Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation

Trw Limited

Michael L Narigon

Todd L Mendenhall

A communication system employing an optical beam suitable for transmission of data between a first terminal and a second terminal . The apparatus transmits beam from terminal with two different scan patterns, a rosette pattern or for the central part of the scan, and a spiral pattern for the remainder of the scan.

Satellite communication optical beam acquisition techniques using a plurality of scan patterns

A communication system employing an optical beam suitable for transmission of data between a first terminal and a second terminal . The apparatus aligns beam from terminal with a beam receptor located in terminal within a first uncertainty region TU which enables tracking of data with beam . Optics enables receipt of beam and transmission of the beam along a path . A positioning mechanism points the optics to the location of the terminal within a second uncertainty region TU. An acquisition sensor receives at least a portion of beam and locates the terminal within a third uncertainty region, such as the region represented by detector quadrant AQ , which is larger than region TU but smaller than region RU . A controller responsive to locating of terminal causes positioning mechanism to move at least a portion of optics to successively adjust the position of the beam path relative to acquisition sensor . As a result, the size of the third uncertainty region TU to facilitate the commencement of tracking of beam

Growing community of inventors

Redondo Beach, CA, United States of America

Michael L Narigon