Hughes Network Systems, LLC

Hughes Electronics Corporation

The Directv Group, Inc.

Intellian Technologies, Inc.

Peter Hou

Bingqian Lu

Thomas Jackson

Hamad Alsawaha

Yilin Mao

Taiwei Yue

Jack Lundstedt

Lin-Nan Lee

David Alan Roos

John Corrigan

Victor Liau

Guo Chen

Barre Lankford

Brian Clough

Kunj Desai

Stan Kay

George Eapen

Lin-nan Lee

Harry Johnson

Larry Cronise

Edmund Lott

Christopher Steven Merola

Rajesh Joshi

Junyu Shen

Richard Sims

Peter McLaren

Lawrence Cronise

David Farrow

Jogender Nagar

Ling Shen

Xing-Xiang Liu

Anthony Fanelli

Ramesh Kollipara

Patrick Marrone

John Schmid

Keith Russell

Arul Thangavelu

Prakash Hari

Ross Thomson

A hybrid scanning antenna including: a reflector having a focal line; a first mechanical movement to move the reflector about a first axis; a second mechanical movement to move the reflector about a second axis; a linear array fixedly disposed along the focal line to electronically scan at a scan angle about a third axis; and a controller to control the first mechanical movement, the second mechanical movement and the scan angle of the linear array to orient the hybrid scanning antenna to a look angle of a remote transceiver.

Hybrid scanning antenna

An apparatus and method for producing a low loss printed circuit board (PCB). The PCB includes an antenna patch, a ground plane, and a polarizer. The antenna patch consists of a plastic base having a first plurality of circuit patterns formed directly on its top surface. The ground plane is formed directly on a bottom surface of the plastic base used for the antenna patch, and contains one or more coupling circuit patterns. A polarizer spacer is provided on the antenna patch to provide separation from the polarizer. The polarizer also consists of a second plastic base having a second plurality of circuit patterns formed directly thereon.

Low cost, low loss material for microwave or antenna printed circuit board

A system for reducing antenna spillover in a satellite communications system is disclosed. The system may include an apparatus comprising an antenna terminal, which in turn may include a sub-reflector and a main reflector. The main reflector may include at least one of an extension, a shroud, and a serrated edge. The extension may be a full rim extension or a partial extension. The shroud may be a full shroud or a partial shroud. The serrated edge may include a straight serration or a curved serration, the serrated edge also having various dimensions and profiles. In some examples, the sub-reflector and the main reflector of the antenna terminal may be provided and configured to reduce antenna spillover in accordance with antenna performance and interference restrictions set forth by one or more governing bodies.

Reducing reflector antenna spillover lobes and back lobes in satellite communication systems

A system and method for tracking non-geo synchronous orbit satellites on orbiting planes of regular motion patterns. The method includes providing a first satellites moving in a direction descending in latitude in first orbital planes and a second satellites moving in a direction ascending in latitude in second orbital planes; steering an antenna to an antenna tilt φ from normal with a single axis mechanism lined up with a first axis; scanning, electronically, with a linear array at a scan angle ψ along a second axis; and locking to a signal from a handed-from satellite from the first satellites, where the first axis is angled from the second axis, the steering along the first axis and the scanning along the second axis jointly track the handed-from satellite, the first orbits seem parallel, the second orbits seem parallel, and the first orbits seem aligned with the antenna tilt φ. A handoff between the first satellites may use one of the second satellites as a steppingstone.

Tracking Non-Geo Synchronous Orbit satellites on orbiting planes of regular motion patterns

An apparatus and method for mitigating polarization mismatch in reflector antenna systems. A feed unit is configured to determine a polarization mismatch between a first polarization associated with a first wave and a second polarization associated with a reflector unit. The feed unit pre-distorts the first wave to achieve a compensated polarization for reducing and/or eliminating a polarization mismatch. The pre-distorted first wave having the compensated polarization is used to illuminate the reflector unit. A re-radiated wave is reflected by the reflector unit. Furthermore, the level of the re-radiated wave is increased as a result of the pre-distortion.

Mitigation of polarization mismatch between reflector and feed antennas by feed predistortion

An integral waveguide device herein includes a polarizer component comprising a waveguide and a dielectric slab, the dielectric slab configured to change a polarization of a signal passing through the waveguide. The integral waveguide device also includes a feed horn for conveying signals between the waveguide and a parabolic antenna. The waveguide of the polarizer and the feed horn are manufactured as an integral component with the feed horn disposed at a first end of the waveguide.

