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:
Mar. 07, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 24, 1997
Ingmar Karlsson, Kallered, SE;
Magnus Bonnedal, Savedalen, SE;
Ulf Jostell, Molndal, SE;
Anders Carlstrom, Gothenburg, SE;
Jean Marc Barraco, Gothenburg, SE;
Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (publ), Stockholm, SE;
Abstract
An inexpensive high gain antenna for use on terminals communicating with low earth orbit (LEO) satellites which include an elevation table mounted for arcuate movement about a transverse axis on an azimuth turntable mounted for rotational movement about a central axis. A plurality of antenna elements forming a phased array antenna are mounted on the top of the elevation table and have a scan plane which is parallel to and extends through the transverse axis of the elevation table. The antenna may be both mechanically and electrically scanned and is used to perform handoffs from one LEO satellite to another by positioning the elevation table of the antenna with its boresight in a direction intermediate the two satellites and with the scan plane of the antenna passing through both satellites. At the moment of of handoff, the antenna beam is electronically scanned from one satellite to another without any loss in data communication during the process.