several radiating elements of the first face being, in the said position, oriented differently from radiating elements of the second face. It applies notably to the switching of antennas embedded onboard moving objects on the ground having to operate high-speed communications with a satellite, in particular a geostationary satellite.

Methods and apparatuses for measuring static and dynamic pressures in harsh environments are disclosed. A pressure sensor according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a diaphragm constructed from materials designed to operate in harsh environments. A waveguide may be operably connected to the diaphragm, and an electromagnetic wave producing and receiving (e.g., sensing) device may be attached to the waveguide, opposite the diaphragm. A handle may be connected between the diaphragm and the waveguide to provide both structural support and electrical functionality for the sensor. A gap may be included between the handle and the diaphragm, allowing the diaphragm to move freely. An antenna and a ground plane may be formed on the diaphragm or the handle. Electromagnetic waves may be reflected off the antenna and detected to directly measure static and dynamic pressures applied to the diaphragm.

A device 20 includes a receiver 21 for receiving and processing signals at least in a first frequency band and an antenna 216 which is connected to the receiver 21. In order to improve the performance of such a receiver, the device 20 in addition includes a tuning component 217 for shifting a frequency response of the antenna 216 from the first frequency band to a second frequency band. Further, the device 20 includes a controlling portion 221 causing the tuning component 217 to shift the frequency response of the antenna 216 from the first frequency band to the second frequency band, in case a wideband noise is expected in the first frequency band. A corresponding method is shown as well.

A system and method is disclosed for improving downlink performance of an adaptive antenna array in a vehicular environment. The system comprises a mobile station that has a first mobile antenna and a second mobile antenna. A spatial signature estimator associated with a base transceiver station obtains spatial signatures from signals from the first mobile antenna and from the second mobile antenna within an uplink interval. Correlation circuitry uses the spatial signatures to identify a least changing spatial signature to obtain an optimal downlink beamforming weight vector to be used in the transmission of a signal to the mobile station in the next downlink interval.

An antenna-receiver communications system and method is provided to mechanize multibeam mobile antenna-receive subsystems. Digital beam forming for modern wideband mobile communications systems is provided. In an aspect, subsystems can simultaneously receive, acquire, track and output a multiplicity of signals from sources of different locations using a single antenna aperture from a mobile platform. The angle of arrival of a signal of interest is continuously determined. Individual phased array antenna output channels are phased aligned as required by the phased array equation and monopulse signal processing. Angle sensing and beamsteering are separated from antenna channel coherent summation. Thus, the angle sensing and beamsteering functions are not required to be computed at the data rate, but can instead be computed at a rate necessary for the beam acquisition and beam tracking function speed requirements. Signal processing computational load and system cost is reduced as compared to current systems.

An antenna-receiver communications system and method is provided to mechanize multibeam mobile antenna-receive subsystems. Digital beam forming for modern wideband mobile communications systems is provided. In an aspect, subsystems can simultaneously receive, acquire, track and output a multiplicity of signals from sources of different locations using a single antenna aperture from a mobile platform. The angle of arrival of a signal of interest is continuously determined. Individual phased array antenna output channels are phased aligned as required by the phased array equation and monopulse signal processing. Angle sensing and beamsteering are separated from antenna channel coherent summation. Thus, the angle sensing and beamsteering functions are not required to be computed at the data rate, but can instead be computed at a rate necessary for the beam acquisition and beam tracking function speed requirements. Signal processing computational load and system cost is reduced as compared to current systems.

In a mobile antenna, an electrically conductive antenna element has a first portion with one end and the other end extending therefrom. The one end of the first portion is arranged at least adjacent to any one of a first support portion, a second support portion, and a corner portion of a body of a vehicle. The one end of the first portion is electrically connected to a feeding point. The other end of the first portion is arranged along a surface of the window such that polarized surfaces formed by the antenna element are non-orthogonal to a polarized surface of each of a vertically polarized wave and a horizontally polarized wave in radio waves.

A preferred embodiment of a hand-held radio frequency identification reader includes a first casing suitable for being grasped by a user, a second casing, and a transceiver housed within one of the first and second casings. The reader also includes an antenna housed within the second casing and communicatively coupled to the transceiver for communicatively coupling the reader to a radio frequency identification tag. The second casing is movably coupled to the first casing so that the second casing can be aligned with the radio frequency identification tag to substantially maximize a read distance of the reader while the first casing is held in a substantially fixed position in relation to the radio frequency identification tag.

A preferred embodiment of a hand-held radio frequency identification reader includes a first casing suitable for being grasped by a user, a second casing, and a transceiver housed within one of the first and second casings. The reader also includes an antenna housed within the second casing and communicatively coupled to the transceiver for communicatively coupling the reader to a radio frequency identification tag. The second casing is movably coupled to the first casing so that the second casing can be aligned with the radio frequency identification tag to substantially maximize a read distance of the reader while the first casing is held in a substantially fixed position in relation to the radio frequency identification tag.

An antenna includes a non-conductive pane, a ground plane disposed on the non-conductive pane, and a radiating strip disposed on the non-conductive pane for operating in a plurality of frequency bands. The radiating strip defines a plurality of loops. A portion of a periphery of one of the loops coincides with at least a portion of a periphery of another of the loops. The radiating strip also includes at least one branch extending away from the periphery of one of the loops to allow tuning and shifting of the resonant frequencies of the antenna.

