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:
Dec. 14, 1999
Filed:
Mar. 07, 1997
James L Wolcott, La Mirada, CA (US);
Atul Shah, Gardena, CA (US);
Christopher T Evans, Orange, CA (US);
TRW Inc., Redondo Beach, CA (US);
Abstract
A communication relay having a large number of free-flying, self-powered miniature spacecraft (10M) that cooperate to form a large antenna array with sufficient aperture and gain to focus transmit and receive beams much more accurately than in conventional satellite communication relays. The miniature spacecraft, or microsatellites, fly in a single constellation (10) but are allowed to drift in relative position because no rigid structure is provided to restrain their relative movement. Operation as a large phased-array antenna system is achieved by providing for accurate measurements of the microsatellite positions in real time. In one disclosed form of the array, a control satellite (20) conditions the microsatellites (10M) to form receive and transmit beams in desired directions. Received uplink signals are transmitted over communication crosslinks (42) to the control satellite (20), which forwards signals back to the microsatellites after conditioning them to form a transmit beam when forwarding the signals on as a downlink, transmission. A constellation (10) of microsatellites of the type disclosed may also be used as a deep-space communication relay, or as a radio-telescope.