Antenna Tracking Profile Estimation for RF Autotracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional RF autotracking systems for spacecraft antennas rely on ground-based RF beacons for pointing accuracy, leading to performance degradation during beacon outages, which can be costly to mitigate with redundancy.
Innovation Solution
An antenna tracking profile estimator uses historical data from unaffected antennas combined with real-time information to calculate a desired tracking profile, enabling accurate antenna pointing even without a ground-based RF beacon, by storing and processing actuation records and offset data to generate actuation commands for the affected antenna.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If ground-based RF beacons are used for antenna pointing, then pointing accuracy is improved, but system cost increases due to required redundancy for beacon outages
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the ground beacon signal by estimating the antenna tracking profile using historical data and unaffected antenna measurements. This estimated profile serves as a substitute for the actual beacon signal, allowing the affected antenna to maintain pointing accuracy without requiring physical beacon redundancy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary estimation system that mediates between the unaffected antennas and the affected antenna. This system processes data from healthy antennas and generates corrective tracking profiles that compensate for beacon outage effects on the affected antenna, eliminating the need for direct beacon redundancy.
2Reliability
If redundant ground beacons are provided to mitigate outage, then reliability is improved, but system cost increases substantially
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the antenna system to self-correct during beacon outages by using its own historical tracking data and measurements from unaffected antennas. The estimation system processes available data to generate corrective profiles, allowing the system to maintain reliability without external beacon redundancy or complex failover mechanisms.
3Measurement precision
If thermal distortion estimation is used, then thermal distortion correction is improved, but vehicle transient disturbances are not corrected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends the correction capability beyond thermal distortion to include vehicle transient disturbances and other pointing errors. By using measurements from unaffected antennas and historical tracking data, the estimation system generates comprehensive tracking profiles that address multiple error sources simultaneously, making the system versatile against various disturbance types.
Data Source
AI summary
Estimation of a desired antenna tracking profile is provided for a radio frequency autotracked (RFAT) antenna in the absence of a ground reference. A first RFAT antenna subsystem has a first antenna and a first antenna positioning mechanism (APM), each mounted on a vehicle, and a first ground-based RF beacon; a second RFAT antenna subsystem has a second antenna and a second APM, each mounted on the vehicle, and a second ground-based RF beacon. A controller stores an accumulated record of actuations of the second APM as a function of time under normal operation, calculates a desired antenna tracking profile for the second antenna, from a first ground-based RF beacon and from the accumulated record, excluding any real-time data from the second ground-based RF beacon, and transmits actuation commands to the second APM so as to cause the second antenna to track the desired antenna tracking profile.