Antenna assembly for satellite tracking system that includes a plurality of antenna arrangements, each having one or more ports, and all ports connected through transmission lines in a combining / splitting circuit. The antenna arrangements form a spatial element array able to track a satellite in an elevation plane by mechanically dynamically rotating the antenna arrangements about transverse axes giving rise to generation of respective elevation angles and dynamically changing the respective distances between the axes whilst maintaining a predefined relationship between said distances and the respective elevation angles. The combining / splitting circuit provides phasing and signal delay in order to maintain pre configured radiating parameters. The arrangements can be mounted on a rotating platform to provide azimuth tracking. The system provides dynamic tracking of satellite signals and can be used for satellite communications on moving vehicles.

A system and method for compensating for changes in relative antenna attitude in a single-receiver position detection system, such as a differential carrier phase GPS system, utilizes sensor input to detect changes in the relative attitude of at least two antennas or an antenna positioner, such as an motorized actuator or operator, that orients or re-orients the antennas to a predetermined orientation. The changes in the detected relative carrier phase due to the right hand circular polarized nature of the carrier signals are thus corrected. In this way, the high positional accuracy associated with kinematic GPS systems, for example, can be achieved even when the system's antennas are not constrained by a common rigid body, for example.

A mobile antenna includes a center-fed, broadband, dipole radiator, and a coupler assembly for mounting the dipole radiator to a mount. A power matching circuit is connected between the dipole radiator and the coupler assembly to maintain an effective balance of current distribution and impedance in conductive elements of the antenna.

Apparatus for reading RFID tags of picked goods as they are loaded onto a picked pallet, and a method of picking and tracking goods using the device. The invention is mounted on a pallet support on a pallet conveyance, and has an RFID interrogator connected to at least one antenna mounted on a vertically movable antenna mount. The interrogator triggers the transponders in the goods and sends the decoded replies to the control unit. An object sensor adjacent to the antenna senses the presence of goods, and a control unit controls the movable antenna mount to raise the antenna mount above the goods. A computer having a display visible to an operator loading the pallet conveyance is used to communicate with the operator, confirming the loaded goods are the correct ones, and tracking inventory loaded on the conveyance. A barcode reader may be located on the antenna mount.

A method and apparatus for steering a beam from a phased array antenna mounted on a mobile platform. Rate sensors mounted on the phased array antenna are used to update lower bandwidth data from the mobile platform, resulting in improved pointing performance.

The electronic device is for at least one of transmitting and receiving signals, has a housing 500 and at least a GPS (Global Positioning System) antenna 510 that is operatively connected to the housing 500. A control system 708 automatically moves the GPS antenna 510 from a docked position relative to the housing 500 to a deployed position relative to the housing 500 in response to an occurrence of at least one predetermined event.

Aspects of the disclosure provide a handoff procedure for a satellite communication system such as a broadband low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication system. A gateway and a user terminal (UT) coordinate and schedule a satellite-to-satellite handoff in such a way that there are no messaging round-trip delays between the last return service link (RSL) packet transmitted from the user terminal to the source satellite and the first RSL packet transmitted from the user terminal to the target satellite. Therefore, an outage on the return link (from the user terminal to the gateway) can be limited to the actual time for moving the antenna feed from the source satellite to the target satellite. Furthermore, an outage on the forward link (from the gateway to the user terminal) can be limited to a single round-trip delay in addition to the time for moving the antenna feed.

A wireless communication device includes a housing, and a retractable combination speaker box and antenna mechanism operably coupled with the housing. The retractable combination speaker box and antenna mechanism includes a speaker box with an enclosed acoustic volume, and an antenna. The retractable combination speaker box and antenna mechanism is movable between at least a retracted position where the retractable combination speaker box and antenna mechanism is adjacent with the housing, the antenna is in a retracted condition, and the speaker box includes a retracted enclosed acoustic volume, and a deployed position where the retractable combination speaker box and antenna mechanism is moved away from the housing, the antenna is in a deployed condition farther away from the housing than the retracted condition, and the speaker box includes a deployed enclosed acoustic volume that is greater than the retracted enclosed acoustic volume.

Tracking system for flat mobile antenna, which includes: sensors for angular velocity (1), which sense the rotation of the antenna around their axes; sensors, sensing the orientation of the antenna according to vertical axis (2); control block (3), which calculates necessary corrections of the direction of antenna beam and which is connected to outputs of sensors (1, 2) and with inputs of driving block (4) and beam control block (5); at least one motor (7), which changes the orientation of the antenna and which is connected to the output of driving block (4) and which drives the antenna panel (8); block for electronic beam steering (5), which is connected to antenna panel (8); power supply block, which converts the voltage from the electrical network of the vehicle into suitable values for providing of power supply of all blocks of the system.

Methods and systems for wireless communication are disclosed herein and may include sampling a portion of a transmitted wireless signal which gets coupled to receiver circuitry in a receive chain during transmission via an antenna. The DC level corresponding to the sampled portion of the transmitted wireless signal may be measured. The transmit power corresponding to the transmitted wireless signal may be adjusted based on the measured DC level. The antenna may include a mobile antenna, which may be coupled to a wireless terminal. The sampled portion of the transmitted wireless signal may be buffered. The buffered portion of the transmitted wireless signal may be multiplied with the transmitted wireless signal to generate a multiplied signal, and the DC level may be measured using the multiplied signal. A control signal may be generated based on the measured DC level and, for example, a look-up table.