Hughes Electronics Corporation

Mohammad N Bukhari

David Alan Roos

Thomas Jackson

Mohammad Soleimani

John E Corrigan, Iii

Hai Quang Tang

David Bourner

Robert Hannah

A VSAT communications outdoor unit for satellite communications has a saturated amplifier transmission circuit and a voltage detector. The voltage detector detects insufficient voltage to operate the transmission circuit. A signal generator connects and is responsive to a voltage detector output. The signal generator indicates with an external output that the transmitter is disabled. Preferably, the external output is separate from a link to the indoor unit. A switch for switching between the signal generator and an antenna pointing output responds to the voltage detector output.

Low voltage indication for non-intelligent ODU equipment

A VSAT system for generating and transmitting a modulated data signal to a satellite. The VSAT system includes an indoor unit for generating a modulated data signal having an envelope of constant amplitude, and an outdoor unit including a transmitter module operative to receive the modulated data signal and to frequency multiply and amplify the modulated data signal so as to produce a modulated carrier signal having an envelope of constant amplitude. The transmitter module includes a multiplier operative to frequency multiply the modulated data signal to the frequency of the modulated carrier signal, and a power amplifier operated in the saturation mode, which amplifies the modulated carrier signal to the desired power level. The components constituting the transmitter module are formed on a single integrated circuit.

VSAT system

An apparatus for positioning a directional antenna of a remote ground terminal which transmits and receives signals to and from a satellite via the antenna. The apparatus includes a signal generator for producing a frequency variable reference signal having a variable duty cycle, and a controller which operates to analyze the signals received from the satellite and to vary the duty cycle of the reference signal in accordance with an identification tag forming part of the received signals. The apparatus further includes a detector which receives the reference signal and produces an antenna pointing signal having an average amplitude proportional to the duty cycle of the reference signal. The controller commands the signal generator to produce a reference signal having a first duty cycle when a signal having an identification tag not corresponding to a designated central hub station is received by the antenna, and a reference signal having a second duty cycle when a signal having an identification tag corresponding to the designated central hub station is received by the antenna. The reference signal having the first duty cycle causes the average amplitude of the antenna pointing signal to equal a first value, while a reference signal having the second duty cycle causes the average amplitude of the antenna pointing signal to equal a second value. During installation, the antenna is rotated until the average amplitude of the antenna pointing signal equals the second value.

Apparatus for positioning an antenna in a remote ground terminal

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Germantown, MD, United States of America

Mohammad N Bukhari