Integrated polarization converter and feed horn

Testing apparatuses, and methods for using such apparatuses to calibrate and test an antenna, include a chamber that includes a lining, the lining being made from a material that is absorptive to radiation at a test wavelength. An adjustable platform is positioned at a first side of the chamber, the adjustable platform being rotatable to change an orientation of a device under test. A probe is positioned at a second side of the chamber, opposite to the first side of the chamber, that measures electromagnetic radiation from the device under test. A vector network analyzer communicates with the device under test and the probe to determine calibration information for the device under test.

Testing and calibration of phased array antennas

A method for providing frequency selective surface zoning includes selecting a location for positioning a frequency selective surface (FSS) panel along a support arm of a reflector antenna system, and positioning a second feed horn on the support arm on an opposite side of the FSS panel. A number of unit cells are used to populate the FSS panel, and metallic patterns are formed on each unit cell. Multiple zones are subsequently defined on the surface of the FSS panel. Each zone is optimized for a predetermined range of incident angles.

Frequency selective surface zoning technique to reduce the complication in design from large range of illumination incident angles

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for producing meander-line polarizers. In some implementations, a meander-line polarizer includes a dielectric substrate made of a polyester polymer material and meander-line arrays formed on a surface of the dielectric substrate. Each meander-line array includes a sequence of alternating perpendicular conductive traces that are formed the surface of the dielectric substrate by applying conductive ink to the surface of the dielectric substrate using a template that defines a location and dimensions of each conductive trace of each meander-line array.

Additive manufacturing techniques for meander-line polarizers

Various antenna systems are presented that have independently steerable receive and transmit beams. The antenna system may include multiple antenna element systems. Each antenna element system may include multiple phase shifters that alter the phase of received signals and signals to be transmitted. Directions of a first transmit beam, a second transmit beam, a first receive beam, and a second receive beam may be steered independently using the phase shifters. Each antenna element system may include a polarization system.

Phased array with independently steerable beams

A phase shifter having both digital and analog shifting components is disclosed. The digital-analog phase shifter includes an input/output port configured, in part, for receiving an input radio frequency (RF) signal from an external source and outputting a phase shifted RF signal. A digital shifter performs coarse phase shifts of the input RF signal, while an analog shifter variably shift the phase of the input RF signal relative to the coarse phase shift. This produces a phase shifted RF signal having a total phase range that is output is continuously variable from 0&#xb0; to 360&#xb0;.

Low-loss, low-profile digital-analog phase shifter

A digital phase shifter is described where each bit of the phase shifter has a circuit block including one PIN diode in parallel with one transmission line. The phase shifter requires only one PIN diode and one transmission line per bit circuit block. Each PIN diode behaves like a simple switch for phase shifting. When the PIN diode is forward biased ('on' state), current flows through the PIN diode and the RF signal is not phase shifted. When the pin diode is not forward biased ('off' state), current flows through the transmission line parallel to the PIN diode and the RF signal is phase shifted by the transmission line. The digital phase shifter may have n circuit blocks in series, and adjacent PIN diodes may share a current when both are on. The phase shifter may be implemented in a phased array or reflect array antenna including multiple phase shifters.

Digital phase shifter switch and transmission line reduction

A device and method are described for duplex satellite communication over a single satellite antenna. A satellite ground terminal may utilize a frequency-selective surface module including a frequency-selective surface as a subreflector acting as a frequency diplexer to separate signals received and/or transmitted by a first feed and a second feed of a satellite ground terminal, where each feed has a separate antenna horn. The frequency-selective surface module may be used in combination with a second subreflector such that a first feed and a second feed of the satellite ground terminal are implemented on the same side of the frequency-selective surface module.

Satellite ground terminal utilizing frequency-selective surface subreflector

Systems and methods are provided for separating the uplink signal from the downlink signal in a satellite communication system. A communication terminal for satellite communications is provided, comprising a reflector having a prime focus; a first feed located at the prime focus of the reflector and in optical communication with the reflector; a frequency-selective surface module having a reflected focus and located at a point along a communication path between the main reflector and the first feed; and a second feed located at the reflected focus of the frequency-selective surface module and in optical communication with the frequency-selective surface module.

Satellite ground terminal utilizing frequency-selective surface diplexer

Growing community of inventors

Germantown, MD, United States of America

Peter Hou