The Boeing Company

Michael A Whelan

James P Scott

Bradley A Scott

Dennis L Gould

Thomas Rust, Iii

Gregory Kim

Jonathan M Allison

Emily C Widder

A device includes an antenna controller configured to direct a beam to track a first satellite that follows an orbit having a transit arranged to intersect a transit of one or more other satellites to form a closed loop. The antenna controller is also configured to switch a tracking target of the beam from the first satellite to a second satellite of the one or more other satellites when the first satellite and the second satellite are at a first intersection of the transits that form the closed loop.

Satellite coverage using eye orbits

The invention comprises a game with a playing surface containing cups for receiving balls thrown by a player. In the skill portion of the game, a player scores points by accurately throwing the balls into the cups. If the player misses any of the cups, in a chance portion of the game, the playing surface is sloped to direct the ball to fall into compartments which provide additional benefits or to incur penalties. When playing the game with the baseball theme, a player may score runs by successfully throwing the ball into cups on the playing surface positioned at the first base, second base, third base, or home plate positions. Runners advancing past home plate score runs. Outs may be recorded for missing the cups. If the ball misses the cups, but falls into randomized compartments, the player may receive additional benefits or incur additional penalties.

Portable indoor-outdoor board game

A satellite payload system is presented. The system includes plurality of optical processing modules, including a plurality of ring-connected optical processing modules and at least one inter-satellite optical processing module, and at least one optical fiber ring communicatively coupled to each of the ring-connected optical processing modules. At least one of the ring-connected optical processing modules is configured to provide on-board signal processing of signals conveyed on the at least one optical fiber ring. At least one of the ring-connected optical processing modules is communicatively coupled to a respective inter-satellite optical processing module. Each inter-satellite optical processing module is configured to optically communicatively couple to a respective remote satellite.

Photonic lambda switching for satellites

A satellite payload system is disclosed. The satellite payload system includes a plurality of optical processing modules, each including: a module input including an optical splitter, a module output including an optical coupler, a dynamic gain equalizer, an output bank of optical filters, and an input bank of optical filters; where the plurality of optical processing modules include ring-connected optical processing modules and inter-satellite optical processing modules; and at least one optical fiber ring communicatively coupled to each of the ring-connected optical processing modules; where at least one of the ring-connected optical processing modules is configured to provide on-board signal processing of wavelengths; where a plurality of the ring-connected optical processing modules are each communicatively coupled to a respective inter-satellite optical processing module; where each inter-satellite optical processing module is configured to optically communicatively couple to a respective remote satellite via its module input and via its module output.

In one aspect a satellite comprises a body, a solid state power amplifier, a heat acquisition and transfer device positioned proximate at least one heat generating element on the solid state power amplifier, and a heat rejection device in thermal communication with the heat acquisition and transfer device to reject heat acquired from the solid state power amplifier. Other aspects may be described.

System and method to remove heat from a power amplifier

A spacecraft, having a satellite receiver, that is configured so that the direction of the downlink beams transmitted from the satellite receiver depends on the location of the uplink signals transmitted from the ground and not the attitude of the spacecraft in space.

Spatial beamforming radio repeater

A method and apparatus for managing a multi-port amplifier. In one illustrative embodiment, an apparatus comprises the multi-port amplifier and a controller. The multi-port amplifier is configured to amplify a plurality of signals to form a plurality of amplified signals. The controller is configured to send a plurality of control adjustments to a plurality of equalizers in the multi-port amplifier to improve leakage performance of the multi-port amplifier.

Growing community of inventors

Rancho Palos, CA, United States of America

Michael A Whelan