The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 27, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 24, 1997
Trevor Howar Jones, Haarlemmermeer, CA;
Benedicte Folio, Paris, FR;
Michael Philip Yarwood, Sawbridgeworth, GB;
xavier Jean-Francedilla.ois Lambrecht, Mandelieu, FR;
Agence Spatiale Europeene, Paris, FR;
Abstract
A reconfigurable zonal beam forming system for an antenna on a satellite in orbit includes, in cascade, a signal splitter applying signals of equal amplitude to each channel, first variable phase-shifters and amplifiers and a Butler matrix the outputs of which are connected via second variable phase-shifters to the radiating source elements of the antenna. Varying the phase-shifts introduced by the first and second phase-shifters reconfigures the transmitted beam optimally. A preferred variant of the system further includes variable attenuators. A control device is used to apply optimization parameters. A method of optimizing the resulting configuration uses a gradient search algorithm.